Concert | Vassily Primakov & Natalia Lavrova, piano duo

Primakov has been hailed as a pianist of world-class importance. Gramophone wrote that "Primakov's empathy with Chopin's spirit could hardly be more complete," and the American Record Guide stated: "Since Gilels, how many pianists have the right touch." Vassily Primakov was born in Moscow in 1979. His first piano studies were with his mother, Marina Primakova. He entered Moscow's Central Special Music School at the age of eleven as a pupil of Vera Gornostaeva, and at 17 came to New York to pursue studies at the Juilliard School with the noted pianist, Jerome Lowenthal. At Juilliard Primakov won the William Petschek Piano Recital Award, which presented his debut recital at Alice Tully Hall, and while at Juilliard, aided by a Susan W. Rose Career Grant, he won both the Silver Medal and the Audience Prize in the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition. Later that year Primakov won First Prize in the 2002 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions. In 2007 he was named the Classical Recording Foundation's "Young Artist of the Year." In 2009, Primakov's Chopin Mazurkas recording was named "Best of the Year" by National Public Radio and that same year he began recording the 27 Mozart piano concertos in Denmark. In November of 2010 the first CD in a series of live performances, "Primakov in Concert, Vol. 1", will be released including works by Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

Natalia Lavrova is a highly regarded performer of multi-faceted artistry, whose sincerity of interpretation and beguiling charm upon the stage has won the hearts of audiences across the United States and Europe. Ms. Lavrova enjoys a diverse career upon the international platform, and additionally holds substantial positions in the worlds of arts administration and pedagogy. Solo and orchestral performances have taken Lavrova throughout her native Russia to Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom and the United States, to include notable New York venues such as Steinway Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Lavrova has captured top prizes at the New Orleans, Isabel Scionti, Frinna Auerbach, Heidi Hermanns, and Music Academy of the West, Silver Lake, and Senigallia International Piano Competitions. Upon her debut at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Lavrova was the youngest performer of 1996 admitted to the quarterfinal round. Natalia Lavrova was born in Moscow in 1981. She entered the preparatory division of the Moscow Conservatory, and was subsequently accepted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, as a pupil in the studio of Herbert Stessin. Lavrova went on to earn her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at Juilliard, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.