Alexandra Dariescu, the creator of "The Nutcracker and I," is a trailblazing pianist who demonstrates fearless curiosity and groundbreaking innovation. As part of her artistic journey, Dariescu has achieved gender equality in her concerto programming for three consecutive seasons, reviving and premiering important works by both male and female composers, championing inclusion and diversity.

In demand as a soloist worldwide, she has performed with eminent orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC NOW, all UK Royal Orchestras (RPO, RNS, RLPO, RSNO), the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Hallé, Manchester Camerata, Orchestre National de France and the Royal Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestras. Further afield, Dariescu has performed with the Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Vancouver, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, whilst the conductors she has worked with include Adam Fischer, Cristian Măcelaru, Alain Altinoglu, Fabien Gabel, Jun Märkl, Vasily Petrenko, Ryan Bancroft, James Gaffigan, Andrew Litton, Tianyi Lu and JoAnn Falletta.

Important recent milestones in Dariescu’s career include opening the 2023/24 season for the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Sakari Oramo at the Barbican Centre in the UK premiere of Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie Concertante and giving the world premiere of a new piano concerto written for her by James Lee III - ‘Shades of Unbroken Dreams’, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

In 2022, Dariescu made the world premiere recording of a newly discovered piano concerto by Leokadiya Kashperova (1900) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for BBC Radio 3’s acclaimed programme ‘Composer of the Week’. Further discoveries and important premieres of unjustly neglected concertos Dariescu has given include Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie Variée, the recently unearthed piano concerto by George Enescu, Concierto argentino by Alberto Ginastera, Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie Concertante and four piano concertos written for Dariescu: Emily Howard’s “Mesmerism”, Daniel Dhondy’s “In Touch”, Iris ter Shiphorst’s “Sometimes” and James Lee III’s “Shades of Unbroken Dreams”.

In 2017, Dariescu took the world by storm with her successful piano recital production “The Nutcracker and I”, an original groundbreaking multimedia performance for piano solo with live dance and digital animation. It has since enjoyed international acclaim every season, and has drawn thousands of young audiences into some of the most prestigious concert halls across Europe, Australia, China, the Emirates and the US, realising Dariescu’s vision of building bridges and making classical music more accessible to the wider public.

Alexandra Dariescu is the first ever female Romanian pianist to perform at the Royal Albert Hall and performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Staatsoper Vienna, Konzerthaus Vienna, BOZAR Brussels, Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Sydney Opera House, Beijing National Centre for Performing Arts, Shanghai Grand Opera, Tokyo Musashino Hall, Dubai Opera, Wigmore, Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Barbican amongst many others.

Dariescu has released eight albums to critical acclaim, the latest disc being her Decca recording with Angela Gheorghiu. The discography includes a Trilogy of Complete Preludes series consisting of Chopin, Dutilleux, Shostakovich, Szymanowski, Messiaen, Faure and Lili Boulanger as well as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Darrell Ang (Signum Records), in addition to “The Nutcracker and I” audio book.

Mentored by Sir András Schiff and Dame Imogen Cooper, Dariescu studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Nelson Goerner, Alexander Melnikov, Dina Parakhina, Mark Ray; at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Ronan O’Hora; and in her hometown Iasi with Mihaela Constantin and Cornelia Apostol. She was a Laureate of the Verbier Festival Academy, receiving the UK’s Women of the Future Award in the Arts and Culture category. Dariescu holds many special accolades including Cultural Ambassador of Romania, Officer of the Romanian Crown from the Royal Family and Young European Leader by Friends of Europe. In 2020, Dariescu received the Order 'Cultural Merit' in the rank of Knight from the Romanian President and became an Associated Member of the Royal Northern College of Music, where she also holds the distinguished position of Professor of Piano.

The Philharmonia was founded in 1945 by EMI producer Walter Legge, and has worked with a who’s who of 20th- and 21st-century music. Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali took up the baton as Principal Conductor in September 2021. The sixth person to hold the title, he is known for his expressive, balletic conducting style and irrepressible energy.
Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, Riccardo Muti and Esa-Pekka Salonen are just a few of the great artists to be associated with the Philharmonia, and the Orchestra has premiered works by Richard Strauss, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Errollyn Wallen, Kaija Saariaho and many others.
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, in the heart of London, has been the Philharmonia’s home since 1995.
The Orchestra also has residencies at venues and festivals across England, each embracing a Learning & Engagement programme that empowers people to engage with, and participate in, orchestral music.
The Philharmonia’s international reputation is built in part on its extraordinary 76-year recording legacy, which in the last ten years has been built on by pioneering work with digital technology. The Orchestra’s installations and VR experiences have introduced hundreds of thousands of people to the symphony orchestra. The Philharmonia has won four Royal Philharmonic Society awards for its digital projects and audience engagement work.
The Philharmonia is the go-to orchestra for many film and videogame composers in the UK and Hollywood, and its music-making has been experienced by millions of cinema-goers and gamers. It has recorded around 150 soundtracks, with film credits stretching back to 1947.