Biography
"An oustanding pianist." Andrei Gavrilov
Recognized as an imaginative and unusual performer with refined interpretations, for her “calm technical mastery, immediate understanding of balance” as well as “extraordinary vigor, flawless musicality,” (Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace), Mathilde Handelsman is a concert pianist, poet, and educator from Paris, France.
Spanning the repertoire across Europe and North America, Handelsman's career as a soloist and collaborative musician has led her to perform under conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Thomas Adès, Stefan Asbury, and Luigi Gaggero. Highlights from recent and current seasons include chamber performances alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Nicolas Namoradze, and Stephen Drury at the Tanglewood Music Festival, as well as a solo debut at Carnegie Hall in May 2022.
Handelsman's début solo album, Images, containing Claude Debussy’s complete works of 1903-1907, was released for the record label Sheva in 2020 to critical acclaim. It was featured in Sequenza 21’s “Best of 2021” list and noted in the press for its “serene and firm moments of beauty” (Take Effect), “lush sonority,” (Audiophile Audition), and “magical aura” (Sequenza 21). Additionally, Handelsman’s work as a poet includes two published volumes, Pré-sage (2016) and L’Absurde Génie des fleurs (2017).
Mathilde Handelsman was born in Paris to a family of musicians and visual artists. Her principal teachers are Laurent Cabasso, Menahem Pressler, and John O’Conor. Throughout her childhood, Handelsman studied under the mentorship of French pianist Jean Martin, a pupil of Yves Nat, and in the pre-college division of the Paris Conservatoire. In recent years, Handelsman received guidance from esteemed musicians such as Jeffrey Kahane, Emanuel Ax, Joseph Swensen, Garrick Ohlsson, Peter Serkin, Robert Levin, Philippe Cassard, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. After graduating Magna cum laude from the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg in 2015, Handelsman moved to the United States to further her studies with.a full scholarship at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University-Bloomington where she taught as an Associate Instructor. In 2020, she earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Shenandoah Conservatory on a full scholarship and assistantship.
Dr. Handelsman currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Previous teaching appointments include the University of New Hampshire as well as the Young Pianists Program at Indiana University. She is the co-founder and co-Artistic Director of the St. Andrews Chamber Music Festival in New Brunswick, Canada.
