Biography
Alaskan pianist Sasha Bult-Ito is internationally recognized as a premier solo and chamber performer. She began studying the piano with her mother at age four, and made her orchestral solo debut with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra at age seven after winning the symphony's concerto competition, of which she is a rare three-time first place laureate. Sasha gave her first solo recital at age ten, and has since appeared on stages across North America and in Europe, giving over two-dozen solo recitals of differing programs.
Recent performances include chamber appearances at the Scotia Festival of Music and Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival, solo performances at the Southeastern Piano Festival, John Perry Academy Summer Piano Festival, Internationaler Klaviersommer Cochem Meisterkurs in Germany, and as concerto soloist with the Brunensis Virtuosi Orchestra at MusicFest Perugia in Italy. Sasha has appeared in Koerner Hall as a finalist of The Glenn Gould School's concerto competition, and was a semi-finalist of the 2015 International e-Piano Junior and Fourteenth Eastman Young Artists International piano competitions. She served on the Young Jury for the 2018 Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition in South Carolina, and in 2021 recorded as collaborative pianist for the Royal Conservatory of Music's Violin Series 2021 Edition, contributing to the definitive recording library for the RCM Certificate Program examinations.
The Ezra Duo, founded with violist/violinist Jacob Clewell, are first-prize winners of numerous international competitions, earning invitations to perform in New York, Vienna, and Sarajevo. The duo has performed in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York, Toronto's Koerner Hall, and were guest performers at a G7 Summit event at the Royal Ontario Museum. They embarked on their first tour in March 2019 with their "Women in Music" program in honor of Women's History Month, and have since travelled internationally with their "Art of the Duo" and "Colorfully Contemporary" tours. They have also presented masterclasses and clinics at the University of Tulsa, Berry College, Albuquerque Youth Symphony, and elsewhere, and regularly visit Harding Fine Arts Academy in Oklahoma to facilitate workshops for students. Ezra is currently ensemble-in-residence at the Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival and Institute, where Sasha is a Co-Artistic Director and Artist Faculty in piano.
Upcoming highlights include activities with Ezra in Canada and the United States, as well as the return of Ezra Electrified!, an entirely online recital series livestreamed to Twitch, where the duo performs a mix of classical, rock, and music from films and video games on electric instruments.
Sasha attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, where she was a student of Thomas Lymenstull. She holds a Bachelor of Music, Honours and an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, both completed under the direction of John Perry and David Louie as a full-scholarship recipient. She has also learned from the late master pedagogues Nelita True and Leon Fleisher.
September 2023
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Photo © M. Guerra Photography