Interview with Alexandra Dariescu

Alexandra Dariescu graduated from the RNCM in 2008 and has gone on to international acclaim as a soloist, producer, and educator.

Her relationship with the College continued long after graduation – as a former Professor of Piano, and since 2016 in the ambassadorial role of Honorary Associate Artist. Alex tells Sarah Walters why the decisions she made at College continue to influence her outlook today and impact her extraordinary career.

Q: Your story attests to a life surrounded by music from as early as you can remember – what is your most vivid memory of an early encounter with music and how that music made you feel?

Alex: ‘I was brought up in the church choir with my entire family singing there, and every summer I would go to the monasteries in the mountains with my gran and I would hear the monks chanting; it was always something so spiritual and so beautiful that, to be honest, I still just have this link between music and religion. It transcends; when you see a piece of sheet music, it’s not the notes on the score, it’s the story and the feeling that you get, and it’s something from a different world.

‘It’s interesting that the RNCM has this theme of “the joy in music” next season, because that’s exactly what music brought to me – the joy of being together, of worshiping together, of community, and that was always something really, really beautiful that I carried through to my teens and when I first moved to the UK.

‘When I started playing the piano, I’d have a few little pieces whenever we had a family gathering – because in those times, you didn’t go to restaurants or anything for birthdays and special celebrations, people would come home, and I would play a tiny little piece. There was always applause from my family and encouragement and happiness. So again, there’s that joy.

‘I had two fantastic female teachers back in Romania, and we never started working on technique first, as it were. We were working through the question of: “What does the music mean? What’s the story behind the music?”. We worked through that message, rather than needing to get a bit of music to be technically perfect from the beginning.’

Q: Do you think it came naturally, then, to fit into the rigorous lifestyle that training to be a musician takes? What are your memories of the start of that journey?

Alex: ‘I was a very, very driven child! I had my debut with an orchestra aged nine, and I very confidently declared after the concert that this is what I wanted to do. I don’t come from a family of musicians, so I never knew the route or the path, and both mom and I sort of reacted instinctively rather than knowing exactly what path to follow.

‘My 4am starts came out of necessity because this was post-communist Romania and there were not many pianos to practice on. Also, I went to this specialist music school, which meant that you had all the normal classes plus everything to do with music. So, you had solfège and dictation and history of music and harmony and everything from a really early age. Waking up at 4am had to be done!

‘I think I was one of those blessed children that knew what they wanted to do from a really young age, and I understood that talent was only a part of the puzzle. Rather than thinking, “Well, if you have talent, that is it”, I understood the power of discipline and resilience, and they’re still with me. They’re my lifelong companions. I don’t think it ever gets any easier, especially as a pianist. You need to be like an athlete. You need to think: “Right, this is my little marathon. This is my breathing space.” Most of the time, you just have to be practicing. You have to love it!’

Q: What motivated you to take your journey outside of your home country?

Alex: ‘I won my first competition abroad when I was 10. That driven child had refused to go on holiday with her parents, as she always did every year, and instead stayed home to practice with gran. I completely refused to go on holiday, I stayed home, I practiced, I did the competition, I won first prize, and this was my first international competition. It was such a huge boost, but I also saw what was happening outside of Romania; there were so many more opportunities.

‘Reading about the great pianists and great musicians, I kind of had the idea that I was going to go to Paris, because that was the centre of music 100 years ago, but then this incredible opportunity came – there was a Constantin Silvestri Music Scholarship and it was for kids between 15 and 17, instrumentalists and singers. There was only one award: a full scholarship to a school in Yorkshire, of all places – in Pocklington School, in York. So, literally a couple of weeks after I turned 17, I left Romania with just one suitcase and a big dream, and that year really opened up so much for me: I had access to a Steinway piano the whole time, I had a much younger teacher who was only nine years older than I was, and I just had the feeling that you can achieve anything – that the dream is not too big.

‘I’ll always remember the history teacher who was the careers advisor as well in Pocklington School. He came to me and he gave me £40 cash, and he said: “Go to the RNCM and have an advised audition, because I really think that place will be home for you.” On 6 May, 2002, I went for an advised audition. I remember that so clearly; it was open day at the RNCM, and that day completely changed my life. It was the most extraordinary encounter, and I saw people that really saw something very special in me, and they offered me a full scholarship for the next four years. It really felt that, “Wow, the dream can actually be tangible”. That was one of the most beautiful things about the RNCM.’

Q: Did you cope very naturally with being away from home and your family?

Alex: ‘You have to roll with it. I’m not going to lie, there were some really, really hard moments. I felt so homesick. Nowadays, there are mobile phones, and you can be in touch with your family and see them all the time. But I had £5 pocket money every month, and I wouldn’t spend it on sweets or whatever else. I would save it and every month I could phone home for exactly three minutes. That £5 only allowed me to phone my landline at home and speak to my mom for three minutes, and it was really, really hard.

‘When you believe in something so much there are many sacrifices you know have to be done, and that’s why it has to come from within. Even if you have the pushiest of parents, it can’t and it doesn’t push you through. You need to believe in it, and you find solace in your music. That’s where the piano has always been my best friend, really. One of my first piano teachers, she always said: “You know, the more you give to the piano, the more you invest in it, the more it will give you back.” And that’s very, very true.’

Q: What lessons did you learn as an RNCM undergraduate that you would share with students now about choosing the right opportunities while at university and maximising those chances as you head out into your career?

Alex: ‘I think one of the most important lessons is don’t wait for opportunities but create them – and there’s a little story here. The Bridgewater Hall, which is literally 10 minutes down the road and was my second home after the RNCM, had a midday series, and of course I went to a few concerts and noticed they needed a page turner. I can’t remember whether it was advertised or I was offered it, but I just needed to be on stage. So, every Wednesday lunchtime, I would be there, and of course I started speaking to the people who were organising the whole series and everything. It was my second year of undergrad and they phoned me in the evening and said: “The pianist for tomorrow got sick – can you step in at very, very short notice?” This was about nine at night and the recital was the next day – and, of course I said yes, and I did the concert, and it was a huge success. The next year they offered me my own recital – and what it showed is that out of a tiny little job, you can connect with people and make networks who, every week, I was sharing a little bit more about myself with (“Oh, I did this little competition in college,” or, “I did this audition,” or, “I did this and that”) and after the drip effect of that they thought I was ready to do a recital at the Bridgewater Hall.

‘I think it’s very much about saying yes to collaborations and exploring outside your comfort zone. Also being curious and open-minded and starting new friendships. And this is another story – that until I came to the RNCM, I had never, ever met a female composer in my whole life, so I became very good friends with Emily Howard who is on the RNCM teaching staff now. but then she was a PhD student who came to my concerts. I went to hear her pieces, and then she said: “I’d love to write a piano concerto for you.” And she did! And we recorded it with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the concerto got the Best Composer Award the following year. It was extraordinary for me to work with a living composer that was a female composer, to actually meet one in person and to break that myth that women don’t compose. That collaboration is what started my very, very long thirst and curiosity in promoting female composers and equality in classical music.

‘One of the most important lessons at the RNCM that I learned, and probably every kid should learn from a young age, is don’t try to be anyone else. I think everyone’s got their own path and their own journey, so never imitate anything. You can take inspiration, but your individuality is your superpower.

‘Businesspeople talk a lot about USP, but I think we should embrace that as well – our unique selling point. There are so many musicians out there and, especially with social media nowadays and the power of the internet, everything is so much more immediate. That’s why I try to encourage my students and everyone from the younger generation to find their musical identity, and this can be a very short process or it can be a lifelong quest. I think college is absolutely the right time to discover who you are, what you love performing, what you are good at. I know so many pianists that want to perform only Rachmaninov and Prokofiev but their hand can’t actually stretch an octave. So, your physiology, the way you are built, will also determine what sort of repertoire you want to approach. Do you love working with singers, or do you love doing chamber music? There are so many different avenues for embracing that USP, and finding your identity is definitely one of the highest priority things on the list.’

Q: What have your experiences as a student and as a teacher taught you about the value of music education and conservatoire training – in terms of getting your start, finding your path, breaking down barriers?

Alex: ‘A conservatoire is not simply somewhere where you go and perfect your technique. It’s where you discover who you are as a person, as a musician, and I think especially RNCM gave me so much confidence and lifelong friendships. The mentors that encouraged me, the teachers – they are your best friends, they are your family away from home. I see now as a teacher myself how important it is to encourage the younger generation not to create copies of ourselves but to help them discover their voice.

‘Talent can be everywhere, but opportunities are not distributed equally. You could be incredibly successful in college and winning all competitions and getting really, really high marks, but that does not guarantee that you’re going be as successful when you finish college. Exactly the other way around, there are so many students that don’t get the highest marks, but actually they go on to have some of the most fulfilling careers after they finish.

‘It’s also so important to be part of a team because, especially as a pianist, you lead a very lonely life. The year after I graduated, it was very hard because I had no framework. I was my own boss, as it were, and that can be incredibly lonely. You have to rely on the friendships and the collaborations, on your network that you started already in college, so really invest in that as much as possible.’

Q: What impact does conservatoire and music training have on the wider creative industry?

Alex: ‘Conservatoires do not simply train performers; they train creators and educators and entrepreneurs and artistic leaders – and today’s musicians wear so many hats. I can talk from experience: you have to be your own agent, your own accountant, your own coffee maker, your own secretary, your own social media manager, your own everything. I am in a very blessed situation that I’ve got an incredible team who work with me, and I always believe in the power of collaborative work, but if I were to stay at home and wait for the phone to ring from my managers, it would never do. I always have to come up with ideas and with creative projects, and with interesting repertoire and things that I really believe in. I think the skills that you develop through music training, through a college – like creativity and discipline, collaboration, communication, and that resilience that we talk about – they’re valuable far beyond college time.

‘Conservatoires really encourage adaptability and curiosity, and these qualities are so essential in today’s creative industries. Also, professionalism – you need to be there at that specific time for that lecture, and it’s exactly the same for a rehearsal or for anything else. But there are so many students that don’t take advantage fully of everything that’s offered to them. There’s no excuse for any student not to go to every single masterclass because they had to practice, or they were busy. Go to piano masterclasses, go to singing ones, go to a tuba masterclass – it doesn’t matter what it is, just go and be curious and take advantage of everything.

‘You need to have that curiosity in you and not just go to whatever is required of you – when you get your first job, whether it is in a school, in a college, or as a professional musician, if you’re only doing what’s required of you, you will never advance. You really need to show that you’re thinking outside the box and you can collaborate with everyone. I think conservatoires play a crucial role in all of that, and the more open-minded we are at any stage of our lives, the more fulfilling our career will be.’

Q: What is the best way to advocate for conservatoire and music training to ensure the next generation of musicians gets the message about its value?

Alex: ‘We need to tell more stories about the many different paths that a young graduate can have. Long gone are the days that you could be a one-sided musician – as in, “I’m going to train to be a concert violinist or soloist, and that’s it”. Most of us nowadays have portfolio careers, and you look at the most successful musicians out there, they’re also writers or they’re teachers, or they do masterclasses, or a combination of all of them, you know? They have a little project on the side. They do some chamber music. They do a bit of accompaniment.

‘That portfolio career, it goes back to the question of what is a successful career, and back to musical identity. I have so many students in their 20s and when I ask them, “What’s your dream, what’s the goal?”, they say, “Oh, I want to travel the world and do performances of concertos”, or “to play with orchestras as soloists”. And I’m like: “Great. OK. So, what concertos have you played?” They’ve never played with an orchestra as a soloist, so this is just a goal in their head of what’s going to make them happy – but they’ve never tried it. How are you going to know that this is going to make you happy, or that you’re good at it, or you’re going enjoy?

‘You are signing up for a life in music, and that can have so many different facettes – especially in college, trying to do as many collaborations as possible, with schools, with communities, working with all people and seeing what resonates with them. We need to bring music to where young people are and people from very underprivileged backgrounds. I remember when I was in Verbier (Festival Academy), we did an amazing project with refugees and that was something incredible. The more we connect to the wider community, the richer our society will be, and the richer our careers and lives will be.’

Q: What ignites your interest now as a professional and performer? Is it collaborators, composers, repertoire, performance venues?

Alex: ‘I am a very curious person and I do ask questions, and I spend hours researching all sorts of things. Some of my most fulfilling moments in my career have been bringing to the forefront new pieces and new composers that the audiences might have never heard of. So, doing premieres – I absolutely love them, because we are sort of rewriting history, or finding a piece that was premiered and only performed once 100 years ago, especially by a neglected composer. That is absolutely stunning! Working with living composers – I think that’s something extraordinary. I mean, imagine working with Beethoven, in his time!

‘I’ve worked on two very, very big education projects with (conductor) Tim Redmond, and that’s again a collaboration, a friendship, that I had from about 15 years ago, and just in the last few years we decided to do two fantastic education projects together – and one of them was done with the London Symphony Orchestra in front of 5,000 children. Hearing them sing, and hearing my story and playing along, is just incredible and you know that those kids are never going to forget that concert ever. You know that probably 0.1% will go into a music career, maybe not even that, but the fact that you’ve had an impact on someone’s life like that is just fantastic.

‘It’s important to always find the joy in music because we all get so wrapped up and, especially the younger students, they get very nervous and they don’t know how to deal with their nerves and emotions. But just never forget that music is art, it’s bigger than us. We are very self-conscious because we don’t want to make a mistake, but at the end of the day, it’s the emotion that you transmit. In a social context, people will not necessarily remember what you said but how you made them feel, and it’s the same with music. They’re not going to care about the tiny little wrong note. They’re going to care about what joy and message you brought with the music.’

Q: In 2026/27, the RNCM is celebrating “the joy of music” – which music or musical achievement first brought you joy?

Alex: ‘It’s that perfect symbiosis between audience and myself on stage, when you feel that you can hear a pin drop, and you feel that the audience is with you on that journey. That is the most extraordinary feeling that you can have as a performer. To be surrounded by people who you trust and who inspire you, also. To have an amazing instrument – that counts, and as a pianist, you have to be so adaptable! But when all of those things work together, you feel inspired and especially free. I think freedom in performing is the most beautiful thing, and that comes from a lot of preparation, a lot of visualisation of how you’re going to behave and how you’re going to feel. Preparation and freedom, this is what makes it as close as the spiritual or religious experience I was talking about at the beginning.

‘Meditation for me is a must before I go on stage. Let’s face it: all of us, we’re thinking, “Okay, what am I going to have for dinner? What’s my to-do list? Oh, I need to pay that tax. I need to do this and that” – so many different things that we’re thinking of. But when you perform, you have to be 110% in the moment and not waste any single millisecond, because the audience knows when you’re not fully connected.

‘When people give you a standing ovation, or they clap really loudly and everything, for any performer that is the highest level of appreciation, and you feel that wow – like, you’ve really done it. You don’t do it for the applause, you do it for the actual experience, but it’s extraordinary how that outburst can give you energy for the next few months.’

Q: You’re a great champion for innovation and for versatility: your creative career is varied (from classical repertoire to your own touring production), you elevate and champion female composers, and you create diverse and equitable spaces for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Why have those things been important to you, and what unexpected opportunities has that approach opened up?

Alex: ‘I think creating my own production, The Nutcracker and I, was probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever done – and it was so difficult to pull it all together. It was the very, very first time I was a producer, and I had so many different hats on that sometimes it really felt impossible. It was so challenging that many times I thought, “That is the end of it!”. I had to fundraise a very, very substantial amount of money, and I very soon realised that standing in front of many, many, many people asking for money is not something that I can do very easily. So, at the end of that very big event that took about two weeks to organise, I got zero pennies out of that fundraising event.

‘I was still part of Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) when the idea came. I would do a lot of solo recitals up and down the country, and recitals are a very lonely affair. You travel there, you practice alone, you perform alone, you pick yourself up even if you’re feeling tired, ill, whatever, and then at the end of the recital you go to your B&B or hotel completely alone, or you try to catch the last train home. And in so many of these concert clubs or music societies, they were advertising, “Alexandra is doing the last ever concert, because after 30, 40 years of being in business the audiences are dying”. There were a couple of performances that older people fainted; solo recitals were not attracting a young demographic.

‘I wanted to collaborate with different art forms, I wanted to make classical music a lot more accessible, and I wanted to build bridges for those that are perhaps new to classical music. And I have to say, I never, ever in my wildest dreams imagined that it would take off like it has! We’ve done more than 100 performances all over the world, and the most extraordinary thing was to see three or even four generations from the same family at the same piano recital – which never happens. We included very cool technology in a constructive way to tell the story, and we had live dance as well. At the end of the day, the music is the same, and the level of preparation and everything you put into it is exactly the same as a normal recital – but the fact that you’re adding some extra little magical things means that your audience is so much wider. And every single concert, every performance of this format has been sold out, which is incredible.’

Q: You are about to play the BBC Proms – a truly fantastic honour! Tell me about your own history with the Proms: your first experience of it, the magic of it, what excites you most about being part of it, and your plans for it.

Alex: ‘Oh my gosh. For so many years, you have no idea, this has been one of my top three dreams ever! I go to so many Proms – especially from the moment that I moved to London – and I’ve played at the Royal Albert Hall six times. But the Proms is just the place you want to be; I would cycle from home to the Albert Hall, and so many times I thought, “Gosh, do you think one day, maybe one day, maybe one day?” …  and now for it to actually be happening, it’s just extraordinary! I am so humbled. I am so excited. I’m terrified. I am everything in one!

‘I am actually going for my debut with a really, really dear piece: Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie variée, which was written in 1912 and it’s only been performed in London once. I did the UK premiere back in 2019 at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra – that’s when I got introduced to the piece, but it’s never, ever been performed at the Proms. I will be waving the flag for female composers and for someone who has been feared and loved as one of the greatest teachers of all times. She also composed, and she lived in a society that thought women shouldn’t be composing, but her Fantaisie is absolutely extraordinary. I’ve done the US premiere, I’ve done the Scandinavian premiere, I’ve performed it a lot, so I’m really thrilled that I’m going with a piece that I know is my own. To bring something so new and unique and to do a female concerto – I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think anyone else is doing a female concerto on any instrument.

‘I think it’s such a strong message as well for the younger generation that, no matter where you start, if you have a really big dream and you don’t give up, you can actually get there sooner or later. Age is just a number, so when you actually get there, really try to enjoy it as much as possible.’

Q: You are the first Romanian, female pianist to play the Proms. What do you think nine-year-old you would make of that?

Alex: ‘Radu Lupu from Romania performed there and, of course, for so many of us he is one of the greatest pianists of all times. To very humbly step in his footsteps is just extraordinary. So, no pressure!

‘The Proms is the biggest festival in the world, that’s no doubt, and to be part of that history… when I got the programme back in April, I’m not going to lie, I did tear up to see my name in there! This year, I believe there’s only three female pianists: it’s Yuja Wang and Martha Argerich and I, so to be part of that lineup, to be given that recognition and just to be part of that history, that’s what makes it so exciting.

‘It’s been a lot of hard work. The preparation for this, my goodness! All of those years of traveling like crazy and living out of a suitcase and dealing with so many different pieces of repertoire. Of course, it would’ve been great to have a very nice and easy schedule until then, but sadly, from now until the Proms, there are six different programmes that I’m doing, and in the four days before the actual date of the Proms I’m playing in the US. I’m playing a really difficult concerto in Santa Cruz which I finish at 8pm, then I’ve got a two-hour drive to San Francisco airport to catch the 11pm flight to London, otherwise I’m not back in time for the first rehearsal with the Hallé. But when I step on that stage, it’s not necessarily about the Proms, it’s not the Albert Hall, it’s not 6,000 people: it’s just me in the moment, enjoying every single note and focusing only on the music. The rest can come afterwards: the celebration and the feeling.

‘Because I was raised in church, I always thought whatever is there for me, it will happen. And maybe sometimes it wasn’t at the time I thought it would happen, but I think everything comes at the right time, and nine-year-old would just be completely mesmerised – but not shocked! Because, as I said, I was a very determined child. I’m the sort of person that whatever decision I make, I don’t look back. I don’t regret things, and that’s a very healthy attitude. But certainly, I think the nine-year-old me would be very, very happy and proud.’

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RNCM alumna Alexandra Dariescu makes her BBC Proms debut on Wed 5 Aug with The Hallé. Her recording of Doreen Carwithen’s Piano Concerto with Manchester Camerata is released on Resonus on Fri 4 Sep.

10 July 2026