Interview with Anthony Cardella: Concert Pianist, "A Talk About Creativity"

In this episode I speak to Anthony Cardella, a Los Angeles-based Concert Pianist, who accompanied Shooka Afshar, Soprano, in the musical program, “Translations of Being Through Sight and Sound” and art exhibition presented by VC Projects. Anthony is a very gifted musician, we learn his musical career began at the age of 3 years old, and at five years old he placed third during his first piano competition. A great deal of this conversation is about creativity, collaboration and interpretation. But before we arrive at this, Anthony shares his childhood-training, love for competitions, and an epic performance of Samuel Barber, Piano Concerto MVT. 1, accompanied by the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, which he did after winning first place in the LSO Concerto Competition. Within this talk, Anthony bears a great deal of insight not only on the rewards, but also the challenges musicians face in the classical music world. Anthony generously shares his authentic approach to being a successful, motivated and dedicated concert pianist. We also talk about how he learns new pieces and continues to inspire his audiences to feel their way through each composition he performs. 

Anthony Cardella studied with Barbara Hay growing up, a teacher following the Russian School of Rosa Levine. At this point, Anthony was already collaborating frequently, playing for local choirs, musicals, instrumentalists, and vocalists, all of this giving him a background in popular music and improvisation, in addition to his Classical training. He received his Bachelor's of Music from Lawrence University and Conservatory of Music. While at Lawrence, Anthony studied piano performance with Michael Mizrahi, a Yale educated teacher who studied with Claude Frank, and piano pedagogy with Mary Van De Loo. He worked on campus as a student teacher and piano tutor and, after graduating with honors, Anthony was offered multiple jobs at Lawrence - a staff collaborative piano position where he collaborated with vocalists and instrumentalists, and, also a teaching position at the Lawrence Academy of Music.

After working at his Alma Mater for a year, Anthony began studies at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles to receive his Master of Music degree. Anthony is currently working on his Doctorate at USC, studying with Stephen Pierce, and is also working as a teaching assistant - teaching private lessons to undergraduate students, as well as group courses - and as a staff pianist.

Learn more about Anthony at: anthonycardellapiano.com.