Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was a child prodigy originally taught,
beginning at age two, by her mother, the well-known Argentine pedagogue, Ana Sieiro de Trenchi.
She gave her first solo recital at age four in Buenos Aires and at age 13 went to Paris to continue her studies with famed teachers Nadia Boulanger,
Yves Nat, and especially Germaine Pinault, who taught her five hours a day, seven days a week, for five years.
She was awarded the Premier Prix, at age 18, from the prestigious Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris.
She also studied with Argentina’s most famous composer, Alberto Ginastera, and later with Roger Sessions and Martin Canin.
At age 23, she had returned from her first around-the-world concert tour, was scheduled for a New York debut, and seemed destined
for a stellar performing career when tragedy struck.
A near-fatal car accident left her with major head injuries. Extensive surgery saved her life, but her physical coordination was
so impaired that she could hardly walk or lift a cup, let alone play the piano, and her memory was completely unreliable.
Doctors told her that she would never be able to perform again. Ms. Bottazzi returned to Argentina and, refusing to believe
the doctors’ prognosis, began to slowly build her ability to play the piano. This would eventually take 13 years.
In 1974, she played her long-delayed New York debut in Town Hall, receiving outstanding reviews. Her autobiography documenting
this arduous courageous recovery, entitled "To Live Again", which Publishers Weekly called “an inspiring story of
faith and iron will,” was published in five languages by Dodd, Mead, and Co. In 1976, Ms. Bottazzi performed at Avery Fisher
Hall in New York, and to prove to herself that her memory was now intact, she allowed the audience to pick the program from
a list of 100 pieces in her extensive repertoire. She then played it from memory, drawing ecstatic applause from the audience and raves from the critics. Since then, she has performed and given master classes and lectures all over the world - in 34 major cities in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia - in solo recitals and with orchestra, receiving high critical and audience acclaim wherever she plays.
Her many performances include 17 solo recitals at Carnegie Hall. In 1992 she was honored to perform at the White House for
President and Mrs. Bush and in 1993 she gave a recital at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II.
Ms. Bottazzi has earned three master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees: a PhD in music from universities in Argentina and
the U.S. She received a second doctorate from The Juilliard School, becoming the first Latin American to earn a doctorate
from that prestigious institution. She has received many awards, among them Outstanding Woman of the Year, given by the
All Nations Women’s League in 1982, the United Nations’ Outstanding People From Central and South America award in 1984,
and the Outstanding Hispanic Women Achievers Award, presented to her in 1993 by New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
Ms. Bottazzi has been associated with the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and with New York University.
She founded, together with her husband Bruno, the Germaine Pinault School of Music in Manhasset, New York, one of
New York’s finest private music schools, and she has been its director for the past 37 years.
Among her numerous recordings are two recordings of her favorite encore pieces, Encores, Volume I (1990), and Encores,
Volume II (1996). In the Fall, 2005, she plans to record five CD's with recital programs.
Ms Bottazzi is in great demand as a judge for international piano competitions. In 1992 she established the International
Piano Tape Competition, a competition judged strictly from audio and videotaped performances in which the winners receive
cash prizes and share a concert at Weill Recital Hall. The sixth competition did take place in 2003. Applications have
already been received from 68 different countries for the next competition. After an entire year away from the piano,
when on October 2003 she endured yet another major surgery, number 10, she is now, during this season 2004 – 2005,
getting slowly back to perform again.
A monumental project that Ms. Bottazzi is involved in presently is the recording of Learning CD's and DVD's.
She has made 40 plus recordings of piano pieces so far, designed to enrich piano students' performances while still
studying with their present teacher. You can see a description and list of these works at the web site address below.
