Adolovni Acosta (1946 – December 12, 2024) was a Filipino classical pianist. She was a notable concert pianist and recitalist.

Training and education in Manila

Adolovni Acosta started piano lessons at the age of nine with her musical mother Ernestina. She continued with Juliana Velázquez. At age 11, she won in a radio competition in Manila, and at age 12, she was a winner in the Lucia Francisco Music Circle Piano Scholarship Competition. After graduating from high school at age 14, she passed the college entrance examination at the University of the Philippines (UP) and entered the Conservatory of Music. At UP, she was selected to be a soloist with the UP Symphony Orchestra in "Famous Concerto Movements" and was a soloist in two commencement concerts with the same orchestra. For outstanding academic and musical achievements at UP, she was awarded university and college scholarships. She received the Teacher's Diploma in Music and the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, all in Piano. Her major teachers were Benedicta Macaisa and Regalado Jose. While a graduate student, she worked as a research aide to

José Maceda José Montserrat Maceda (31 January 1917 – 5 May 2004) was a Filipino ethnomusicologist and composer. He was named a National Artist of the Philippines for Music in 1998. Life Maceda was born in Manila, Philippines, he studied piano, comp ...

at the Department of Asian Music.

Education in the United States

Acosta came to the United States in 1968 as a graduate student on full assistantship that provided full tuition and monthly stipend in the World Music program of

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in Middletown, Connecticut. A year later, she got accepted at The Juilliard School of Music in the class of Mieczyslaw Munz, and in 1971, she received the Master of Science degree in Piano. The school awarded her the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund scholarship. She also studied with Zenon Fishbein and Eugene List, and coached with Claude Frank and Constance Keene.

Performing career

Adolovni Acosta gave her New York debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1971, and since then has performed in 50 cities in 28 countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific and in venues such as

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

and Purcell Halls in London,

Salle Cortot Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: *Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Paris ...

in Paris,

Weill Recital Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by its n ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and Philanthropy, philanthropist whose donations assis ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

Merkin Concert Hall Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Spec ...

Steinway Hall Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities suc ...

and Dylan McMullen Concert Hall in New York City, Hallwylska Museet in Stockholm, Odd Fellow Palaet in Copenhagen,

Der Beethoven Saal Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

in Bonn, Yamaha Concert Hall in Vienna, Centerpointe Theatre in Ottawa,

Centro Cultural Recoleta The Centro Cultural Recoleta () is an exhibition and cultural events centre located in the ''barrio'' of Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It holds sculptures and exhibitions, as well as concerts and artistic presentations and workshops of div ...

in Buenos Aires, Teatro Nacional in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

, Sala Carlos Chavez at UNAM in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Thailand Cultural Center, Bangkok Goethe House, and the

Cultural Center of the Philippines The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP; ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) established to preserve, develop and promote Arts in the Philippines, arts and Culture of the Philippines, culture in the Philippines.Presid ...

. She also has held recitals at

Sunderland Art Gallery The Sunderland Art Gallery is an art gallery based within the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens centre, in Sunderland City Centre. The collection of paintings includes works by the British artist, L.S. Lowry, many with local significance. Fo ...

presented by the Sunderland Pianoforte Society and at

Wolverhampton Art Gallery Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in Wolverhampton, England. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the municipal authority. It opened in May 1884. The buildi ...

in England, as well as in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Hamburg, Beijing,

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, Sabah,

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and across the United States. She has given recitals two times at Melba Conservatorium of Music in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, and has been performing for Philippine Embassies and Consulates in many parts of the world. She was a featured recitalist at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. as part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) presentations for Smithsonian Associates. Early on, she was selected by Jack Kahn Pianos to open their "Discovery Series" and to appear in "Boesendorfer Piano in Concert".

Master classes

Adolovni Acosta has conducted master classes in addition to performing recitals at

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA; zh, 南洋艺术学院; ; ) is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution in Singapore, and a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) from 2024. NAFA offers courses at high-s ...

in Singapore; Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music in Saigon, Vietnam; the University of Canterbury Department of Music in Christchurch, New Zealand; the Monash University School of Music-Conservatorium in Melbourne, Australia; the University College Sedaya Department of Music in Kuala Lumpur; the Calcutta School of Music in India; the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory in Nepal; the University of the Philippines College of Music and the UST Conservatory of Music in Manila; the University of Malaysia for the Kota Kinabalu Music Society in Sabah; and for Brunei Music Society.

Recordings

Acosta recorded Ernesto Lecuona's ''Andalucia'' and ''Danzas-Afro-Cubanas'' for Orion Master Recordings and Piano Works of Carl Nielsen for Musical Heritage Society. In 2008, Orion Master Recordings released 'Malagueña: Piano Music from Cuba and the Philippines' on Marquis. In January 2015, Orion released on Naxos ClassicsOnline.com 'Piano Works of Carl Nielsen' that also includes live performances of three Debussy Preludes from Book 1 and Chopin Berceuse. Her performances and recordings often with live interviews have been featured on Swedish Radio in Stockholm, Brunei TV, Argentine Television Acercando Oriente and Radio Belgrano, Vietnam Television, Voice of America, National Public Radio Network, GM7 TV in Manila, and New York City radio programs.

Death

Acosta died in New York City on December 12, 2024.

Honors

Adolovni Acosta was a ''Pamana ng Pilipino'' awardee in the 2006 Philippine Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas. The awards were conferred by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a Testimonial Dinner at Malacanang Palace in Manila on December 7, 2006 where she also performed. She has participated in a concert at The White House for first lady

Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; ; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of ...

during an annual diplomatic corps dinner. In 1982, she was named as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Women of America" after being selected as Outstanding Young Woman of America from New York. She was included in Good Housekeeping Magazine's "100 Young Women of Promise" in its 100th anniversary issue. Acosta is mentioned in Chronology of Western Classical Music 1751-2000 published by Routledge in 2002, and in International Who's Who in Classical Music. Early on, Acosta won first prize in a national piano competition in Manila sponsored by the Music Promotion Foundation of the Philippines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Adolovni 1946 births 2024 deaths Filipino classical pianists Women classical pianists Filipino women pianists Wesleyan University alumni 21st-century classical pianists Filipino expatriates in the United States Juilliard School alumni