(Photo by Allard Willemse)
Hungarian-American pianist Peter Klimo has been studying piano since the age of nine.
A Los Angeles native, he began his piano studies with Vicharini and Rosanna Marzaroli
and continued with Dr. Tyler Tom while attending the Los Angeles County High School
for the Arts. Peter earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music
studying with Dr. Nelita True, his Master’s Degree from the Yale School of Music studying
with Peter Frankl, an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University with Dr. Tamás
Ungár, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Performance and Literature at the Eastman
School of Music with Alan Chow.
Having participated in several international competitions, Peter won 3rd prize at the 2019 Bartók World Piano Competition, 3rd prize at the 2019 Bösendorfer International Piano Competition, 2nd prize at the 2014 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht, as well
as special prizes at the 2017 Maj Lind and 2014 Wideman International Piano Competitions.
Performance highlights in recent years include concerto performances in Budapest,
Hungary with Zsolt Hamar and the Hungarian National Philharmonic as well as with Gergely
Ménesi and the Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra; Phoenix, Arizona, with Matthew Kasper
and the Phoenix Symphony; Seoul, South Korea with Hee-Chuhn Choi and the KBS Symphony
Orchestra; Los Angeles, California with John Roscigno and the 52nd American Liszt Society Festival Orchestra; Columbus, Georgia with George del Gobbo
and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
Also an avid chamber musician, Peter has toured with violinist Tessa Lark in the US
and Holland, and with the Belenus Quartet in Austria and Holland. He performed Bartók’s
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., at
Sprague Hall at the Yale School of Music with all members playing from memory, as
well as at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival. He most recently performed
the work throughout Holland in 2016 with winners of the International Tromp Percussion
Competition.
Passionate about education and sustaining the art form, Peter has given masterclasses
at Cal State University Northridge, Hardin Simmons University, at both Los Angeles
and Orange County High Schools for the Arts, for the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic Society
and the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania, and served as a faculty member for
the 2013 inaugural year of the DBS Summer Music Festival in Hong Kong. He has been
called to adjudicate competitions both local and international, has maintained a private
studio in Los Angeles, and is an Assistant Professor of Piano at California State
University Fresno.
