Naida Cole
Naida Cole (born October 28 1974 in Durham, North Carolina, U.S.), is a concert pianist who left a successful career as a recording artist and touring musician to become a medical student at Brown University Alpert Medical School, where she is currently enrolled. She graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto at the age of 13, making her the second youngest to receive the school's ARCT degree (the youngest was Glenn Gould); at RCM she studied with Marina Geringas. She later studied piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University with the legendary pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher, and flute with renowned flutist Robert Willoughby. Other studies brought her to the Fondazione Internazionale per il pianoforte in Cadenabbia, Italy, and to the University of Montreal, where she earned her Masters in Music and studied with Marc Durand. Her decision to become a pianist was made while she attended the historic Chetham's School of Music.
She has recorded music by Fauré, Chabrier, Satie and Ravel. She has also presented the music of Messiaen, Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Chabrier, Chopin, Corigliano, Debussy, Fauré, Liszt, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schubert, Clara Schumann, Scriabin and Stravinsky. She has performed with the Toronto Symphony, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestras and also with Gidon Kremer's Kremerata Baltica, the London Sinfonietta and the Munich, Warsaw and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras.
She is an exclusive Decca recording artist. Her first recording (of music by Fauré, Chabrier, Satie and Ravel) was released on Deutsche Grammophon, and was named one of the Critics’ Favourite CDs of 2001 by Gramophone Magazine. BBC Music Magazine awarded it five (out of five) stars. She has performed regularly with Gidon Kremer and with his ensemble Kremerata Baltica, and appeared on their recording After Mozart.
Naida Cole is a Yamaha Artist.
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From 2007 Naida hopes to pursue her other passion, medicine. She is currently attending Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.