Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Pianist Lara Saldanha is equally at home as a soloist and collaborator in the worlds of new music, standard repertoire, and historical performance. New music highlights include appearances with Metropolis Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion, Chelsea Symphony, Leschetizky Association, Mannes American Contemporary Ensemble, and Round Top Festival. Standard repertoire highlights include concerts at PS 21 in Chatham, NY, Princeton Sound Kitchen, Valley Cottage Young Masters Series, Rites of Spring Festival, Music Iowa City, Icicle Creek, National Federation of Music Clubs, Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Bohemian National Hall. As a historical performer, Lara has studied harpsichord and fortepiano and appeared as a soloist in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Kollective366. Lara debuted in India, her country of origin at the National Center of Performing Arts in Mumbai, Kala Academy in Goa, and Pune Music Society. 

As an vocal pianist, Lara has appeared at the Manetti Shrem Opera Program at Festival Napa Valley, Opera Saratoga’s outreach programs, Cincinnati Song Initiative’s Fellowship, Dellarte Opera. She looks forward to working on the U.S. premiere of Montsalvatge’s Babel 46 at Opera Middlebury and with Toronto Summer Music’s Art of Song this summer.  

Lara was a Collaborative Piano Fellow at Bard Conservatory from 2024-2026, after completing her education at Stony Brook, Mannes, and Northwestern University with Christina Dahl, Vladimir Valjarevic, and Alan Chow. Lara is a committed educator, having taught at Bard, Stony Brook, and Mannes, and at the pre-college level. Lara recently moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina after a decade in New York City.