CICILIA YUDHA
Concert Pianist and Educator
B i o g r a p h y
Indonesian pianist Cicilia Yudha made her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall in 2003. In recognition of her musicianship and artistic personality, Dr. Yudha was awarded the "Rosario Marciano Prize", and presented a solo recital in Vienna sponsored by the Vienna International Piano Academy in Austria. She has given master classes and presentations across the United States and Southeast Asia. As a creative artist, she has enjoyed collaborations with musicologist Ewelina Boczkowska, tap dancer Claudia Rahardjanoto, and Polish Folk Dance specialists Christine Cobb and Staś Kmieć.
Dr. Yudha was a winner of the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition, Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, New England Conservatory Commencement Concerto Competition, and UNC Greensboro Student Artist Concerto Competition resulting in performances with each orchestra. She has also appeared with the Lakeland Civic Orchestra, Converse Symphony Orchestra, and the Duke University Symphony Orchestra. Her live performances have been broadcast by Jakarta's Radio Klasik, Cleveland's WCLV FM, New York's WQXR, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and on the radio program, “From the Top”. In 2011, she gave concerts and master classes tour in Indonesia and Cambodia sponsored by Art Plus Foundation celebrating Franz Liszt Bicentennial.
Yudha began playing piano with her mother at age three, and joined the Music Course for Kids. She attended Yamaha Music Foundation, and joined the Junior Original Concert, a Yamaha program for composition, in 1989. In 1996, she was invited to be in the Young Artist Program at Cleveland Institute of Music. While at the Yamaha Music Foundation and the Yayasan Pendidikan Musik, Dr. Yudha participated in many concerts, sometimes premiering her own works. Some of her works were commissioned as compulsory pieces for annual piano exams at the Yayasan Pendidikan Musik, and in 2003, she received the institution’s “Junior Composer Award.”
Photo: Zeban Huang, 2017
As a versatile soloist and avid chamber musician, Dr. Yudha has participated in International Piano Academy in Freiburg, Germany, Académie internationale du Festival Pablo Casals, France, Cleveland Institute of Music New Music Ensemble, Steve Reich Festival at New England Conservatory, UNC Greensboro New Music Festival, and VCU Global Summer Institute of Music in Richmond, VA.
Through the Robert Casadesus grant that enabled her to attend Ecoles d'Art Americaines in Fontainebleau, France, she discovered the music of the renowned pianist Robert Casadesus. In an effort to promote Casadesus’s oeuvres, Dr. Yudha was a guest artist at David Dubal’s classes, "The World of the Piano" at Juilliard, and “Hommage to Robert Casadesus” at La Maison Francaise, New York University. She also focused her doctorate dissertation on several of Casadesus’s works, and is actively pursuing his largely unknown works. In September 2016, Navona Records released her debut CD Selected Piano Works by Robert Casadesus and Henri Dutilleux. She has presented lecture recitals at TEDx Talks, the Ohio Music Teachers Association Conferences, the College Music Society (CMS) National Conferences, and CMS Regional Conferences. She is also a frequent guest-speaker at the Cleveland Orchestra’s Concert Preview Series at Severance Hall.
Passionate in music education and community service, Yudha was recognized as a Steinway Top Teacher in 2016. She has served as a piano faculty at the New England Conservatory Secondary Piano Department, NEC Preparatory School, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Piano Preparatory Department, and she has served as a staff collaborative pianist of Boston Children’s Chorus and Eastern Music Festival. She is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and College Music Society (CMS).
Since her appointment at Youngstown State University, she has successfully established class piano programs for Youngstown City Schools and after-school enrichment programs.
On full scholarship, Dr. Yudha earned a Doctorate in piano performance at University of North Carolina Greensboro. Upon graduation, she was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda honor society. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree with honors and the Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Master of Music degree in piano performance and Music-in-Education concentration with honors and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music. Former teachers include Lena Yudha, Iravati Sudiarso, Olga Radosavljevich, Wha-Kyung Byun, and John Salmon.
She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) and is a recipient of the Steinway Top Teacher Award. She joined the Dana School of Music Faculty at Youngstown State University in 2012 where she is the associate professor of piano and the 2019 recipient of university's Distinguished Professor Award for her scholarship. She is a founding member of the Dana Piano Trio, which made their Carnegie Hall debut in March 2019.
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