Vladimir FELTSMAN, piano

Born in Moscow in 1952, Mr. Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11. In

1969, he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory of Music to study piano under the guidance of Professor Jacob Flier. He also studied conducting at both the Moscow and

Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, Mr. Feltsman won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris; this was followed by intensive touring throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe and Japan.

In 1979, because of his growing discontent with the official Soviet ideology and rigid governmental control of the arts, Mr. Feltsman made his intention to emigrate from the Soviet Union clear by applying for an exit visa. In response, he was immediately banned from performing in public. After eight years of struggle and virtual artistic exile, he was finally granted permission to leave the Soviet Union. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1987, Mr. Feltsman was warmly greeted at the White House, where he performed his very first concert in North America. That same year, his debut at Carnegie Hall established him as a major pianist on the American scene.

Mr. Feltsman’s 06-07 season was highlighted in the fall of 2006 with a performance of all of the Mozart Sonatas on the Walter pianoforte built for him by Paul McNaulty. in five concerts at the Mannes School of Music and the New School’s Tisch Center. He also conducted a production of “Cosi fan Tutte” at the famed MariinskyTheater in St. Petersburg in December of 06. His 2006-07 season also included a return to Carnegie Hall performing Ravel’s Left Hand Concerto with the National Radio Orchestra of France with Myung Wha Chung conducting, a return to the Pittsburgh Symphony to perform Shostakovich 1st Concerto with Vassily Sinasky conducting, a return to the Singapore Symphony to perform Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Concerto with Okko Kamu conducting and performances with the Yomuiri Nippon Orchestra of the Brahms 2nd Concerto with Yuri Temirkanov conducting. In the Fall of 06 Mr. Feltsman performed in Korea and Singapore with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov. In addition, he performed recitals in Tokyo, Oaska, Seattle, New York, La Jolla, Phoenix, Kansas City, Aspen, Philadelphia and Fresno, and gives a performance of the Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with the Festival Casals Orchestra in San Juan, Puerto Rico in February of 2007.

In June 2007, Mr. Feltsman returned to the San Francisco Symphony performing Prokofieff’s 2nd Piano Concerto with Michael Tilson Thomas as part of orchestra’s Prokofieff Festival. Summer of 2007 included performances at the Amelia Island Festival and the Eastern Music Festival where he performed Beethoven’s 1st Piano Concerto with Stefan Sanderling; Mr. Feltsman also played and conducted Bach’s Concerti in D minor & A Major with the Eastern Music Festival’s Orchestra. July and August of 2007 includes his annual appearances at the Aspen Music Festival. In September 2007, he returns to the Ravinia Festival performing in recital and his fall, 2007 appearances include Mr. Feltsman performing the Schumann Concerto with the North Carolina Symphony and both Brahms Concerti with the Seattle Symphony with Gerard Schwarz conducting. 07-08 has performances in Costa Mesa, CA. of the Beethoven Third with the Coburn Orchestra under the auspices of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, a recital at Caramoor and performances with the Grand Rapids Symphony and performances in Moscow in the winter of 2008.

Mr. Feltsman’s vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 20th century composers. He expressed his lifelong devotion to the music of J.S. Bach in a cycle of concerts which included major clavier works of the composer and spanned four consecutive seasons (1992-1996) at the Tisch Center for the Performing Arts at the 92nd Street Y in New York. His recent project, Masterpieces of the Russian Underground, unfolded a panorama of Russian contemporary music through the unprecedented survey of piano and chamber works of fourteen different composers from Shostakovich to the present day and was presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in January 2003 with great success. Mr. Feltsman served as Artistic Director for this project as well as performing in most of the pieces presented during the three concert cycle. The programs included a number of North American premieres and were also performed in Portland, Oregon and Tucson, Arizona at the University of Arizona.

Sharing the great tradition of piano playing has become increasingly important to Mr. Feltsman, who holds the Distinguished Chair of Professor of Piano at the State University of New York, New Paltz and teaches at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the International Festival-Institute Piano Summer at New Paltz, a comprehensive month-long training program for advanced piano students which offers a unique, multifaceted approach to all aspects of piano performance and attracts musicians from all over the world.

Mr. Feltsman’s extensive discography has been released on the Sony Classical, Music Heritage Society and Camerata, Tokyo. His discography includes six albums of clavier works of J.S. Bach, recordings of Beethoven’s last five piano sonatas, solo piano works of Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, and Messiaen, as well as concerti by Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. Camerata released Mr. Feltsman’s performances of the Brahms 1st & 2nd Piano Concerti with the Cologne Radio Orchestra with Hans Vonk conducting.

Mr. Feltsman, who became a U.S. citizen in 1995, lives in upstate New York.