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Charlsie Griffiths
Born in Dallas, Texas, Charlsie Griffiths began her musical studies at the age of five. She has studied piano with Connie Mercer, Dr. Donna O'Steen Edwards and Dr. Pamela Mia Paul, Professor of Music at the University of North Texas, and violin with Arkady Fomin of the Dallas Symphony. Charlsie received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School under the instruction of Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky and Joseph Kalichstein.
At the age of nine, Charlsie made her debut with orchestra as a featured soloist with the Southern Methodist University Conservatory Chamber Orchestra on tour in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Subsequently, she was invited to perform with the orchestra in conjunction with the Dallas Symphony Association's Mercedes Summer Music Festival, Pinchas Zukerman, Principal Festival Conductor. In 1991, she was the featured soloist at the Annual White House Holiday Party presented by President George Bush for his staff and their families. In 1996, she returned to Eastern Europe for a performance with the Latvian Chamber Orchestra, and in the same year played with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra. Charlsie has been a returning soloist at the annual “Symphony of Toys” at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center since 1990.
In recital, Charlsie has been featured at Steinway Halls in Dallas, TX and Fort Worth, TX, the Texas Boy’s Choir Performance Series, WFAA-Channel 8’s Mr. Peppermint Show, WRR-FM Radio Prodigy Series and Art Matters. Performances have taken her to California, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Canada. In 1997, she was one of twenty musicians invited to perform at the Arts Recognition and Talent Search in Miami, Florida sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Since attending the Juilliard School, she has participated in the Piano Century concerts, and both the Wednesdays at One and Students of the New York Woodwind Quintet concerts in Alice Tully Hall. In 2001, she performed a concert with Marvin Hamlisch benefiting the Juilliard School.
Over the summers, Charlsie has attended numerous festivals such as Banff, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, the Cliburn Institute, Concordia Music Festival, Tel-Hai Piano Festival in Israel and most recently, PianoFest in the Hamptons. During these courses, she has studied with renowned pianists such as Jon Kimura Parker, Miyoko Nakaya Lotto, and Paul Schenly. Charlsie has played for or in the master classes of: Joaquin Achucarro, Emanuel Borok, Jose Fegali, John Giordano, David Kim, Robert McDuffie, Santiago Rodriguez, Robert Roux, Rosalyn Tureck, Keri-Lynn Wilson and Adam Wodnicki. She has also studied chamber music under Rohan Da Silva, Yehuda Gilad, Carol Wincenc, and Joseph Kalichstein.