VLADIMIR FELTSMAN
(piano)

An artist of immense range and insight, Vladimir Feltsman is recognized as one of the most imaginative and constantly interesting musicians of our time.

A regular guest soloist with every leading orchestra in the United States, Mr. Feltsman appears on the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world. In June of 2003, he returned to the Ravinia Festival for the third consecutive year performing an all Bach recital and in August, made his annual appearance at the Aspen Music Festival. In the fall of 2003 he appeared at Carnegie Hall performing Mozart's Concerto in B-flat, K. 595 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and in February of 2004, returned to Carnegie Hall, this time in recital. Also in February, Mr. Feltsman conducted and played an all-Bach concert with the Moscow Virtuosi at the new Moscow Music Center and in the spring of 2004, returns to Moscow to perform the Bach French Suites as part of the Easter Festival. Other highlights in the 2003-04 season include a performance with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in the Far East with Yuri Temirkanov conducting, as well as performances with the Florida Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, and a recital at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.

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 most 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 was also performed in Portland, Oregon and Tucson, Arizona at the University of Arizona.

In the 2002-03 season Vladimir Feltsman returned to the San Francisco Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas (Prokofiev 2nd Concerto) and in August of 2002, returned to the Malaysia Philharmonic (Tchaikovsky 1st Concerto.) He also made his annual appearance in recital in the summer of 2002 at the Aspen Music Festival, and with the Festival Orchestra. In addition to the “Music from the Russian Underground,” his 2002-2003 schedule included recitals in Pittsburgh, Clearwater, FL, Santa Fe, NM, Amherst, MA, and
Raleigh, NC and his 2nd consecutive appearance with the Seattle Symphony, performing Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto.

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.

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 is released on the Sony Classical, Music Masters, and Urtext labels, and 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. Mr. Feltsman lives in upstate New York.

For more information about Vladimir Feltsman,
please visit his web site at http://www.feltsman.com.