Pianist and Early Keyboard Performer Michael Tsalka has won numerous prizes, awards and fellowships in Rome, Bayreuth, Bonn, Paris, Genoa, Calabria, Sardinia, Tel-Aviv, Chicago, Minneapolis, Berlin, Mexico City, and Philadelphia. A versatile musician, he performs solo and chamber music repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary periods on the modern piano, harpsichord, fortepiano, clavichord, square piano and positive organ. He often plays chamber music with keyboard performer Joyce Lindorff, violinist Hugo Ticciati, cellist Dmitry Eremin, harpsichordist Sonia Lee, and pianist Maria Teresa Frenk.

     Dr. Tsalka has performed throughout Europe, the U.S.A., Canada, Israel, Asia, and Latin America. Recent engagements include performances for the Chicago radio, the Händelhaus in Halle, the Bellas Artes Theater and the National Museum of Arts in Mexico City, the Mozart Fest in Austin, the Osaka Festival in Japan, the Trinity series in New York, the Hong Kong radio, Confidencen Hall in Stockholm, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, the Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall, the Boston Early Music Festival, St. Cecilia Hall at Edinburgh University, the Early Keyboard Series in Buenos Aires, the Frankfurt Hoechst series, the National University in Taipei, the Filharmonika Orchestra in Manila, the Leicester Theater in London, the Derjayev Museum at St. Petersburg, Russia, and at Nat’s Piano Institute in Bangkok.

     Throughout his career, he has received numerous favorable reviews: “Tsalka demonstrated control of a pearly, brilliant touch, as well as a subtle phrasing, full of nobility and expression.” (El Siglo, Argentina); “Two sonatas by Daniel Gottlob Türk, played on clavichord, were another high point [of the recital]. The sound of the clavichord made the audience listen with increased concentration and created a highly intense atmosphere" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung); “Tsalka is evidently a true, brilliant musician…” (Clavichord International, Amsterdam); “The concert of Ticciati and Tsalka was a smashing success...” (Global Times, Beijing); “Different styles and schools eloquently surfaced in Tsalka’s renditions, each enriched by enlightening commentary, accompanied by brilliant demonstration on the piano” (Philippine Star, Manila);“Tsalka quickly took command of the evening at the full concert hall and did so with such simplicity and great elegance that the public was enchanted.” (Folket, Sweden); “Tsalka is one of the most important harpsichordists in the world today.” (Jornada de Oriente, Mexico); “Tsalka showed almost incredible virtuosity throughout...” (The Berkshire Review, Boston).

     Tsalka was born in Tel-Aviv. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Tel-Aviv University, he continued studies in Germany and Italy. In 2001, he received a piano solo diploma from the Scuola Superiore Internazionale del Trio di Trieste. From 2002 to 2008, he resided in Philadelphia and studied at Temple University fortepiano and chamber music with Lambert Orkis, modern piano and piano duo with Harvey Wedeen, and harpsichord, clavichord and positive organ with Joyce Lindorff. Tsalka holds three degrees from that institution: a master’s degree in chamber music/accompanying, a master’s degree in harpsichord performance and a doctorate in piano performance.

     A committed educator, he often presents master-classes around the world. He has recently taught and lectured at the International Clavichord Symposium in Italy, the National Music Museum, the University of Rutgers’ Musicological Society, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, the Carlo Gesualdo Center in Buenos Aires, the University of North Texas, Silliman University and the Philham Life Auditorium in the Philippines, the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts in Minneapolis, Haverford College, and a one week master class at the National University in Mexico City, Celaya Conservatory in Guanajuato and China Conservatory in Beijing.

     He has been invited to judge at prestigious competitions, including the Angélica Morales Piano Competition (México City, 2009), the International Duo Competition (Stockholm, 2010), and the Amsterdam Virtuosi Square Piano Competition (Amsterdam, 2011).

     2012 engagements include presentations at the prestigious Cervantino Festival in Mexico, the Henri Kraun Concert Hall in Jerusalem, the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and concerts in Asia, Europe, and New Zealand. Tsalka will also record two CDs for Naxos at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

     Three of Tsalka’s scholarly articles have been published by specialized musicological journals: Clavicordio VIII (Italy), the Early Keyboard Journal (USA), and in the Proceedings for the International Conference on the Performance Practice of Western Music (National University of the Arts in Tainan, Taiwan). Two of his CDs were released by the Swedish label, Ljud & Bild. In these, he performs on a Steinway from 1912 and a Lindholm Clavichord from 1808. Tsalka is also recording D. G. Türk’s 48 keyboard sonatas for NAXOS and making a critical edition of these works for Artaria Editions in New Zealand.

     Israeli, German, Italian, Argentinean, Swedish, and Mexican composers have dedicated pieces to Michael Tsalka. He is on the board of directors of SEHKS and MHKS, U.S.A. Tsalka is also the artistic director of a concert cycle dedicated to J. S. Bach, presented at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Qingdao Grand Theater, and Qintai Concert Hall in Wuhan from March-December, 2011.

top