Leon Bernsdorf is a pianist and teaching artist living in Brooklyn, NY. He is the recipient of numerous international piano competition prizes, such as the Liszt Competition Budapest, Premio Jaen, Dallas International Piano Competition, and the Boston University and Glenn Gould School concerto competitions. 

 

León gave his orchestra debut at age 15 in the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, performing Grieg’s piano concerto with the Hamburg Youth Symphony Orchestra. Further orchestral engagements soon followed, including the Heidelberg Philharmonic and the Hamburg Camerata. Aside from Germany and the US, he has performed concerts in Canada, Italy, Spain, Russia, Japan, China, and South East Asia. Through his success at the Liszt Competition in Budapest in 2016 (3rd Prize), León has concertized extensively in all parts of Hungary, including solo and orchestra appearances in Budpest, Eger, Miskolc and many other cities.

After receiving his pre-college diploma from the Andreas Franke Akademie of the Hochschule Hamburg, León completed his education in North America. He holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Boston University, as well as an Artist Diploma degree from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. He finished his Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) with Professor Robert McDonald at Juilliard in May 2023. His dissertation, "Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Piano Works: A Critical Guide", is the first English thesis on the composer's piano music, and was published by the Juilliard School. 

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In recent years, León has focused his musical attention on collaborating and teaching. At Juilliard, he works with the studios of Carol Rodland (viola), Laurie Smukler (violin), and Amy Burton (voice). Together with his duo partner, Jeremy Lap Hei Hao (violin), he won the Premio Amici della Musica Verona (Italy) in Fall 2023 and will return to Italy for the prize winners' concert in early 2025.  

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As a teaching artist, León has worked in several capacities, most recently as part-time faculty in music history at Juilliard, a post which he will continue in the 2024-25 school year. He also teaches piano privately, both online through Virtu.Academy, and in person in the NYC area. Feel free to reach out if you would like a lesson!