Today we’d like to introduce you to Sasha Bult-Ito.
Hi Sasha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and started piano at home with my mother when I was four years old. I loved the sound of the piano, having listened to my mother play at home, and was fascinated by all aspects of the instrument. When I was seven, I won my age category in the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition with the first movement of Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major, which lead to my first performance in front of an orchestra. I remember that performance fondly, and am so grateful to my mother for instilling in me from the beginning that performing was my way to share my love of the piano and music with the audience. I went on to compete in and win the next two age categories at nine and eleven, and had the incredible opportunity to play with orchestra twice more.
I performed my first solo recital at age ten, and attended the Interlochen Arts Camp for several summers as a pre-teen. I had the privilege of attending the Interlochen Arts Academy for all four years of high school where I studied with Dr. Thomas Lymenstull, and continued my education at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto with John Perry and David Louie where I completed my Bachelors and Artist Diploma studies. I was able to complete additional summer study in Italy and Germany and across the United States which further shaped my musical journey.
I adore chamber music, and sought out as many opportunities to play chamber works as my schedule would allow alongside my solo endeavors. Among these was starting an ensemble called The Ezra Duo with violist/violinist Jacob Clewell – and we have just celebrated our 10th anniversary of playing together. While finishing up at GGS, I helped found a chamber music festival in Florida that I co-directed and was the piano faculty at for seven years, while working full-time as a freelancer around Toronto and traveling for concerts. I’ve recently co-founded a trio (with Jacob and saxophonist Nick May) and we are looking forward to exploring new projects together for what is currently viewed as an unusual grouping: piano, viola, and soprano saxophone. I moved to Kansas City this past summer, and am loving it here so far!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A particular challenge that comes to mind is right around the time that my duo (The Ezra Duo) was about to take advantage of some huge opportunities, Covid hit and our plans basically evaporated. Concerts were gone, and some of the series that had hired us never recovered. We had to do a lot of rebuilding, and at times it felt like we were essentially starting over from scratch. Ultimately, I think it made us more resilient and forced us to be creative in ways we hadn’t considered before. We started streaming concerts from home, which we have continued to do and has been a fun way to connect with our listeners. We’ve also been battling a little bit against the idea that there isn’t great music for viola and piano, which just isn’t true! We’re using Ezra as a vehicle to show that there’s some really great music out there for our ensemble, as well as collaborate with composers who want to write new pieces for us to show off the unique colors we can create together.
In addition, as a music educator, teaching became an entirely different beast, navigating providing high level instruction online and coaching students through an uneasy time without the tangibility and connection of in-person lessons.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In my second year at The Glenn Gould School, I took a sonata duos course for piano and strings and met Jacob. We clicked immediately and really enjoyed playing together, and took part in many outreach recitals to build up our repertoire and performance experience while calling ourselves The Ezra Duo. We kept working together after the course ended and started giving full recitals as a duo around the start of the next school year. Things snowballed into regular touring around Canada and the U.S., including a chance to play in Carnegie Hall and for diplomats at a G7 Summit event at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. This past September we celebrated our 10th “Ezraversary”! It’s been a wild adventure, in additional to Carnegie and the G7 Summit, we’ve played in Toronto’s Koerner Hall, toured coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada, performed in Europe and Mexico, released an album (Mystic Journey), appeared as joint soloists in concertos with orchestras, and now host a livestreamed concert series, Ezra at Home, where we play music from films and video games alongside classical pieces – and we still feel like we’re just getting started!
Outside of Ezra, I’ve recorded as collaborative pianist for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s 2021 Violin and 2025 Voice Series recordings and have given chamber recitals and performances alongside friends and colleagues, including violinist Nancy Zhou, violist Masumi Rostad, cellists Noémie Raymond and Stéphane Tétreault, and pianist William Chapman-Nyaho. I’m also part of the newly-formed Zeza Trio (with Jacob and Nick), and do still greatly enjoy playing as a soloist. I have a teaching studio full of wonderful students at the Music Academy of Kansas City, and coach aspiring chamber players through the Kansas City Young Chamber Musicians program.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Going from Fairbanks and Interlochen, which are both set apart from major metropolitan centers, to the 3-million-plus population of Toronto was a massive change. Kansas City feels like a happy medium – it’s big, but not overwhelmingly so, and I’m slowly discovering spots that I’m sure will become my new favorites. The people here are very nice, and there are SO many trees! Growing up practically in the woods, I really started to miss being within nature being in the heart of downtown Toronto for over a decade. And it’s a little thing, but driving around and seeing houses decorated for Halloween is so fun. It makes commuting something of a treat, seeing all the ghosts and skeletons and lights!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sashabultito.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sashabultitopiano
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sashabultitopiano
