Biography
“Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist.” –Franz Liszt
Christina Kiss
is a world-renowned internationally acclaimed concert pianist and piano professor specializing in the works of eminent Hungarian Composer Franz Liszt. She is particularly known for her “Liszt Cycle” which she began in 1990. The epic project entails playing live and in concert the complete works of Franz Liszt, a feat which no other pianist in history has ever attempted. Having completed more than half of this mammoth project to date, Ms. Kiss has played more Liszt works in concert than any other pianist. She is widely considered in her field the foremost expert on Liszt, as well as an acclaimed Chopin connoisseur, and in particular an expert in the romantic era composers. She is featured in the official Collins Dictionary under the word "Pianist" and the suffix "ist".
Christina’s youtube and social media pages.
Christina's biography is below!
Early Life and Career
Christina Kiss was born in Budapest to Ilona Kiss (née) Gotthard) a pianist and piano teacher, and József Kiss, an amateur operatic tenor. From an early age she showed incredible musical talent, and from the age of 11 she was accepted into the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, one of the leading musical centers in Europe and in the world. At the Academy she was a pupil of famed pianists Klára Marthé, Ferenc Rados, and then later Kornél Zempléni. Her chamber music instructor and friend was the renowned concert pianist Sir Andras Schiff. During these years, Kiss was also a friend of famed Hungarian-American pianist André Watts. Though older than her and already in the college division, colleagues and friends at the Academy included fellow famed pianists Zoltán Kocsis, and Dezsö Ránki.
Early Career successes--Italy, Germany, and Hungary
While studying at the Academy, Christina spent her summers in Salzburg performing at the illustrious and esteemed Salzburg Festival. There she was a protégé of eminent pianist and conductor Carlo Zecchi, who was considered one of the greatest pianists, and later among the most prominent conductors and musicans of his time. Greatly respected by his peers, even fellow Italian musicans such as Busoni and Toscanini had admired Zecchi greatly. Zecchi saw in Kiss a talent for the ages and took the budding pianist under his wing, bringing Kiss with him to perform piano concertos with orchestra under his baton in the Italian music festivals of Citta di Castello, Trieste, Gorizia, and Stresa. Due to her frequent touring in Italy, and the love that the Italian media and public has for her, Kiss is particularly well-known there. Kiss and Zecchi were preparing a large concert of the Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 at the grand Grosses Festspielhaus concert hall in Salzburg with the Salzburg Symphony Orchestra when Zecchi died suddenly four days before the performance. In addition to Salzburg, Kiss spent part of many summers in one of the former home of Franz Liszt, Weimar. There, Ms. Kiss was a protégé of Amadeus Webersinke, the famed german pianist and organist. She was the only student to play a solo recital on Liszt’s piano in Liszt’s Weimar home, famously called the Altenburg.
International Rising Star
Already in her teen years Ms. Kiss was recognized with top prizes in the largest international piano competitions in the world. She won First Prize (Grand Prize) in the important Cincinnati American Music Scholarship Competition. Having been the only Hungarian sent by her government to compete in this prestigious competition, first prize entailed a solo recital in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, as well as a private performance for United States President Ronald Reagan at the White House. She won first prize in the Czechoslovakian Ústi Nad Labem Competition and second prize in the Radio Budapest competition. Ms. Kiss won the top prize of Second Prize (no first prize was given) in Barcelona’s esteemed Maria Canals International Piano Competition. Among others, Kiss also won Third Prizes in the Budapest Liszt-Bartok Competition, as well as in the Athens International Athaeneum Piano Competition. As the youngest competitor, the only woman, and the only European invited to compete during her year, Ms. Kiss was historically invited to participate in the world-famous Van Cliburn competition in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of the largest piano competitions in the world, which only occurs every four years. Beginning with several hundreds of applicants, Kiss was invited to compete live among the top 39 pianists in the live round. From there she advanced to the semifnals and the top 12 pianists in the competition.
Shortly after winning first place in the Cincinnati International American Music Scholarship Competition, Kiss emigrated to the United States, and made her debut at Alice Tully Hall. In a sold-out performance all the major critics from all the major news outlets were in attendance to witness the new talk of the musical world. Bernard Holland, veteran New York Times Music Critic wrote of the event:
“Christina Kiss, a young Hungarian pianist and a winner in many music competitions around the world, played Bartok and Liszt last Sunday evening at Alice Tully Hall. Miss Kiss’s technical reliability in all this music was unshakable. Stylistically, there was never a hair out of place.” Bernard Holland, The New York Times
Among several other glowing reviews, The New York Post’s music critic Robert Kimball notably wrote of Kiss after the event; “She has the talent, temperament and technique for a major international career.”
After moving to America, Kiss attended the Juilliard School in New York City on the full Gina Bachauer scholarship. At Juilliard, Ms. Kiss studied under the honored Hungarian pianist and musician György Sándor. Ms. Kiss was taught from a Hungarian musical line that directly dates back to Franz Liszt himself, as György Sándor had been a pupil of Béla Bartók, who had been a student of István Thomán, who in turn had been one of Franz Liszt’s prominent students during Liszt’s later years. At Juilliard, Kiss won the Gina Bachauer Scholarship competition every year for her four years at Juilliard. At Juilliard, her mentor was renowned Author and Musicologist David Dubal, the author of several world-famous books, including “Evenings with Horowitz” “Reflections from the Keyboard” and “The Art of the Piano”. Dubal was also the host of several radio stations and shows including WNCN-FM, “Reflections from the Keyboard” on WQXR-FM (New York’s Classical Radio Station) and “The Piano Matters” on WWFM. Kiss’s recordings have been featured numerous times on all of these radio programs.
"The liszt Cycle"
In 1990, Christina Kiss began “The Liszt Cyle” a project she conceived with the goal to play the complete piano works of Franz Liszt, from memory, in concert. Most concerts have taken place at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. This epic task has been reported on numerous times by top reporters from the top Newspapers in the world. A few examples are as follows:
“…Miss Kiss has the technique, the temperament, and the stamina that the project requires…beautifully regulated tone and passionate phrase shaping…Passion carried the day in the Transcendental Etudes, as well. There was, to be sure, all the bravura, thunder, and flash that the 12 studies demand.” Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
“But what made Miss Kiss’s performance exciting was the sense that she seemed to see the works as tone-poems and emotional outpourings rather than simply as display pieces. In her best moments, her tempos had an elasticity that made her readings breathe and transformed their technical fire into something deeper.” Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
“A young pianist with both the temperament and stamina for such a big job…Ms. Kiss never gave in to the extreme and often awkward technical difficulties.” Bernard Holland, The New York Times
“Flames blazed from the keyboard. Kiss demonstrated a sovereign command of the keyboard…destined for a major international career.” Bette Spero, Newark Star Ledger
As of November 2020, Kiss has performed 42 “Liszt Cycle” concerts, and is over halfway finished with the mammoth project. Most of these 42 concerts have taken place at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, where Ms. Kiss is a regular performer. Prominent Liszt Biographer Alan Walker, who wrote the most comprehensive 3 volume biography of Franz Liszt wrote of Ms. Kiss on the occasion of the release of one of her Liszt CD’s:
“Christina Kiss commands our admiration. In an age when even the greatest virtuosos routinely take a week to make a single CD of Liszt’s music, leaving a trail of wrong notes on the cutting-room floor, her avowed intention is to play every work Liszt composed for the piano, IN PUBLIC. That is a formidable undertaking. It is akin to walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope, without a safety-net. Liszt wrote hundreds of works for the piano, and some of them are notoriously difficult. Christina Kiss is well into a journey – an odyssey of epic proportions – that brings honour both to her and to Franz Liszt.” Alan Walker (Author of a 3-volume, prize-winning biography of Liszt)
Fernando Laires, the former President of the American Liszt Society had this to say about Kiss’s Liszt Cycle:
“The Liszt Cycle is truly an extraordinary event of international importance. It will become a new goal and standard of achievement in the piano world.” Fernando Laires, Former President of the American Liszt Society
Other concerts, projects, accolades, and career accomplishments
In addition to “Liszt Cycle” concerts, Kiss has been an active recitalist and concert performer with both Liszt and other repertoire. Aside from Carnegie Hall, Ms. Kiss has performed at venues including Alice Tully Hall, New York City’s Steinway Hall, The Kennedy Center in Washington, The General Assembly of the United Nations, The New York and Washington Hungarian Embassies, Salt Lake Temple in Utah, The Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, The New York Slovakian Embassy, Buda Castle in Budapest, Seton Hall University (New Jersey Pianists Series) Rutgers Unversity, and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Christina has even performed on a few occasions as an actress, on one notable occasion in Rutgers Summerfest portraying Clara Schumann, the noted pianist, composer, and wife of Robert Schumann, in a musical play in which she both acted and played piano. A reviewer of the large-scale event remarked of Kiss: “Pianist Christina Kiss as Clara Schumann played with emotional and technical assurance… Kiss’ performance of Clara’s variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann grew in intensity from beginning to end.” Paul Somers, The Star-Ledger
Ms. Kiss has appeared numerous times on radio and television. In addition to appearing on David Dubal’s program WQXR on “Reflections from the Keyboard, and on “The Piano Matters” on WWFM, Christina has been interviewed at length and had her recordings featured by the acclaimed Robert Sherman on his WQXR show “Listening Room”. On one notable episode of Sherman’s show from 1993, Kiss played a particularly electrifying performance of Liszt’s paraphrase of Verdi’s Rigoletto. Ms. Kiss has also been interviewed and featured playing on WNYC’s New Sounds hosted by radio personality John Schaefer. She has also been featured on WNCN. In addition to radio, Kiss has made numerous television appearances on WNET Channel 13, Channel 50, and Cablevision. She also appeared and was interviewed on the tv show “Focus on Women” hosted by Florence Rapoport.
A thrilling account of one of Christina Kiss’s 2004 Liszt Cycle Concerts by noted Author Rich Disilvio states: “Christina Kiss has resumed her historic Liszt Cycle Oct. 23, 2004, after a brief respite, with a dazzling stage perfomance that left the audience spellbound. Performing a demanding program of several Liszt Transcriptions and other lesser known works her renditions of Réminiscences des Puritains (Bellini), Polonaise aus Tchaikovsky’s Opera “Onegin” brought cheers of “Bravo!” resounding throughout the hall. To the crowds surprise Liszt’s God Save The Queen-Concert Paraphrase struck a chord close to home, for the melody is none other than that used to carry the lyrics of America’s,”…sweet land of Liberty,” which some spectators enthusiastically sang as Ms. Kiss performed. Upon performing Liszt’s Illustrations from Meyerbeer’s Opera L’africaine Christina’s finger began to bleed, yet she not only finished the lengthy piece undaunted but then miraculously gave not one, but two, Chopin encores! A spectacular display of monumental talent coupled with a passion and determination rarely experienced… and all the more rewarding for those fortunate enough to attend.”- Rich DiSilvio
Aside from the United States and Hungary, Kiss has toured internationally in countries includng Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Canada. As a young musician Christina was fluent in Hungarian, Italian, German, French, and Russian. Shortly after she moved to the America she became fluent in English. In the United States she has performed in various states throughout the country on her tours, from New York and Washington D.C., to Baltimore, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Ohio, Utah, and more. She has performed for or with celebrities and notable figures such as King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Christopher Reeve, Victor Borge, Former New York Governor George Pataki, Former Hungarian President Pál Schmitt, Permanent hungarian U.N. representative André Erdös, György Cziffra, Peter Frankl, and Garrick Ohlsson.
In addition to many live concert recordings, Ms. Kiss has recorded 7 commercially produced and released cd’s. They are titled: Liszt Piano Works, Liszt Romantic Masterpieces, Liszt Masterworks, Liszt Transcriptions, Liszt Rare Transcriptions, Liszt Italian and German Inspiration, Liszt Italian and Swiss. All of Christina Kiss’s cd’s are available to buy on amazon.
In a review of her debut album Liszt: Piano Muisc, noted fiction and nonfiction author Rich DiSilvio remarked:”As Christina’s debut CD this beautiful program offers 13 great tracks. Featuring the popular Marche de Rákóczi and lesser played pieces, like the beautiful Soirées Italiennes, the rousing Zigauner -Polka and fantastic Schwanengesang und Marsch aus Erkel’s Hunyadi László this disc finally commits to disc the star talents of Miss Kiss. Her already historic mission of being the first pianist to play all of Liszt’s piano works in public, which is more than half complete, is now offering her Carnegie Hall fans, and the world, an opportunity to cherish her unique performances on disc. As a finale Kiss performs a radiantly beautiful rendition of Die Lorelei, which is Liszt playing at its best.”
In 2005, Christina Kiss was invited as the only woman to give masterclasses and concerts at the Liszt Festival at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, alongside her Juilliard mentor David Dubal, and colleagues Jerome Lowenthal, Leslie Howard, Hung-Kuan Chen, Shi-Kun Liu, and Cyprien Katsaris. There she performed several concerts, gave masterclasses to the most promising students, gave extensive interviews, and taught private lessons to those involved in the festival.
Christina has performed with many orchestras internationally including the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, MÁV orchestra, Hungarian Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Greenwhich Symphony Orchestra. In chamber music Ms. Kiss has notably performed with the Kodály Quartet, and the Tokyo String Quartet. Christina has collaborated with renowned opera and lieder singer Dietrich Fischer Dieskau in Salzburg, Austria, and Italian operatic baritone Renato Bruson in Milan, Italy. While growing up in Hungary, Kiss attended an opera performance at the famous Budapest Opera House almost every day, and learned her famous phrasing from opera and the human voice. As a young musician, Ms. Kiss was good friends with famed operatic tenor Jaime Aragall, a spectacular tenor admired all over the world, including by his colleague Luciano Pavarotti.
In 2011, the Bicentennial year of Franz Liszt’s birth, Christina performed in many celebratory concerts, and performed a solo recital on October 22, 2011, the exact Bicentennial of Liszt’s birth, at Steinway Hall. The celebration was a touching tribute to the master including highlights of his greatest works throughout the years. In addition, Christina has been a staple performer at the notable “Concerts at Deer Ledge” recital series on the beautiful and historic Deer Ledge Estate hosted by Florence Bocarius as a concert series performed for invited guests including Governors, Mayors, and Diplomats. Ms. Kiss continues to perform her Liszt Cycle, as well as other concerts, and maintains her private teaching studio. In addition to Liszt, Kiss is also an authority on the works of Frédéric Chopin and the romantic era composers, and is a highly sought after piano professor.
Since 1990, Christina Kiss has maintained a private piano studio in Cresskill, a Bergen County New Jersey town near New York City, and teaches students from the Tri-State area of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, in addition to students all over the world in various stages of their careers. She has taught several pianists with professional careers. Her students have attended such renowned conservatories and universities as the Juilliard School, Columbia University, Princeton University, Manhattan School of Music, The Franz Liszt Academy of Music, The Royal Academy of Music in London, The Mannes School of Music, Brown University, Cornell University, The University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Yale University. In addition, Kiss coaches her students below college age for the prestigious ABRSM Exams (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). Many of Kiss’s students receive “Distinction” and “Merit” awards from the ABRSM. Kiss is regarded as one of the finest piano instructors globally.
Christina Kiss has one son, baritone opera singer and actor Adam Kiss, who is an alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Art, Manhattan School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music. Adam is a rising star, and in October of 2019 performed the title role of Figaro in excerpts from “Le Nozze di Figaro” in concert at the 2,500 seat Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, conducted by Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. He was also invited to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Strauss’s Elektra. Adam Kiss has also performed with Opera Philadelphia, and under the baton of the eminent pianist and conductor Philippe Entremont. Ms. Kiss often performs in recital with her son. They have performed dozens of concerts, and song cycles in extremely diverse styles and languages including Schubert’s Winterreise, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Brahms’ Four Serious Songs, Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, Vaughn-Williams’ Songs of Travel, Schumann’s Liederkreis’ Op. 24 and 39, Niles’ Gamblers songs, and Beethoven’s An die ferne geliebte, in addition to song and aria repertoire by Liszt, Verdi, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rodgers, Loewe, and many more composers. Their concerts are noted for being a perfect and intricate partnership between the piano part and vocal line. The voice-piano recitals have added yet another facet to Kiss’s brilliant and diverse career. She resides in Cresskill, New Jersey, a close suburb of New York City.
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“For the virtuoso, musical works are in fact nothing but tragic and moving materializations of his emotions; he is called upon to make them speak, weep, sing and sigh, to recreate them in accordance with his own consciousness. In this way he, like the composer, is a creator, for he must have within himself those passions that he wishes to bring so intensely to life.”
– Franz Liszt