Vladimir Feltsman, Piano

Biography

Vladimir Feltsman born in Moscow on 08 January 1952, is a Russian American
classical pianist. Mr. Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at
age 11. He studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky, Moscow, and Leningrad
(now St. Petersburg) Conservatories and went on to win the Grand Prix
at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris.

In 1979, because of his growing discontent with the official Soviet
ideology and rigid governmental control of the arts, Mr. Feltsman
applied for an exit visa from the Soviet Union. 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 teaches at the Mannes College The New School for Music
and the State University of New York, New Paltz, where he is the
founder and Artistic Director of the International Festival-Institute
Piano Summer. Mr. Feltsman, who became a U.S. citizen in 1995, lives in
upstate New York.

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.

His father is famous Russian composer Oscar Feltsman, known in the Soviet Union for popular songs and musical comedies.

He recently appeared on 18 October 2008 in Stamford, Connecticut,
U.S.A. to perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat
Major, Opus 73, otherwise known as the "Emperor". He was awarded a
standing ovation for his astonishing virtuosity that night.

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