HELENA ELIAS

Born in Belém, Brazil in 1952, Helena Elias began her musical studies with piano and violin, in her home town. Afterward, from 1963 till 1969 she carried on at the National Academy of Lisbon in Portugal in the class of professor Evaristo Campos Coelho and obtains the First prize in conclusion of Superior Course of Piano in the complementary disciplines there: chamber music, Composition, Music History, Acoustics. In this establishment she was also a violin pupil and has concludes general courses with violinist Lydia de Carvalho.

In piano competition at the National Academy of Lisbon she also obtained in 1969, the Prize "Rodrigo da Fonseca" and "Alexandre Rey-Colaço".

Back to Brazil, she joins from 1976 till 1990, the Federal University of the State of Pará, (UFPa). And from 1970 till 1977, she joins the Conservatoire Carlos Gomes, as teacher of piano, Aesthetics and musical Language and Chamber music.

She created at the Federal University of Pará the "Duet of pianos" of this University, group in charge of the disclosure and the research in music, particularly for two pianos and four hands piano.

Helena Elias was the interpreter and the co-author of the following articles published in the UFPa Press: "The Art of the Fugue of J.S.BACH" (1977), in its two pianos version and "Beethoven works for four hands piano" (1978).

In 1976 she also obtains at the Federal University of Pará a Bachelor's degree in letters on Language and French Literature.

In 1981, still in Brazil, Helena Elias was a prize-winner of the Villa-Lobos International Piano Competition in Rio de Janeiro, with the prize "Barroso Netto".

At the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, she obtains in 1985 the Master's degree in Music, piano, supervised by Heitor Alimonda with the thesis "The piano touch and the sound realization of the First Exercise book of Claude Debussy's images". Distinction A (Library of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).

In France, at the University Sorbonne, Paris IV, she supports in 1996 a doctoral thesis in Musicology and Music History on "Villa-Lobos, the man and his works for the piano", supervised by professor Manfred Kelkel. Summa cum laude, this thesis is published in the Presses Universitaires du Septentrion Paris, on 1998.

Pianist and Musicologist associated in Paris to the laboratory research (EA on 2006) - Musical French Observatory, Helena Elias prepares a HDR, supervised by professor Danièle Pistone at the University Paris IV - House of the research.

As representative of the OMF, Helena Elias was one of the organizers of the colloquium "The Brazilian Piano", realized on January 30th, 2008 in the Salle des Actes of the University Sorbonne Paris IV in association with the University of Paraná. In this colloquium, she contributed with the conference "contemporary Creation for piano in Brazil", and also participated to the closing recital of this colloquium interpreting works of Villa-Lobos, Francisco Mignone, Jorge Antunes and Marlos Nobre. The publication of this conference in its final version is planned in Sorbonne in the acts of the colloquium, and in Portuguese version in Brazil, in the magazine "Brasiliana" at the Brazilian Music academy of Rio de Janeiro.

Helena Elias was a pupil of Jacques Klein in Rio de Janeiro and Magda Tagliaferro in Paris, where she also followed courses with the pianists Pierre Sancan, Lucette Descaves, Magalof and Edson Elias.

From 1985 she is teaching assistant of the pianist Edson Elias in the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris.

With this teacher she realizes every year, during Easter holidays, a "Training course of technique and piano interpretation" aiming at pianists' preparation of several nationalities to present international competitions and examinations of Academies and Music schools.

Living in France since 1983, Helena Elias performs in Europe and in South America as soloist and chamber musician.

She participates in several juries of piano competition and also gives masterclasses. In 2006 she was President of the jury of the International piano Competition and Chamber music of San Sébastian, in Spain.

http://www.academiesdugrandnancy.com/gb/prof_elias.htm

Apresentação da pianista paraense Helena Elias, professora de piano da Ecole Normale de Musique (Paris), no dia 19 de abril de 2011, na série Concertos FINEP, realizada desde 1992 no Espaço Cultural FINEP (Praia do Flamengo, 200 - Pilotis - entrada franca).

Programa:

Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras nº 4 (Prelúdio-Introdução, Coral-Canto do Sertão, Ária-Cantiga, Dansa-Miudinho)

Mignone - Sonata nº 1 (Allegro moderato, Andantino quase allegretto, Moderato)

Chopin - Quatro Mazurkas op. 67 (Vivace, Cantabile, Allegretto, Moderato animato); Sonata op. 35 (Grave/doppio movimento, Scherzo, Marche funèbre, Presto)