Born in Croatia, Dalia Lazar began studying piano at an early age. Her first piano teacher recognized her uncommon talent and pianistic ability, and at the age of sixteen she was admitted to Moscow’s P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. During her studies in Moscow, Ms. Lazar performed throughout Soviet Union. Immediately after her graduation at the Moscow Conservatory, Ms. Lazar decided to continue her career in New York and London where she studied with Karl Urlich Schnabel and Maria Curcio.
As a finalist in the New York Concert Artist Guild Competition, Ms Lazar made her debuts at Rubenstein Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall. Since then she has performed a broad repertoire as a soloist in concerts and recitals worldwide, including the United States, Russia, Venezuela, Israel, Switzerland, Croatia, Mexico, France, Italy and Romania. Her chamber music repertoire includes the works for violin and piano duo and piano trio, which she performed extensively with her late husband, violinist Lucian Lazar.
Dalia Lazar’s playing has been well received by critics, who have characterized her performance as “such noble playing,” (Yediot Achronot, Tel Aviv), “un sentimento profundo” (Panorama, Venezuela), “virtuosismo y impecable fraseo” (El Nacional, Venezuela), “that rare combination of charisma, personality and terrific pianistic facility” (pianist Tzimon Barto), and “...an inspiring display of musical excellence” (Daily Republic).
As far as my memories can reach, it was the love for piano I remember most. Upon hearing music, everything around me became alive. The paintings in my grandmother’s room, the trees outside the window, the courtyard’s balconies, suddenly displayed their own life and movement. At that time, I was five years old, growing up in Zagreb, Croatia. My mother, noticing the effect that music had on me, took me to concerts, where I insisted we sit in the first row from where I experienced feelings of wonder and happiness that have stayed with me since.
At the age of six, Zagreb piano lessons began. At sixteen Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory study followed. Five years of grueling training with endless practicing on splintered keys, benches of wobbly wood, and food lines longer than time away from practicing could bear. But, in playing and performing in the great halls of the conservatory and throughout the Soviet Union, I found that same feeling of love for the piano that gave me the strength to endure any physical and emotional hardship.
In search of higher artistic knowledge and knowledge that comes from life experience, I took a chance at a performance aboard a cruise ship to the US. The ship cast off from Manhattan without its soloist, and my life began anew. I soon met my husband, violinist Lucian Lazar, with whom I shared an immense love of music and life, which always enveloped our playing. Together and as a soloist, I performed in North and South America, Israel, Switzerland, Croatia, Mexico, Romania, and Greece. After his untimely and sudden death, I stopped playing. A year later, remembering our ideals, that feeling which gave me strength so many times surfaced. I started playing again.
Music has brought me back to Europe where my playing began. As Artista in Residenza in Panicale, Italy, I continue to follow my dreams. In 2017 I created Visioni Musicali for Panicale to promote art and beauty and share my great love of music.