A storyteller through music, pianist Elaine Sara Lim creates thematic programming that speaks directly to audiences. Praised for the range of colors in her playing, Elaine’s repertoire includes works by Brahms, Ravel, Haydn, and women composers such as Bauer, Howe, and Zaimont. With elegant immediacy and technical command, she captures the essential characters of the works she presents.

Credits include solo and collaborative performances at the Governor’s Residence in Denver, Colorado, the Dukes Hall Gallery of Fine Arts in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and the Amro Music Piano Gallery in Memphis for their “Steinway Series.” International credits include performances at Chateau d’Aix in Port du Quercy, France, Priesterseminar in Graz, Austria, and Chiesa della Santissima Trinità in Cremona, Italy. 

As a concerto soloist, Elaine has performed with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has performed piano quintets at Grace College in Indiana and Converse College in South Carolina, and premiered chamber works by contemporary composers Sarah Perske, Matthew Huston, and Brian Goetzinger.

Her deep interest in literature and the visual arts is reflected in past projects “Visions and Tales,” a multimedia recital of piano works accompanying paintings and stories, and “The Lake at Evening” featuring American Impressionist pieces inspired by the poems of Poe, Yeats, Sharp, and Fletcher.

Elaine holds a doctoral degree from James Madison University, and has studied at the University of Santo Tomas (Philippines), University of Memphis, and University of Denver.