Mikhail Andreevich Semenov is a pianist, accompanist and teacher. He studied at the Academic Music College at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of M. V. Prozorova, and then at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in the class of Professor, Candidate of Art History S. E. Senkov.
During his studies he repeatedly received scholarships from international music foundations: the K. Orbelyan Foundation (2003, 2004), «Yamaha» (2007). He was also a scholarship holder of the Government of the Russian Federation (2007).
Mikhail Semenov is a laureate and diploma winner of All-Russian and international competitions, among them the 15th International Competition «Roma-2004» (3rd prize, Rome, 2004), the 1st All-Russian Piano Competition for Students of Higher Education Institutions «The Path to Mastery» (2nd prize, Moscow, 2006), and the 2nd World Delphic Games (3rd prize, Saratov, 2008).
The performing activity of M. A. Semenov is well known in Russia and abroad. The geography of his performances includes cities such as Moscow, Dubna, Tver, Smolensk, Bryansk, Saratov, Tambov, Makhachkala, Budapest, Rome, Cantu and Aarhus.
M. A. Semenov performs both solo recitals and as an accompanist. Among his stage partners are Pavel Baransky, soloist of the Moscow Regional Philharmonic, Honoured Artist of Russia Yana Ivanilova and Honoured Artist of Russia Elena Bazhenova.
Together with Alexandra Ogareva, artistic director of the «Kredo» Theatre of Music and Drama, he has created musical productions for the performances «The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda», «The Gold of Scheherazade’s Tales» and «The Grammar of Love».
He has performed with orchestras in Italy (the Symphony Orchestra of Rome and the Lazio Region conducted by Nicola Samale, and the Orchestra of the City of Cantu conducted by Pirangelo Gelmini), with the Saratov Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music under Honoured Artist of the Kazakh SSR T. Bynbaev, and with the Chamber Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory under People’s Artist of Russia Felix Korobov; he has also collaborated with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic under People’s Artist of the USSR Yuri Simonov.
Since 2009 M. A. Semenov has worked in the Department of Piano Performance as assistant in the class of his professor S. E. Senkov, and since 2016 he has led his own class.
The students of M. A. Semenov are laureates of competitions, among them:
- the International Competition «Romanticism. Origins and Horizons» (Moscow);
- the All-Russian Competition for Performing Musicians «Music. Talent. Discovery» (Moscow);
- the All-Russian Competition of Piano Concertos with Orchestra (Dubna);
- the National Competition for Young Soloists (Quito, Ecuador).
M. A. Semenov serves on the juries of many festivals and competitions, including:
- Chairman of the Moscow Regional Open Competition for Graduates in Piano Performance;
- Member of the jury of the Moscow Regional Open Festival-Competition «Public Philharmonic – Teachers Perform»;
- Member of the jury of the Open All-Russian Competition for Young Performers of Piano Music «Merzlyakovka Invites Friends»;
- Member of the jury of the All-Russian Competition of Piano Concertos with Orchestra (Dubna);
- In 2024 he was Chairman of the jury of the All-Russian Children’s Music Festival (Syktyvkar), dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of E. F. Gnesina.
M. A. Semenov gives masterclasses and professional development courses and teaches a course in methodology at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in addition to his work as a piano teacher.
Publications:
- Teaching manual «Practical Aspects of the Interaction of Aural Intention and Motor Automatism in the Pianist’s Work» – Moscow: «U Nikitinskikh Vorot» Publishing House, 2020;
- Article «On Developing the Interaction between Hearing and Motor Skills in the Piano Class» – journal «Piano», No. 1, 2020.
