Theodora Serbanescu-Martin @theodorapiano

Piano

Book Theodora Serbanescu-Martin for a groupmuse
San Jose, CA
theodoraserbanescumartin.com
@thepianiszt
Youtube page
17 Played at 17 groupmuses!

Theodora Serbanescu-Martin @theodorapiano

Piano

About

Theodora Serbanescu-Martin is a pianist, musicologist, and interdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges performance, literary studies, material culture, and embodiment. She has a PhD in Music and Sound Studies at Cornell University and holds dual BA degrees in Music and English from University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation, Fashionable Concealments: Myth, Material, and Method in Nineteenth-Century Pianism, examines how Romantic ideals of expression and authenticity were shaped through bodily discipline, technology, and material culture, and forms the basis of her forthcoming book Fashioning Pianism. Her scholarship appears or is forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Arrangement Studies, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, and other venues. As a performer, she specializes in Romantic repertoire and historically informed performance, with appearances across Europe and the US. Current projects include recordings and performances centered on Hélène de Montgeroult and Liszt.

Music

As a performer, Theodora identifies as a “Romantic pianist,” using the term to describe an approach grounded in nineteenth-century aesthetics of flexibility, virtuosity, improvisation, and expressive risk, while remaining critically attentive to Romanticism’s ideological afterlives. Her performances do not claim historical “authenticity,” but instead treat Romantic materials as living, mediated practices shaped by context, technology, and embodiment. She is particularly interested in how visual, literary, and material dimensions— dress, gesture, space, furniture, and staging — shape musical meaning.

Videos

Audio

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: I. Capriccio in D minor

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: II. Intermezzo in A minor

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: III. Capriccio in G minor

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: IV. Intermezzo in E Major

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: V. Intermezzo in E minor

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: VI. Intermezzo in E Major

Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 116: VII. Capriccio in D minor

Upcoming groupmuses

Programs

Host one of these programs in your space!

Past groupmuses (16)

  • Liszt’s Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, Part II: Romantic Death and Transcendence

    Sunday, Mar 22, 2026 5:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: SW Berkeley
    • Composers: Franz Liszt
    • Instruments: solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened 2 months ago

  • Loft

    Theodora Serbanescu-Martin: Pianistic Invocations: Liszt's Poetic Harmonies

    Monday, Mar 9, 2026 7:00 PM EDT

    • Neighborhood: Flatiron, New York
    • Instruments: Piano
    • Price: $65 tickets ($55 for Supermusers)

    Happened 2 months ago

  • Living room

    A Valentine's Day Liszt Extravaganza!

    Saturday, Feb 14, 2026 6:30 PM PST

    • Neighborhood: Kensington
    • Composers: Franz Liszt
    • Instruments: solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $25+ at event

    Happened 3 months ago

  • Warehouse

    Liszt Harmonies Poetiques

    Saturday, Jan 17, 2026 3:45 PM PST

    • Neighborhood: Half Moon Bay
    • Instruments: Piano
    • Price: $30 tickets ($24 for Supermusers)

    Happened 4 months ago

  • Romantic Voices at the Piano

    Sunday, Aug 14, 2022 6:00 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Mission District, SF
    • Composers: Liszt, Brahms, Schubert
    • Instruments: Solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 4 years ago

  • Theodora plays Liszt

    Friday, Aug 12, 2022 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Southwest Berkeley, Berkeley
    • Composers: Liszt, Brahms, Schubert
    • Instruments: Solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 4 years ago

  • Liszt: The Art of Transcription

    Friday, Aug 5, 2022 7:00 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Rockridge/North Oakland
    • Composers: Liszt, Brahms, Schubert
    • Instruments: Solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 4 years ago

  • Welcome back Theodora!

    Saturday, Aug 10, 2019 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Kensington, CA
    • Composers: Beethoven, Liszt
    • Instruments: Solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 7 years ago

  • First Fruitdale Pianomuse: Prokofiev & Liszt!

    Sunday, Jul 28, 2019 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Willow Glen, San Jose
    • Composers: Liszt, Prokofiev
    • Instruments: Solo piano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 7 years ago

  • Brahms & Liszt: Exploring Pianistic Virtuosity in Morningside Heights

    Friday, Oct 20, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

    • Neighborhood: Morningside Heights
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened over 8 years ago

  • Brahms n the Hood

    Friday, Jul 21, 2017 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Southwest Berkeley, Berkeley
    • Composers: Beethoven, Brahms
    • Instruments: Horn, Piano, Fortepiano
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 9 years ago

  • Piano battle: Brahms vs. Liszt

    Saturday, Jul 15, 2017 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Kensington, CA
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 9 years ago

  • Just B Natural: Brahms Trio Groupmuse

    Saturday, Jun 3, 2017 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Kensington, CA
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 9 years ago

  • Hammerklavier in Kensington!

    Sunday, Feb 26, 2017 7:00 PM PST

    • Neighborhood: Kensington, CA
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened about 9 years ago

  • Brahms in Kensington

    Saturday, Jul 23, 2016 7:30 PM PDT

    • Neighborhood: Kensington, CA
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened almost 10 years ago

  • Groupmuse on January 16th

    Saturday, Jan 16, 2016 7:30 PM PST

    • Neighborhood: Kensington, CA
    • Price: $5 to reserve, $20+ at event

    Happened over 10 years ago