Stefan Cassar is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Superieure de Musique de Paris where he studied after being awarded the Eyton Scholarship offered by the Albert Roussel Association of Paris. He studied under renowned masters such as Germaine Mounier, Helena Czerny Stefanska and Valery Affassaniev. He also studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, as a scholarship student under Sergio Perticaroli. Amongst many distinctions, Stefan Cassar was recently awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Liszt's Après une Lecture de Dante at the international Sofia Piano Competition, Bulgaria.
Stefan Cassar has been living in Lyon since 1989, commuting between the major French cities teaching and performing. He is considered to be an established performer by the French papers. An article in Le Progrès de Lyon entitled "Stefan Cassar le plus lyonnais des maltais" describes Stefan Cassar as a "celebrated pianist on the international music scene and an ambassador of the city of Lyon". Reffering to a recital in Leipzig, Germany's Leipziger Volks Zeitung observed the public's enthusiasm for Cassar's great artistic style in "Lyoner Pianist begeistert mit grosser Klavier Kunst".
On top of the concerts he gives in various French and European cities, Stefan Cassar is a regular performer and the artistic director of the annual chamber music event Piano en Hiver which takes place over the Cristmas season at Belle-île-en-Mer in Brittany.
Moreover, he is the artistic director and one of the founders of the festival Un Piano à Collonges in the magnificent 16th century Abbey of Collonges located in the midst of the picturesque country side surrounding Lyon, a region renowned for its haute gastronomie and the world famous chef Paul Bocuse. This festival takes place in June and this year's edition included the rarely performed chamber music version for piano and string quartet of Chopin's E minor concerto which Cassar played with members of the Lyon National Opera Orchestra. (click here for more details)
Stefan Cassar is also very active holding Master-Classes around France like the summer piano academy he has been organizing for the past two years at the La Ciotat conservatoire on the French Riviera.
This year, Stefan Cassar was contracted to perform two recitals to inaugurate the M.Liminal, the newest grand piano by Fazioli designed by NYT Line, one in Cannes last September and in Monaco later in January.
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