“[one] of the finest, busiest pianists active in New York’s contemporary-classical scene.”

— The New York Times

For Your GRAMMY® Consideration:

COCTEAU

- Best Classical Instrumental Solo

- Best Contemporary Classical Composition

- Best Album Notes

Label: Divine Art Records

Producer: Isabelle O’Connell

Engineering and Mastering: Ben Rawlins

Critical Acclaim for the album:

“an intriguing programme of some familiar and some unfamiliar pieces”….“exquisite”… “Cocteau is a carefully put-together programme, with an excellent booklet and striking cover image, reflecting a successful composer-performer collaboration. Credit to Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin for bringing it about.” - The Arts Desk

“Isabelle O'Connell eschews the 'curio' character of these pieces in favor of their inherent musical inventiveness and imagination, and in doing so sheds a different light on these misfits of the classical music world.” — Classical Music Sentinel

“O’Connell has the right touch for the music of earlier composers as well as that of Rhona Clarke. She plays with great verve, an excellent sense of rhythm, but also with a sense of color, accent, and poetry. The interpretations are characterized by the necessary subtlety and humor that breathes life into many of these compositions. An all-around delightful album!” – Pizzicato

“It doesn't surprise that the album's a delight. O'Connell's playing is never less than terrific, and the programme she assembled engages. The pianist's decision to augment Clarke's new composition with others indirectly associated with it was a smart and artistically rewarding decision. The dynamic and stylistic range of the material also allowed her to show how effectively she operates within different contexts.” – Textura

‘Cocteau’ is an imaginatively planned album by Isabelle O’Connell of music connected with or inspired by Jean Cocteau… it’s great to have a fine performance of it here. All of this is worth hearing, and there’s an important non-French addition: the Irish composer Rhona Clarke’s Cocteau (2022)… is atmospheric and always engaging, and her music is given splendid advocacy by O’Connell, who commissioned the set. Captured in warm sound (recorded at St Peter’s Church, Drogheda), this is a thoroughly worthwhile issue. - International Piano – Autumn 2026

Isabelle O’Connell has assembled an imaginative program of music by composers associated with Cocteau…. O’Connell an accomplished, sensitive pianist whose performances on this CD leave nothing to be desired. She is to be congratulated for putting together a unique, thought-provoking program (she is also listed as the producer). If this era of music interests you—as well it should, considering the fascinating musical personalities that emerged from it—then waste no time in procuring this disc. Warmly recommended. - Fanfare

ABOUT

Since her Carnegie Hall debut recital in 2002, pianist Isabelle O'Connell has developed an international career as soloist and chamber musician that has taken her around the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, to venues such as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Chicago Cultural Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, Detroit Art Institute, Die Stadthalle Wuppertal, St David’s Hall, Cardiff and the National Concert Hall, Ireland. Festival appearances include the Belfast Festival, New Music Dublin, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, Liquid Music, Time:Spans and Vale of Glamorgan festivals.

Isabelle is co-founder of Grand Band, a piano sextet described by the New York Times as: "six of the finest, busiest pianists active in New York's contemporary-classical scene”. She is a core member of Evlana ensemble and has also performed with Crash ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Contemporaneous, Da Capo Chamber Players, Friends of MATA ensemble, the ConTempo and New Zealand String Quartets. Isabelle has performed as concerto soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and RTE Concert Orchestra.

Composers she has worked with include John Adams, John Luther Adams, Morton Subotnick, Meredith Monk, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, Missy Mazzoli, Kevin Volans, Donnacha Dennehy, Dan Trueman, Bunita Marcus, amongst many others.

Isabelle has recorded for the Diatribe, Innova, NMC and Lyric fm labels. Her debut solo album RESERVOIR released in 2010 featured solo piano music by nine contemporary Irish composers and for this The New Yorker hailed her as "the young Irish piano phenom".

Isabelle is currently on the piano faculty as Artist-in-Residence at Bard College and Conservatory of Music in New York. A Fulbright scholar, she holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. READ FULL BIO HERE