FESTIVAL  PIANO  FACULTY  2014 

                                                                   shall be announced soon...


                                              FESTIVAL  PIANO  FACULTY  2013

       Yuri Didenko
              Russia
   
     Arkady  Zenziper
             Germany
        Nikita Fitenko
                USA
Antonio Di Cristofano
                  Italy

Yuri Didenko                                          /  MOSCOW  STATE  CONSERVATORY, RUSSIA /
                                                                                       LECTURES, MASTER CLASSES, PERFORMANCE.

Picture
Internationally acclaimed Russian pianist Yuri Didenko has performed solo recitals and with orchestras in the best concert halls of Moscow, cities of the former Soviet Union and abroad: USA, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Greece, Malta, Chile, China, countries of Western Africa, Turkey, Cyprus, South Korea.
The British magazine Pianoforte referred to his performances as "bold, open, powerful, and technically accomplished old-school virtuosity." The Belgian newspaper La Semaine d'Anvers wrote of him as a "brilliant pianist" and mentioned his "large and bright sonority" as well as dynamism. His concerts in USA were highly appraised by the press. “Didenko captured the hearts of the audience when he performed several selections by Sergei Rachmaninov”, a critic wrote about one of his recitals.
________________________________________________________________________________

Prof. Arkady Zenziper  /Staatlichen Hochschule fur Musik Carl-Maria von Weber, GERMANY/
                                                                                    LECTURES, MASTER CLASSES, PERFORMANCE.
                                     

Picture
Internationally acclaimed pianist, Professor, Dean of Piano Faculty of the Staatlichen Hochschule fur Musik Carl-Maria von Weber in Dresden.
Arkady Zenziper is from St. Petersburg where he studied at the Conservatory with Professors Sokolov and Pertmann, graduating with the highest honours. In 1984 he moved to Germany. He is highly acclaimed as a leading performer of Romantic works and has performed with various leading German orchestras such as the Dresden Staatskapelle and Rundfunksinfonieorchester of Berlin in Germany and abroad. He has performed with the Czech Philharmonic, the Cappella Musicale of St. Petersburg and the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. He has also performed and given Master Classes in the UK, USA, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia and South Korea. Zenziper is also founder and orchestra director of the non-profit making Schubertiaden Festival in Schnakenburg, Germany, held every August for two weeks and which musicians and students meet for concerts and workshops.

Winner of several international competition prizes, Zenziper’s latest was winning the XI Festival Internazionale di Musica da Camera of Florence. He is professor at Dresden’s Hochschule Carl Maria von Weber and is on the adjudicating panel of the Anton Rubinstein International Piano Competition.

Dr. Nikita Fitenko               / CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY of AMERICA, WASHINGTON, USA /
                                                                                     LECTURES,  MASTER CLASSES, PERFORMANCE.

Picture
Internationally acclaimed pianist and YAMAHA  Artist  Nikita Fitenko has performed  solo recitals and with orchestras in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, South  and North America. He has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as St.Petersburg Capella Symphony, Russian Chamber Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic  Orchestra of Moscow, St. Petersburg State Conservatory Orchestra, State  Hermitage Orchestra, Slovak National Philharmonic, Lewisville Symphony, Rapides  Symphony, Northeast Texas Symphony and Northwestern Symphony Orchestra.

While performing a  wide and diverse repertoire, Nikita Fitenko is an acknowledged master of  Russian piano music. His CDs for Altarus Records of complete piano works by leading  contemporary Russian composers Georgy Sviridov (1997) and Sergei Slonimsky  (2000) have garnered rave reviews from the international music press. Fanfare  Music Review wrote, "Fitenko plays magnificently!" Slonimsky himself  described  Fitenko's interpretation of his piano music as "outstanding." He also added, "It  is very vivid, imaginative, virtuosic, fascinating, and pianistically  brilliant." Mr. Fitenko's recording of Scriabin's Piano Concerto with the  Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow was released internationally  on  Classical Records label in December 2007. His latest recording of works by Bach,  Beethoven, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov for Classical Records will be  released  this fall.
In addition to solo  recitals, Nikita Fitenko performs extensively in piano duo with Katerina Zaitseva.  Hailed by critics for their "superlative sound, superlative  interpretation, and superlative pianism…", the duo has performed worldwide: Russia, Portugal, Washington, Yamaha Hall (NYC),California, USA, Japan, France.

Nikita Fitenko graduated from the St. Petersburg State  Conservatory with a citation for excellence given to only five other graduates  in the last fifty years. After receiving the Anton Rubinstein Memorial Award he came to study to the US pursuing his master's and doctoral degrees from the  University of North Texas. His principal teachers included Roman Lebedev, Igor  Lebedev, and Joseph Banowetz.

Dr. Fitenko has  been invited to serve on many international piano competition juries, including  2011 Chopin International Piano Competition (Hartford, CT), 2010 Scriabin  International Piano Competition (Grosetto, Italy), 2009 American Pianists  Association's Classical Fellowship Awards (Indianapolis, IN), 2008 Rachmaninov  International Piano Competition (Moscow, Russia), 2008 Nordic International  Piano Competition (Malmo, Sweden), and 2003 World International Piano Competition (Cincinnati, OH) among others. He has presented master classes  in Italy,Germany,Estonia, Luxemburg, South  Korea, China, US.

Currently, Dr. Fitenko holds a position of Associate Professor of Piano at the Catholic  University of America in Washington, D.C. and co-directs the Washington International Piano Festival. Prior to that he was Associate Professor and  Coordinator of Keyboard Area at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Mr. Fitenko is the founder and artistic director of the Louisiana International Piano Competition.
Web:  www.fitenko.com

FESTIVAL  GUEST  ARTIST:

Picture
Antonio Di Cristofano / Italy / 
Antonio Di Cristofano completed his piano studies in 1986 at the Conservatory "L.Cherubini" in Florence under the supervision of Maestro Bacchelli and Maestro Damerini. He has performed as piano soloist, chamber musician and as soloist with many orchestras including the Orchestra of the University of Milan, Strings Orchestra "Cantelli" of Milan, Chamber Orchestra of Florence, Symphony Orchestra of Lecce, Magna Grecia Orchestra, Sicily Symphony Orchestra, Solisti Aquilani, Milano Classica Orchestra, Radio Orchestra of Bucharest, Orquesta Sinfonica de l'Estado de Mexico, University Orchestra of Houston, Radiotelevision Albania Orchestra, Istanbul Chamber Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic, Lamont Symphony Orchestra Denver, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Izmir Symphony Orchestra, Iasi State Philharmonic, Wiener Mozart Orchestra, Toronto Sinfonia, Philarmonique de Montreal, Jerusalem Symphony, Slovak Filharmonie, Kaerntner Sinfonieorchester, and Thailand Philharmonic with conductors G. Taverna, F. A. Krager, O. Balan, M. Bosch, M. Ancillotti, M. Alsop, N. Arman, C. Schulz, M. Zanini, C. Olivieri-Munroe, L. Svarovsky, A. Chernushenko, and many others.

He has performed at the most important concert venues in Italy including the "Verdi Theatre" in Florence, the "Festival dei Due Mondi" in Spoleto, "Asolo Musica", the Theatre of Alessandria, the "Bibbiena Theatre" in Mantova, the "Puccini Hall" at the Conservatory "G. Verdi" in Milan, "Politeama Theatre" in Palermo. He has also concertized worldwide including performances in Romania (Aeteneum and Radio Bucharest), Spain (Festival de Vigo, Madrid, Jeunesses Musicales de Sevilla), Mexico (Belles Artes Palacio and Revueltas Auditorium), USA (Moores Opera House of Houston and Newman Center in Denver), Turkey (Istanbul, Izmir and Adana), Croatia (Dubrovnik, Rector Palace), Czech Republic (Prague, Smetana Hall and Dvorak Hall), Russia (the Moscow Conservatoire Hall), South Korea (Seoul, Leeum Auditorium), France (Nancyphonies Festival), Austria (Klagenfurt, Konzerthaus), Germany (Munich, Gasteig), Poland (Warsaw, Chopin Society), Canada (Toronto, Glenn Gould Studio), Lithuania (Vilnius, Christopher Summer Festival), as well as in Switzerland, Albania, Israel, England, Portugal, Bulgaria, Belgium, Brazil, and Thailand. He has recorded CDs of music by Schubert and by Brahms, Berg and Scriabin. Recently he made his debut at Carnegie Hall (New York) and in Konzerthaus and Golden Hall MusikVerein (Vienna).

He has served as member of many international piano competitions including Compositores de Espana - Madrid, Varallo, Cantù, Osijek, Gante - Pordenone, Parigi, Viardo - Belmont, Rachmaninov - Moscow, Iturbi - Valencia, Parnassos - Monterrey, Francaix - Vanves among others. He has presented master classes at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow, the Summer Academy in Dubrovnik, Denver University, the SMC Academy in Seoul, and in Thessaloniki Conservatoire.
Web: www.dicristofano.it
The European Centre for Culture & Arts shall be the sole owner and copyright holder of any photos, audio- and/or video-recording that may be done of any festivals activities, concerts or events by all musicians /participants. All participants/musicians agree to release all rights to compensation for such recordings for the promotion of the festival.

| About Us | Faculty | Schedule | Concerts | Lectures | Master Classes | Terms & Conditions | Contact Us |