Pianist BENEDICTE PALKO was born in Stavanger, Norway, of Norwegian-Hungarian parents, and is since 2002 permanently living in Seville, Spain. She chooses her musical projects with care, always true to her heart, and with a desire to live a profound musicianship in her relation with the audience and her musical partners.

 

Benedicte Palko is well known for her technically brilliance and beauty of tone and melody. Her ability of an honest and profound music-making has not gone unnoticed among audiences and press reviews wherever she performs.

 

Benedicte Palko is the founder and artistic leader of the “International Chamber Music Festival Joaquín Turina”, which takes place in Seville, Spain. Here she has performed with musicians such as Philippe Graffin, Esther Hoppe, Nicolas Dautricourt, Tanja Becker-Bender, Tobias Feldmann, Mirijam Contzen, Priya Mitchell, Gary Hoffman, István Vardái, Julian Steckel, Torleif Thedéen, James Dunham, Yura Lee, Lise Berthaud, José Luis Estellés, Gordan Nikoliç, KUSS Quartet...

 

Benedicte Palko is a demanded chamber musician and has shown herself as a highly appreciated partner for many renown musicians. She forms duos with violinist Philippe Graffin and cellist Lluís Claret. From 2017 she also collaborates in duos with violinist Nicolas Dautricourt, and piano trio with violinist Esther Hoppe and cellist Christian Poltéra, as well as performing together with the young, Spanish violinist Antonio Viñuales and cellist Salvador Bolón in duos o pianoquartet, giving support to the young generation of musicians being one of her main interests. She has given recitals, chamber music concerts and appeared as soloist with orchestra in Scandinavia, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Holland, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain and USA.

 

Benedicte Palko has a sincere pedagogical interest and is very active as a teacher. In Seville she has her own piano class with students from all over Andalusia and Spain, and she is a professor at MUSIKENE, the superior conservatory of the Basque country, in chamber music. Her students, pianists as well as chamber music groups, are among the finest young musicians in Spain of today.

 

Benedicte Palko studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music with prof. Einar Steen-Nökleberg. She continued her studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Prof. Jose Ribera, where she completed diploma and soloist studies with her official soloist debut in November 1998. A US- Fulbright Foundation scholarship made possible for Benedicte Palko to study with the legendary pianist and teacher Distinguished Prof. György Sebök, for 2 years at Indiana University School of Music Bloomington, USA. Here she completed the highest diploma for soloists: Artist Diploma.

 

Benedicte has recorded the Sonata in f-minor by Prokofieff and preludes for violin and piano by Shostakovich with violinist Sakari Tepponen, as well as she appears in numerous live recordings for the National Spanish and Norwegian Radio. 

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