Bach to Saint-Saens

Praised for her “delicacy, power and virtuosistic agility” (La Voce di New York, 2024), Italian-Egyptian pianist Francesca Khalifa has appeared as soloist with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica Pozzoli in Italy, and the Amadeus Orchestra in New York City. Recent highlights include performances at the Cairo Opera House, Steinway Hall New York City, Harbin Concert Hall in China, the UNISA Music Foundation in Pretoria, the Italian Consulate in Auckland, and Yamaha Auditorium in Bangkok, among others. She has also been a guest artist for master classes and lectures at institutions including ESMAR (Escuela Superior de Música de Alto Rendimiento) in Valencia, the Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University, the E. Said Conservatory in Jerusalem, and IRMTNZ in Christchurch.

Khalifa is the recipient of the City Artist Corps Grant (2021), the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Creative Engagement Award (2025 and 2026), and the Puffin Foundation Grant (2026), and has taken top prizes at dozens of international competitions, including the 2014 Ferrara International Piano Festival, awarded by pianist and musicologist Paul Badura-Skoda. She was mentored by the late Cuban pianist and pedagogue German Diez and by pianist Ena Bronstein-Barton, both former pupils of Claudio Arrau. Her research on Diez forms the basis of the documentary Piano Lessons, officially endorsed by the American Liszt Society and deposited at the Library of Congress; the film was selected for festivals including the 39th Torino International Film Festival, screened at universities and schools worldwide, and is now available on major streaming platforms including Amazon Prime and Apple TV. She is currently completing her first book, exploring the relevance of Claudio Arrau’s teaching legacy in the modern music world through interviews with musicians including Garrick Ohlsson, Erika Nickrenz, Joan Tower, and Bennett Lerner, to be published by Cultural Bridge Label in 2027.

Her debut album, Elevation — winner of a Global Music Award silver medal — was released on the Sheva label, distributed by Naxos US, and is available on all major streaming platforms.

Khalifa is co-founder and Artistic Director of a series of initiatives dedicated to disrupting gender, racial, and cultural inequity in classical music. A vegetarian for over a decade and an animal rights supporter, her advocacy work currently focuses on legal rights for companion animals, with the broader conviction that no animal should be deprived of the rights to life, freedom, and safety. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her two cats, Ivan and June.