The Canadian pianist Élise Richard owns an Artist Diploma with high distinction from the Cleveland Institute of Music in the United States. Before going to Cleveland, she graduated from the Montreal Conservatory of music in Canada.

She then was accepted to the famous Musikhochschule in Wien but her brother, violinist, who was already in Cleveland, called her telling her he found a great piano teacher. So, she went for audition and was immediately accepted for full scholarship to enroll in the Artist Diploma program. At first, Élise wanted to stay one year in Cleveland and then go to Vienna, but her teacher, Vitya Vronsky-Babin, was so great and Élise met many internationally students and teachers that changed her life. She finally lived in Cleveland for five years!

She also had the amazing opportunity to be the first piano student of the great Sergei Babayan, when he came to Cleveland from Armenia. Élise Richard played in France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Canada, United States, as soloist and chamber player.

She is known for the beauty of her tone at the piano and for the quality of her teaching. She is also recognized for her very quick sight reading, as she was playing for 22 years at the Domaine Forget International Festival. For example, she learned the piano score for the Bartók violin concerto in only three days!

Élise Richard is a passionate musician who likes to discover  new music, musicians, and she had the fantastic chance to meet the Italian composer PandolfoPaolo via Facebook. He wrote a beautiful piano sonata for her called Cold Winter.

Élise Richard recorded at San Giacomo - Spazio d'Arte, and performed the world premiere in Italy of the Pandolfo's composition Cold Winter on summer 2022.