Beauty…Power…Strength…Diversity
Fierce Lyricism
Caen Thomason-Redus, flute
Elena Abend, piano
Elena Abend
Venezuelan-born pianist Elena Abend has performed extensively in her native country as well as in England, Scotland, France, Curacao and the United States. Sought out as a soloist, chamber musician and educator, she has toured, recorded and taught throughout Venezuela, including numerous appearances at the Teresa Carreño complex in Caracas. Performances in Europe have taken her to venues such as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Toulouse Conservatoire, Theatre Luxembourg, University of Glasgow and most recently “Musicales de Montsoreau” in France.
Her orchestral solo appearances include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Filarmonica Nacional, Orquesta Simon Bolivar, Orquesta Municipal, Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela, Orquesta Sinfonica de Maracaibo, Sinfonica de Lara, Green Bay Symphony and others. As a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she has enjoyed performing several times with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Wind Ensemble, and soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the UWM Symphony and Choirs.
In her collaborative role, Ms. Abend performed at the Ravinia and Marlboro music festivals, at the Corcoran Gallery with members of the Mendelssohn Quartet, the Zelazo Center for the Performing arts with the Fine Arts Quartet and most recently at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music with the Philomusica Quartet. Other chamber collaborations include Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, Frankly Music Series, Milwaukee Musaik, Present Music, Chamber Music Milwaukee, Yolanda Marculescu Vocal Arts Series, and most recently “Celebracion de la Musica Latinoameriacana” at the Music Institute of Chicago.
On radio broadcasts, Ms. Abend was featured on WFMT live from the Chicago Cultural Center on the Dame Myra Hess Series, Wisconsin Public Radio “Sunday Afternoon live from the Chazen” and Philadelphia’s WFMT. As a founding member of the Elisio Ensemble together with husband clarinetist Orlando Pimentel, and the Granados/Abend duo, Ms. Abend has been a repeated guest artist presenting Latin American and Spanish programs at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts “Classical Progressions” Series and the “Four Seasons” Concert Series in California.
As a recording artist, collaborations include “Tapestry” New Music from the Americas (INNOVA Recording), “Latin American and Spanish Masterpieces for Flute and Piano” (Albany Records) “Over the Fence” Songs of Elsa Respighi, Lori Loitman and Modesta Bor (Albany Records), Brahms and Schumann works for clarinet and piano (AVIE) Evencio Castellanos Piano Concerto with the Orquesta Filarmonica Nacional in Venezuela (CONAC). The most recent recording project “Fierce Lyricism” in collaboration with flutist Caen Thomason-Redus, was made possible by an MPower Artist Grant from the Sphinx Organization, to be released in May 2022. Her pedagogical recording and editing projects include Hal Leonard’s G. Schirmer Instrumental Library and Schirmer Performance Piano Editions.
As an educator, Ms. Abend has held masterclasses and workshops at universities and conservatories throughout the US and Venezuela. She has been faculty at Indiana University’s Summer String Academy, Lakeside Chamber Workshop, and is currently faculty at the Collaborative Piano Institute at Louisiana State University. Ms. Abend is chair of the piano area at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she teaches piano performance, collaborative piano and chamber music.