Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi
Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
was a child prodigy originally taught, beginning at age two, by her mother, the
well-known Argentine pedagogue, Ana Sieiro de Trenchi. She gave her first solo
recital at 
age four in Buenos Aires and at age 13 went to Paris to continue her
studies with famed teachers Nadia Boulanger, Yves Nat, and especially
Germaine
Pinault, who taught her five hours a day, seven days a week, for five years. She
was awarded the Premier Prix, at age 18, from the prestigious Conservatoire
National de Musique in Paris. She also studied with Argentina’s most famous
composer, Alberto Ginastera, and later with Roger Sessions and Martin Canin.
At age 23, she had returned from her first around-the-world concert
tour, was scheduled for a New York debut, and seemed destined for a stellar
performing career when tragedy struck.
A near-fatal car accident left her with major head injuries.
Extensive surgery saved her life, but her physical coordination was so
impaired that she could hardly walk or lift a cup, let alone play the piano, and
her memory was completely unreliable. Doctors told her that she would never be
able to perform again. Ms. Bottazzi returned to Argentina and, refusing to
believe the doctors’ prognosis, began to slowly build her ability to play the
piano. This would eventually take 13 years.
In 1974, she played her long-delayed New York debut in Town Hall,
receiving outstanding reviews. Her autobiography documenting this arduous
courageous recovery, entitled "To Live Again", which Publishers Weekly called
“an inspiring story of faith and iron will,” was published in five languages
by Dodd, Mead, and Co. In 1976, Ms. Bottazzi performed at Avery Fisher Hall
in
New York, and to prove to herself that her memory was now intact, she allowed
the audience to pick the program from a list of 100 pieces in her extensive
repertoire. She then played it from memory, drawing ecstatic applause from the
audience and raves from the critics. Since then, she has performed and given
master classes and lectures all over the world - in 34 major cities in North
America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia - in solo recitals and with
orchestra, receiving high critical and audience acclaim wherever she plays.
Her many performances include 17 solo recitals at Carnegie Hall. In
1992 she was honored to perform at the White House for President and Mrs. Bush
and in 1993 she gave a recital at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II.
Ms. Bottazzi has earned three master’s degrees and two doctoral
degrees: a PhD in music from universities in Argentina and the
U.S. She
received a second doctorate from The Juilliard School, becoming the first Latin
American to earn a doctorate from that prestigious institution. She has received
many awards, among them Outstanding Woman of the Year, given by the All Nations
Women’s League in 1982, the United Nations’ Outstanding People From Central
and South America award in 1984, and the Outstanding Hispanic Women Achievers
Award, presented to her in 1993 by New York Governor Mario Como.
Ms. Bottazzi has been associated with the Aaron Copland School of
Music at Queens College and with New York University. She founded, together
with her husband Bruno, the Germaine Pinault School of Music in Manhasset, New
York, one of New York’s finest private music schools, and she has been its
director for the past 38 years.
Among her numerous recordings are two of her favorite encore pieces, Encores, Volume I (1990), and Encores, Volume II (1996). In the fall, 2006, she plans to record five DVD's with recital programs.
Ms.
Bottazzi is in great demand as a judge for international piano competitions.
In 1992 she
established the International Piano Tape Competition, a competition
judged strictly from audio and videotaped performances in which the winners
receive cash prizes and share a concert at Weill Recital Hall. Applications have been
received from 68 different countries. The
sixth and last competition took place in 2003.
After
an entire year away from the piano, when on October 2003 she endured yet another
major surgery, number 10, she began, during the
season 2004 – 2005, slowly getting back
to performing
again.
In
October 2005, Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi and Robert Wichlan joined forces to
establish and launch the website www.PracticeWithTheMasters.com.
Here pianists can purchase different piano pieces that are performed and
explained to them on the DVD’s. There
are, in addition to these, a three part course in advanced piano technique and
also one in memorization. During the past five months, Ana Maria Trenchi
Bottazzi has made DVD’s of 242 different works for piano. This very successful
and unique enterprise, has already been selling DVD’s to all parts of the
Ms.
Bottazzi can be reached for inquiries about performances or other musical events
through her agent – WICHLAN MANAGEMENT. Mr.
Wichlan is also the Web Master of their new site “Practice With The
Masters”. The web site address is
below.
WICHLAN MANAGEMENT -
management@practicewiththemasters.com
www.PracticeWithTheMasters.com