PROGRAM
♪Bach, Johann Sebastian...............................................................Toccata in f-sharp minor, BWV 910
♪Beethoven, Ludwig van............................................................Sonata in C Major, Op. 53, "Waldstein"
♪Scriabin, Alexander...........................................2
Poèmes, Op. 32, and Etude, Op. 65 No. 1, "ninths"
I N T E R M I S S I O N
♫Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de.............................................................Adagio (1778)
♫Ligeti,
György...............................................................Études pour piano: II. Cordes à vide, VIII. Fém
♫Rachmaninov, Sergei...................................................................Sonata No. 2 in b-flat minor, Op. 36
♪ Illya Filshtinskiy, a native of Kharkov, Ukraine, began studying piano at the age of six. While still a high school student, Mr. Filshtinskiy was a winner of numerous prizes, including the Ohio Music Teacher's Association Piano Solo Competition, as well as numerous other state and local competitions. In his senior year, he won both the solo and concerto divisions of the AMSA World Piano Competition, and was awarded the prize of playing at both Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and at the United Nations Headquarters. As winner of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra's Concerto Competition, he made his orchestral debut with that symphony playing the Schumann Piano Concerto. In 2004, Mr. Filshtinskiy was awarded a Fellowship by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
A veteran of numerous summer festivals, Mr. Filshtinsky has participated in Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine, and the International Institute of Young Musicians at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. This past summer, he traveled to the International Holland Music Sessions in Bergen, in the Netherlands, and the International Summer Academy for Instrumentalists in Goslar, Germany. At these festivals he studied and took master classes from such distinguished artists as Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jerome Lowenthal, Julian Martin, and Arie Vardi. The summer before, he studied at Pianofest in the Hamptons, directed by Paul Schenly. There, along with studying under Mr. Vardi for the first time, he also regularly beat Music4MS director William McNally at chess.
Prior to entering the Juilliard School, Mr. Filshtinskiy was a student of the Music School in Kharkov, Ukraine, studying both piano and flute. Upon arrival in the United States, he continued his pre-college education under Nina Polonsky, and supplemented these lessons with additional studies in the company of Steven Glaser at the Ohio State University and Eugene Pridonoff at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He has taken master classes under such notable pianists as Benedetto Lupo, Andre Leplante, Victor Rosenbaum, and Mikhail Voskresensky, among others. Mr. Filshtinskiy is currently completing his undergraduate studies at the Juilliard School as a recipient of the Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship, where he studied with Julian Martin, and currently works with Jerome Lowenthal.
 |
♫ The New York Times recently lauded up-and-coming pianist Nathaniel LaNasa's “stormy lyricism” in a recent performance of the Berg Chamber Concerto. As winner of the Piano Festival Competition held by the University of Puget Sound, he made his orchestral debut with the UPS Orchestra playing Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, and has since played with other orchestras, including Seattle 's Academy Chamber Orchestra and most recently the Tactus Ensemble in New York. Upcoming concerts include a Valentines Day Concert in Zankel Hall with Zero Gravity (the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Ensemble), recitals in South Nyack and Port Jefferson, New York, and concerts on the West Coast.
Mr. LaNasa is a competition veteran, garnering awards and scholarships from the Manhattan School of Music, the Edmonds Arts Council, the Academy of Music Northwest, the Empire State Collegiate Competition, and WPMA Scholarship Competition. He has been twice a participant at the Bowdoin Music Festival, and twice at Pianofest in the Hamptons, where he met (and learned how to flip omelettes from) fellow pianist William McNally. The many master classes he has participated in include those taught by such notable musicians as by Sergei Babayan, David Dubal, Marc Durand, Yehoved Kaplinsky, André LaPlante, John O'Conor, Jacques Rouvier, and Oxana Yablonskaya.
Originally a native of California, Mr. LaNasa's interest in music began at age three when he first took violin lessons. Piano studies commenced at age 5, and eventually he moved to Washington State. There he won numerous competitions, including the Edmonds Arts Council, the Academy of Music Northwest, the Empire State Collegiate Competition, and WPMA Scholarship Competition. His former teachers include Marc Silverman, Deirdre O'Donohue, Olivier Gardon, and Paul Schenly.
An avid devotee and writer of poetry, Mr. LaNasa recently completed a course of study with Poet-Professor Saskia Hamilton of Barnard College; he also devotes free time to the study of yoga. Currently a senior at the Manhattan School of Music, Mr. LaNasa is currently a student of André-Michel Schub, and also serves on the faculty of Larchmont Music Academy, as well as teaches privately in New York .
