Inna Faliks
Described by The New Yorker as “adventurous and passionate,” Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks is recognized as one of the most poetic and versatile artists of her generation. She has built a music life defined by passion, sincerity, intellectual depth and creative curiosity. Inna Faliks is the author of the acclaimed memoir Weight in the Fingertips – A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage (Bloomsbury 2023). She is the head of the Piano Department and Professor of Piano at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Faliks has performed thousands of recitals throughout the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She has appeared at many of the world’s leading venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, National Gallery of Art, Salle Cortot in Paris, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, Beijing Center for the Performing Arts and other major halls and festivals such as Ravinia and Newport. Since her acclaimed debut with the Chicago Symphony, Faliks has remained a sought-after concerto soloist with leading orchestras in the US and abroad in a variety of works spanning from Beethoven’s complete piano concerti to Clara Schumann, Florence Price, Paul Schoenfield, and Rachmaninoff.
Her interdisciplinary performances include her one-woman show, the monologue-recital “Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist,”; her long-running poetry and music project, Music/Words, which features living poets; and Manuscripts Don't Burn, her recital-reading program.
She is a prolific recording artist and her most recent, Stranger Things – Music from a Young Refugee's Backpack, is fascinating journey featuring compositions by Inna, Schoenberg and Brahms.
Faliks is an acclaimed author; In addition to her memoir, her articles have appeared in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. An internationally renowned performer, Inna Faliks continues to shape today’s piano landscape with vision, depth and expressive power.
Recital and Talk
What does it mean to be a Jewish female artist in the world today – a performer, a professor, an immigrant, a mom? Inna answers this question by sharing the music, her story, the power of her Jewishness, the struggle of being a Jewish female artist in the world today and, most importantly, love.
In this universally acclaimed unique piano recital-reading, Inna alternates short, powerful readings from her memoir Weight in the Fingertips, A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage with music that connects them.
Through her storytelling and passionate, expressive music making, Inna shares the experience of being a Jewish refugee from Soviet Odesa, travails of immigration, learning of her own Jewishness, difficulties of assimilation, adventures of being a concert artist, and a love story of cinematic proportions. Throughout, Inna's Jewish experience connects her to the music she plays. The program opens with the evocative "Sirota", composed to bring Inna back to the city of her birth through music – featuring the recorded voice of the great cantor and "Jewish Caruso", Gershon Sirota, who perished in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. It continues, through Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, including music both Jewish and immigration-related, such as the evocative short piece, Wandering Stranger, Inna composed when leaving Odesa.
Manuscripts Don't Burn concert-talk, NYC review:
https://blogcritics.org/concert-review-pianist-inna-faliks-manuscripts-dont-burn/
Presentation of Her Memoir
Weight in the Fingertips, A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage
Faliks reads from her acclaimed memoir, which details the experience of Jewish immigration and growing up as a concert pianist in a quickly changing landscape of the US. What does it mean to be a Jewish Woman Artist today? Through engaging, sincere, at times uproariously funny and at times poignant story telling, Faliks shares her experience and her love of music and people.
Testimonials
It was an absolute gift to bring Inna Faliks to San Antonio! Her musical talent is extraordinary, and her readings from her book give the audience true insights to her life experiences. The combination made for an incredibly meaningful experience. Inna was a pleasure to work with while coordinating the event and during her visit in San Antonio. People in the community raved about her performance!
– Jodi Marion, San Antonio Jewish Federation
I was present to hear Inna Faliks, Professor and Head of Piano at UCLA as she gave a captivating performance for an audience of some 80 guests of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio in March 2026. Inna's concert consisted of brief readings from her autobiographical book "Weight in the Fingertips", interspersed with playing short classical pieces, some that she composed herself. On a couple of occasions she reached into the piano and plucked the strings, a technique I had never seen. Inna told me that performing for a totally Jewish audience was liberating and very moving for her.
The room was absolutely spellbound as Inna proved to be a wonderful storyteller in addition to being a masterful performer.
– Michael Ozer, San Antonio Jewish Federation
Music & Reviews
Live performance – Schumann Fantasy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOkc3gJTsMQ
NPR interview:
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1252397343/music-inspiration-family-escapes-the-soviet-union-with-a-manuscript-of-a-banned-
Book and album review:
https://worldmusicreport.com/featured/inna-faliks-the-art-of-the-sublime/