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Recently honored as Classical Woman of the Year by NPR’s Performance Today, American pianist (and NY Times crossword clue) Lara Downes has been called “a musical ray of hope” by NBC News, “a classical music instigator pushing the music forward with great gusto” by the NY Amsterdam News,and “an explorer whose imagination is fired by bringing notice to the underrepresented and forgotten” by The Log Journal.  

A visionary trailblazer, Lara occupies a unique position of visibility through her dynamic work as a sought-after soloist, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, and a beloved personality and host. She has garnered millions of fans spanning diverse communities: her devoted viewers and listeners from her nationally syndicated radio programs intersect with her live concert audiences and her followers on streaming platforms to form a broad and constantly expanding fan base.

Lara’s musical roadmap seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family, and collective memory, excavating a broad landscape of  music to create a series of acclaimed performance and recording projects that serve as gathering spaces for her listeners to find common ground and shared experience. In the words of the renowned American conductor JoAnn Falletta, “Lara Downes is a perfect artist for our time, a champion of new and neglected music, an extraordinary communicator, a passionate advocate for our art form.” 

Lara’s recent and upcoming onstage adventures include guest appearances with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Dallas, Louisville, Indianapolis and others, with engagements and residencies at ​Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Disney Hall, Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Gilmore Festival, Carolina Performing Arts, Washington Performing Arts, Caramoor, Cal Performances, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, among others.

Her creative collaborations embrace an eclectic range of artists including the Miró Quartet, musical multi-hyphenate Rhiannon Giddens, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove, Broadway legend Brian Stokes Mitchell, author John McWhorter and violinist Daniel Hope. Her close partnerships with prominent composers span genres and generations, with premieres and commissions coming from Billy Childs, Valerie Coleman, Arturo O’Farrill, Teddy Abrams, Clarice Assad, and many others.

A cultural visionary with a firm finger on the pulse of tomorrow, Lara is increasingly active as a curator and creative partner with institutions including Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Brevard Music festival, and as Resident Artist for Classical KDFC in San Francisco and Classical KUSC in Los Angeles.

Her uniquely insightful approach to concept and curation have created an extensive and  acclaimed series of chart-topping recordings on the Pentatone, Sony Masterworks and Sono Luminus labels, including her latest release Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined, featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, in the Wall Street Journal and Downbeat Magazine; her 2023 release Love at Last, which was featured as an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and America Again, selected by NPR as one of "10 Albums that Saved 2016”  and called “a balm for a country riven by disunion” by the Boston Globe.

Lara is the former the creator and host of AMPLIFY with Lara Downes, an NPR Music series which published its final episode in October 2025. The series is widely know for featuringintimate, profoundly personal video conversations with visionary artists and cultural leaders who are shaping our creative present and future. Her work has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sphinx Venture Fund, and the Center for Cultural Innovation, among others.

Lara’s fierce commitment to citizenship and advocacy has led to her role as an Artist Ambassador for Headcount, a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy.

Lara has recently launched The Declaration Project, a national initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States by gathering together American communities to find common ground in exploring the core essence of our founding promise: the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Engaging with multi-generational communities in the form of round-table conversations, generative writing workshops, and collaborative creative practice, Lara is encouraging reflection and expression that actively reimagines the promise of our future, reflecting on the magic and mystery of life, the ongoing quest for freedom and equality, and the radical power of joy.  Submissions to The Declaration Project are being collected as a national digital archive, and will be featured in a video installation.

Major highlights for the coming year: her continued work as the first ever Creative Partner for the LA Chamber Orchestra, the premiere of Lara’s multimedia concert DECLARATION, featuring a triptych of new works by Grammy Award-winning American composers Valerie Coleman, Arturo O’Farrill and Christopher Tin, respectively titled Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in July 2026, her upcoming album Hold These Truths on the Pentatone label, and the release of Lara’s Deutsche Grammophon recording of Florence Price Concerto in D minor with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.