Born in 1958 in the city of Belebey (Bashkiria).
From 1966 to 1976, he studied at the Central Music School of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Anna Artobolevskaya. In 1981, he graduated with honors fr om the Moscow Conservatory, wh ere he studied piano with Professor Alexander Nasedkin, and from 1982 to 1985 he completed a postgraduate assistantship there.
Teaching career
From 1993 to 1996, he taught piano at the Royal Northern College of Music in the United Kingdom.
Since 1995, he has been affiliated with the Moscow Philharmonic Society.
Since 1996, he has served as Associate Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, at the Piano Department headed by Professor Vera Gornostaeva.
Since 2011, he has been Director of the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory.
Since 2012, he has also been Professor at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music.
Concert career
Following his success at the Leeds International Piano Competition, he made a triumphant debut in London, wh ere he was invited to perform before Her Majesty the Queen. The press wrote:
«...It was hard to believe there wasn’t an entire orchestra on stage. It was a performance Liszt himself would have been proud of!» («Glasgow Herald», Scotland); «...An extraordinary pianist, schooled in the great Russian tradition and striving toward the highest peaks of virtuosity.» («Corriere della Sera», Italy).
He has performed in European and American cities with solo recital programs and with leading orchestras, including:
- the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra;
- the Grand Symphony Orchestra;
- the State Academic Symphony Orchestra under Evgeny Svetlanov;
- the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra;
- BBC Symphony Orchestra;
- Royal Scottish Orchestra;
- Gewandhaus Orchestra;
- National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra;
- The Hague Residentie Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Montreal, Zurich, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
He has collaborated with conductors such as Rudolf Barshai, Alexander Lazarev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Fedoseev, Georg Solti, Vernon Handley, Alexander Dmitriev, Yakov Kreizberg, and others.
He has participated in festivals at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl (USA), the Edinburgh and Cheltenham Festivals (UK), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Stresa (Italy), the BBC Proms (London), and the Van Cliburn Festival (Fort Worth, USA).
Competition awards
- Prizewinner of the International Piano Competition in Montreal (1980, Second Prize).
- Prizewinner of the VII International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1982, Second Prize).
- First Prize and Gold Medal at the Leeds International Piano Competition (UK, 1987).
- First Prize at the International Chamber Ensemble Competition in Vercelli (Italy, 1984, jointly with violinist Alexander Vinnitsky).
Discography
- Released by EMI: «Transcendental Études» by Liszt, «Études-tableaux» by Rachmaninoff, and nine sonatas and pieces from Prokofiev’s ballet «Cinderella»;
- Released by Collins Classics: Shostakovich’s «Piano Concerto No. 1» (with the Philharmonia Orchestra under M. Shostakovich) and Mussorgsky’s «Pictures at an Exhibition»;
- Released by Russian Seasons (Moscow): Grieg’s «Sonatas for Violin and Piano», recorded in ensemble with Alexander Vinnitsky (violin).
