Meet Julia Siciliano

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Siciliano.

Hi Julia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I owe my story to my family. I was very lucky to be born into two families that value music. My father’s father, Joe Siciliano, who immigrated to the US from Italy, was an operatic tenor. He had one of the most naturally beautiful voices and such a passion for music that without any formal training (and well into his adulthood), he was offered the lead roles in the Detroit Opera House! My mother, Mary Siciliano, is also a musician–one of the most sought-after piano teachers in the Detroit area. She is a firm believer that hard work can give you the life you desire, and she has proven that time and again. At her current age of (well, I’m not supposed to say), she is maintaining an incredibly strong studio of piano students, performing chamber music throughout Michigan, and is becoming quite the recording artist. I feel like I have been blessed with the best of both worlds: discipline paired with natural talent is the strongest combination to survive in the music industry. 

Since I was three years old, I would ask my mom relentlessly when I could start taking piano lessons. She finally gave in when I turned four. My commitment to the piano never wavered from that moment. I also loved musical theater, but when I had to choose between the high school musical and a piano competition, I chose the competition. My love of musicals has remained, and I think I owe that to my grandfather. The music I’m drawn to playing always has a beautiful singing line. This is why I tend to perform classical and romantic repertoire the most. 

Since high school, I attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, with one of the world’s most legendary piano teachers: Nelita True. I then received a master’s degree in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan, another one of the nation’s top music schools, with the teacher I was lucky to study with in high school, Logan Skelton. 

Since graduating, I have spent my time performing solo recitals, concertos, and chamber music throughout the world, meeting some of today’s greatest musicians, and working alongside them. I have also recently embraced my love of teaching, another gift I owe my mother and all of the fine teachers I’ve been fortunate to have throughout my life. It is my honor to share music, whether on stage or one on one, and my greatest contribution to this world. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had a major challenge to overcome, and one that I am still working on. This is the challenge of being a “small-handed pianist”. What this means is that playing the piano is more physically taxing for me, and poses more challenges than someone with a “normal” or large hand. I have to spend more time working on technical passagework, and often have to think of creative alternatives for fingerings and chords that I cannot reach. My arms are more prone to injury, because of the constant stretching I have to do with my hands. Furthermore, some repertoire is quite literally out of reach for me, such as many works by Rachmaninoff and other well-known composers like Franck, Poulenc, and Chopin. These limitations have made it difficult for me to be truly competitive with my peers, limiting my chances to even begin a career as a concert pianist. What most people don’t realize (even most pianists) is that the “standard” keyboard size is not the only one. Since the last 20 years, we now have piano manufacturers making pianos with keyboards of reduced size, calling them “stretto pianos”. But these are not widely known or circulated. I only became aware of them in the last three years, and only played on my first one just last week! I have now immediately become an advocate for these instruments, since I know how much they will help me, and how much they will help emerging young artists, especially women, who typically have smaller hands than men! In my lifetime, I hope to see stretto pianos in every major concert hall, and available to every major piano competition in the world, and will do my best to make this a reality!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a concert pianist. I perform on stages throughout the world, sometimes solo piano, sometimes chamber music, and sometimes as a concerto soloist with orchestra. I am known for my beautiful sound, expression, and sensitivity. As pianists, we cannot physically carry our own instrument around with us to every performance, so we are forced to perform on a foreign instrument each time we perform somewhere new. After a performance, I am often complimented by the way I make the piano sound, that it is sweeter and warmer than when other artists perform on it. When I perform chamber music, it is one of my greatest joys to feed off the energy of my partners on stage and to also inspire them with my energy. There is almost no limit to great expression and music-making when I am on stage with other like-minded musicians! 

One of my proudest moments is performing Schubert’s Trout Quintet on the stage of the MälmoLive concert hall in Mälmo, Sweden, on March 26, 2020, as a livestream concert. My colleagues and I were the only five musicians in the world able to meet and perform together, and this positive and uplifting piece of music was exactly what the world needed to hear in that moment. Rather than be nervous that the whole world was potentially watching, I was humbled and grateful for what we were able to do. Making music is a gift, and I think I truly realized it in that moment. It was one of my finest performances to date. 

You can find me frequently in the Detroit area at either of my recital series: The Pleyel Piano Series at the Scarab Club and the Steinway Piano Series at the Cranbrook House (Bloomfield Hills). I also perform frequently at the Kerrytown Concert House (Ann Arbor) and Schoolcraft College (Livonia). 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
One of my favorite books is Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. In a nation where athletics and capitalism are king, it can be difficult to feel relevant when you are a classical musician. But Musicophilia serves as a reminder that what I do is so integral to what it means to be human; our brain was designed for it! 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.juliasiciliano.com
• Instagram: @julia_siciliano_piano
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaSicilianoPiano/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@juliasiciliano
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/julia-siciliano-piano