Carolina Estrada y Bascunana is a Spanish pianist who has a career as a soloist, recitalist and chamber music partner in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Biography
Spanish-born concert pianist Carolina Estrada, visiting Doctor of Musical Arts candidate and Teaching Assistant for the Open Academy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and external examiner at University of New England, founder and director of Iberia Classics, in demand in international festivals and conservatories. Estrada developed a particular passion for the music of her native land when she moved to live abroad after she graduated with the highest degree given in piano performance in Spain at the Conservatorium of Barcelona by the time she was 18 years old. Her endeavors on behalf of Spanish music have been acknowledged by several governmental institutions in different countries. The Spanish Ministry for Education and Culture, the Catalan Government and the University of Barcelona Foundation Agusti Pere i Pons have actively sponsored her Hispanic-themed investigations, gaining her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with cum laude at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2005. In the Netherlands, Carolina Estrada received the Nuffic Scholarship from the Dutch Government for a year of specialization with legendary pianist Laszlo Simon at the Universität der Künste Udk Berlin. From 2005 to 2009, Carolina Estrada served as piano lecturer at Reus Conservatorium of Music in Spain and at the Sultan Qaboos University in Middle East. Currently based in Bern as visiting scholar in the Hochschule der Künste Bern.
Distinctions
Since 2012, the University of Sydney honors the pianist with two faculty merit postgraduate award to support her doctoral research: the prestigious George Henderson Award and the Katheleen & Allison Short Scholarship. Her investigation on Enrique Granados’ piano works supervised by Bernadette Harvey and Natalia Ricci at the University of Sydney and receives privileged insights from Albert Attenelle and the Marshall Academy professors Maria Teresa Monteys and Carlota Garriga, the last three remaining students of Frank Marshall and direct inheritors of this piano tradition in Barcelona Grant holder of numerous international awards and prizes, Carolina's career achieved major cultural acclaim across Europe with recently honored with The Grand Cross of the Most Illustrious Order of Humanitarian Merit and The European Gold Cross bestowed by the Agrupación Española de Fomento Europeo – in recognition of the valuable promotion of Hispanic Arts and Culture. Carolina actively contributes to Australian cultural life and her activities to promote Spanish music in Australia are widely supported by the Spanish Embassy, the Consulate General of Spain and the Cervantes Institute.
