Praised by critics for her "brilliant virtuoso technique" and "genuine talent", classical pianist Sara Halfi has performed in concerts throughout Europe, Russia, Israel, Central America, and the United States.
She has appeared in many recitals and festivals as a concert soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in such famous halls as the Wiener and Leopold Mozart Saal at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria; Rachmaninov Hall and the Small Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory; Chekhov's House in Melikhovo, Russia; Associazione Dino Ciani in Milan, Italy; Società del Whist, Accademia Filarmonica in Turin, Italy; Círculo del Liceo in Barcelona, Spain; Saló d'Or del Palau Maricel for the Festival de Música de Sitges, Spain; Evens Hall for the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes in Israel; and the Recital Hall and Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the United States.
Ms. Halfi has won many prizes in international piano competitions, some of which include First Prize at the Concurso Internacional de Piano “Eugènia Verdet” in Spain, Second Prize at the Premio Rachmaninov in Uliveto Terme in Italy, Premier Médaille a l'Unanimité at the Concours de Piano de Brest in France, and Semifinalist at the Premio Venezia in Italy, among others.
She has played in master classes for many famous pianists and pedagogues, including Lazar Berman, Vera Gornostaeva, Lev Naumov, Oxana Yablonskaya, Franco Scala, Joaquín Soriano, Aquiles Delle Vigne, Mikhail Lidsky, Sergey Dorensky and Nikolay Lugansky.
A native of Italy, Sara Halfi began playing the piano when she was six years old. She received a Bachelor's Degree, summa cum laude, in Piano from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi of Turin, Italy. She obtained her Master's Degree in Piano Performance at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, where she studied under Eliso Virsaladze.
She has studied with Irina Zaritskaya, receiving a full scholarship at the Royal College of Music, London, as well as completing a postgraduate course in Piano Performance at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona under Stanislav Pochekin. She also worked with Emanuel Krasovsky at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music (ex Rubin Academy) in Tel Aviv, Israel.
In 2010, Ms. Halfi moved to the United States after winning a scholarship awarded by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she earned a Professional Studies Diploma in Piano Performance under Dr. Sharon Mann. Additionally, she holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Arkady Aronov.
Sara Halfi has more than twenty years of experience teaching piano in music schools and conservatories, including at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu and Escuelas de Música Liceu in Barcelona, Spain; the Akadma Conservatory in Ashdod, Israel; and the San Francisco Community Music Center. She was a member of the Music Teachers' Association of California and currently a member of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York.
Ms. Halfi resides in New York City, together with her husband and son, where she teaches and performs regularly. She speaks English, Spanish, Russian, Italian, French and Hebrew.