San Francisco-based pianist Allegra Chapman is an omnivorous soloist and chamber musician, adventurous curator, and passionate educator. Her performances have been described as “fervid but impeccably controlled” by the San Francisco Chronicle and “brilliant” by the San Francisco Classical Voice. She is the pianist of the Delphi Trio with violinist Liana Bérubé and cellist Tanya Tomkins, Chordless duo with soprano Sara LeMesh, and a member of Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. As a presenter, Allegra is the founding co-artistic director and executive director of the critically acclaimed festival Bard Music West, a San Francisco-based branch of the Bard Music Festival. 

 

Allegra has performed as soloist and chamber musician at prestigious venues throughout the United States, Europe, and China, including Alice Tully Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Bard Music Festival, the Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum in Budapest, San Francisco Jazz Center, and Xi'an Concert Hall in Xi'an, China. Her performances have been broadcast on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and KALW San Francisco. 

 

Allegra particularly enjoys collaborating in multidisciplinary projects and has worked with renowned choreographer Pam Tanowitz and soloed with the Garrett + Moulton Dance Company. Her music video with Chordless, The Night in Silence, won the “Best Music Video” award at the 2020 Tokyo International Short Film Festival and screened at four other film festivals. Allegra also performs regularly with other leading Bay Area ensembles including Earplay, Eco Ensemble, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. She has collaborated with members of International Contemporary Ensemble and the Eusebius, Orion, and Telegraph String Quartets. In 2012, Allegra’s unusual collaboration with Yamaha Disklavier and The Juilliard School’s Center for Innovation in the Arts was the subject of a feature article and video in the Wall Street Journal.

 

As an educator, Allegra has coached chamber music ensembles at many institutions, including San Francisco State University and Xi’an Conservatory of Music. Her student ensembles have received top prizes in regional and national competitions. Allegra is currently on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Pre-College division.

 

Allegra received her Master of Music from The Juilliard School and graduated in the inaugural class of the Bard College Conservatory of Music with degrees in History and Piano Performance. Allegra owes much to her many wonderful teachers who include Joseph Bloom, Jeremy Denk, Seymour Lipkin, Sharon Mann, Julian Martin, John McCarthy, and Peter Serkin.