…the quietly formidable, gentle yet masterly pianist Michael Ierace, who is equally at home in more radical music as he is in empathetic lieder and chamber music accompaniment… In his Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, Desiree Frahn and Michael Ierace performed 10 of the 12 sections with complete assurance, capturing both Copland’s early harmonic language and the hints of the pre-dawn Bernstein style that his student and greatest interpreter would later embody. (Coriole Music Festival)

With Michael Ierace at the helm, the performance [Mahler Piano Quartet] was one of true stature. This is a pianist who continually impresses, and here he was at his most insightful. Thoughtful and without a trace of indulgence, Ierace ushered it in with magnificent breadth… For Ierace, less is more, and this meanwhile proved a virtue in Bartók’s Suite, Op. 14. Pianists often overplay this composer’s dynamic contrasts and insist on a percussive edge. but he approached this amiable work with musicianly intelligence and balance. (Coriole Music Festival)

Ierace is a fine pianist indeed and has the art of accompanying well and truly at his command. (Meredith Arwady in Recital with Michael Ierace - Daylight Express, Adelaide Festival)

Pianist Michael Ierace proved an impeccable partner. From the tonal delicacies of Samuel Barber to the funky rhythms of Cole Porter, he never missed a beat. (Meredith Arwady in Recital with Michael Ierace - Daylight Express, Adelaide Festival)

So too is ‘The River Doesn’t Care’ another piano piece, this performed by Michael Ierace. The harmonic structure of this work and the other he performs, ‘You Should Give Up’ are beautifully considered.

Beginning with the familiar piano solo played most wonderfully and pliantly by Michael Ierace, it was a joy to hear. (Howard Blake - The Snowman with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra)

Pianist Michael Ierace captured the fragile beauty of the composition throughout, particularly the second movement (Glass - The Hours Suite)

The ASO’s harpist being indisposed on the night, pianist Michael Ierace filled in on an electronic keyboard most capably; indeed it sounded so much like a real harp that one had to look twice.

Michael Ierace finessed the complexities of the Glass concerto and made each hypnotic repetition sound fresh and new...His playing in Silevstrov’s Der Bote is again haunting as it emerges from the back of the auditorium and creates a sense of aching longingness and pathos.

Next came the beautiful Oboe Sonata in D Major by Camille Saint-Saens, written at the end of the composer’s life in 1921, and given an exquisite reading by Craig and Ierace on piano…The absolute highlight for me came in the middle of the program with two pieces for piano by Erik Satie, composer of the much-loved Gymnopédies… At just four minutes each, the Gnossiennes no 3 and Sonatine bureaucratique are astonishingly good… The clarity and intricacy of Ierace’s pianism was superb, giving every note its due expression.

Achieving the right degree of contrast is utterly essential in Stravinsky (Petrushka) and both Shamray and Ierace have the chops for the job. Both are fine pianists, and have a discretely competitive spirit that makes for a dynamic pairing in this technical and interpretive tour de force.

Ierace has an exceptional gift for creating seamless, imaginatively vivid textures on the piano...The high point, though, was Ierace’s shiveringly beautiful playing in [Ravel’s] Gaspard. Steeped in mystery and hypnotically imaginative.

He proved superbly equipped to undertake a solo program influenced by the sort of French impressionism and expressionism popular at the turn of the twentieth century...The program’s inspiration, Maurice Ravel, was represented by his magnum opus for the piano, Gaspard de la Nuit, and Ierace projected all its frightening spiritualistic allusions and equally frightening technical challenges with real flair and finesse...There was hardly a note put of place as incandescent colour poured from the Steinway, Ierace’s total control, resolute rhythm and vivid imagination allowing the shimmering water sprite Ondine, the sinister Gibet and the frightening Scarbo out of the bottle...This was big scale pianism with exquisite detail.

In all songs Michael Ierace was a sensitive and masterful partner (More Guilty Than The Poet).

Throughout the performance, Macfarlane was accompanied by the sensitive and nimble playing of Michael Ierace. Eschewing a thumping big Steinway, Ierace produced exquisite sounds on a fortepiano...Its sparse and delicate sonorities were perfectly suited for this early Romantic music, even the rapid tremolandi of Erlkönig (More Guilty Than The Poet).

They reach another high when pianist Michael Ierace joins them in Ubi Caritas by Norwegian composer Ole Gjeilo. His solos in this are rapturously beautiful and inspire the singers to give their best (Jubilate in Musica CD - Graduate Singers).

Michael Ierace, less than twenty four hours after his Schubertiade performance with Konstantin Shamray, brought wit and drama when required as the associate artist, with two short solos to demonstrate his impeccable musicianship.

For this listener, some of the most beautiful moments were provided by the pianist Michael Ierace, particularly in the two solo pieces...Ierace’s nimble fluidity and understated, unflappable poise provided the most consistently rewarding music-making of the entire afternoon.

Ierace was sensational on what was clearly a fiendish piano part.

Particular plaudits must go to Michael Ierace on piano, who excelled in one of the most prominent and difficult keyboard parts in the orchestral repertoire (Stravinsky’s Petroushka with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra).

The musicians...revelled in the sweep and variety of the music, but special mention must be made of the pianist Michael Ierace. His playing was magnificent.

...his delicate pianissimos and admired the precision and sensitivity of the bravura passage-work and figuration as Ierace intelligently never extended the instrument beyond its capacity.

Nevertheless, this critic’s money had been on runner-up Michael Ierace…his performances included strongly coloured dialogue with cellist Paul Zabrowarny (Geoffrey Parsons Competition, Final).

Michael Ierace’s piano recital last night in Linton, Cambridgeshire was revelatory. That adjective is perhaps devalued through overuse, but this young Australian pianist’s playing does indeed reveal the strong, the beautiful, and the unexpected in music one might believe one already knows.

HIGHLY IMPRESSIVE…Second prize-winner in the 2009 Haverhill Sinfonia International Soloist Competition, Australian born pianist Michael Ierace is clearly a talent to watch… playing that completely held the attention, with a seemingly unlimited supply of energy.

Ierace and Farid took to this work with obvious relish, negotiating its considerable difficulties with ease. The performance had impressive Romantic sweep, notably in the luminous Romance and the driving, rhythmical Tarantella (Rachmaninoff 2nd suite for 2 pianos).

[Michael's] playing was superb and he was equally at home with the delicacy of the slow movement and the flashy cadenzas of the third (Beethoven Piano Concerto no.3 with Aylesbury Symphony Orchestra under Jaques Cohen).

He played four Debussy preludes with a high degree of delicacy which contrasted well with his ability to deliver a full-blooded attack. His concentration never wavered despite several audience distractions and he saved the best until last: Chopin’s Andante Spianto [sic] and Grand Polonaise. The burbling, rolling bass moved it along with an impatience that was not allowed to totally dominate and his measured, emphatic polonaise showed excellent musicianship.

…two grand pianos, played very well by Andrew Ball and Michael Ierace (Carmina Burana with the LGBT Choir under Howard Moody, Royal Festival Hall).

…producing some ravishing sounds. His deference to the violin was such that he was never in danger of overshadowing it, even when playing ten notes to every one from the violin…there was no denying the polished accomplishment of Ierace’s playing.