Naida Cole

Naida Cole is a physician and a pianist who has been hailed “a dazzling star” by Gramophone Magazine.

Naida’s discography includes a self-titled album (of music by Fauré, Chabrier, Satie and Ravel) on Deutsche Grammophon, acclaimed by Gramophone Magazine as “a stunning debut” and listed in its Critics’ Favourite CDs of 2001. BBC Music Magazine called the disc “exceptionally accomplished” and awarded it five stars- the highest rating. Her 2nd CD, “Reflections”, includes Ravel’s Miroirs, Bartok’s Improvisations and Liszt’s Sonata and was released internationally to significant critical acclaim. She also performs as soloist on the 2002 Grammy Award-winning CD, “After Mozart” with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica.

In concert, Naida has appeared frequently with the major Canadian orchestras and with orchestras worldwide, notably the London Sinfonietta, Munich Philharmonic, NHK (Tokyo), Copenhagen Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras. In recital she has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, in South America and throughout Europe, Asia and North America. She has performed as guest artist at the chamber music festivals of Lockenhaus in Austria, Montpellier Festival in France, Ravinia, Spoleto, and La Jolla festivals in the USA, as well as the Lanaudière, Vancouver and Ottawa Chamber Music Festivals in Canada. She has also collaborated on numerous occasions with Gidon Kremer and with his ensemble Kremerata Baltica, including repeat dates at Carnegie Hall and across Europe.

Naida studied with Leon Fleisher and Robert Willoughby at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, earning two bachelor degrees (in flute and piano performance) and graduating with the distinction of Pi Kappa Lambda membership. She subsequently attended the Fondazione lnternazionale per il pianoforte in Cadenabbia, Italy, and studied with Marc Durand at the Université de Montréal, where she completed her Masters degree in music. Her early training began at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, where she studied with Marina Geringas and graduated with an ARCT at age 13, then second youngest after Glenn Gould.

In 2007, Naida made a dramatic career decision and began studying medicine. After completing premedical studies on scholarship at Columbia University, she graduated with her M.D. from Brown University’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine in 2012. Her internship was at the Harvard affiliated Cambridge Hospital and she is currently a resident in Anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard University. When not engaged in medicine or raising her young son, Naida continues to make select appearances as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada and the United States.