Alexander Malofeev
Piano

“The latest phenomenon of the Russian piano school” (Corriere della Sera), “Alexander Malofeev manifests the piano mastery of the new millennium in itself” (Il Giornale)

Young “Russian genius” (Corriere della Sera) came to international prominence when, in 2014, he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at age thirteen. “Contrary to what could be expected of a youngster …, he demonstrated not only high technical accuracy but also an incredible maturity. Crystal clear sounds and perfect balance revealed his exceptional ability” (Amadeus). Malofeev has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation.

Alexander’s recent and appearances include a 2019 Asia tour with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala under Riccardo Chailly, with the Mariinsky Orchestra commemorating in St. Petersburg the 175th anniversary of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, concerts at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and with the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome.

Maestro Riccardo Chailly said about the pianist: “I first heard Malofeev when Valery Gergiev performed with him at the Teatro alla Scala three years ago. He was only 14, and he amazed me with his talent. Because that is not just a child prodigy: he is very young, but already possesses depth and technical abilities, and also musical and mnemonic, which makes him an excellent interpreter of the 3rd Concert of Rachmaninov, which is a problem for many pianists in the world.” (Corriere della Sera, October 2019).

Alexander was born in Moscow in October 2001. The pianist graduated from the Gnessin Moscow Special School of Music in the class of Elena Berezkina. In 2019, Alexander entered the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He studied under Professor Sergei Dorensky in 2019-2020. Since 2020, Alexander has been studying with Professor Pavel Nersessian.

Alexander Malofeev performs with the world’s best known orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, State Chamber Orchestra “Moscow Virtuosi”, Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra, Baltic Sea Philharmonic orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Orchestre National de Lille and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra.

Alexander gives concerts in Amsterdam in Concertgebouw, where he opened the 30th anniversary concert of the renowned Meester Pianists series, Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Kurhaus Wiesbaden (Germany), Munich Herkulessaal (Germany), Philharmonie de Paris, Theater of the Champs-Elysees (France), Kurhaus Wiesbaden (Germany), Auditorium Parco della Musica in Roma, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (Australia), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, National Centre for the Performing Arts (China), Kaufman Music Center, Mariinsky Theatre and Moscow (the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory).

Alexander Malofeev regularly appears with the most distinguished conductors on a stage today, including Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailly, Mikhail Pletnev, Myung-Whun Chung, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Susanna Mälkki, Lionel Bringuier, Alondra de la Parra, Marcelo Lehninger, Juraj Valcuha, Kazuki Yamada, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Kristjan Jarvi, Vladimir Spivakov, Alexander Sladkovsky, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Vasily Petrenko and others.

Malofeev is a guest of world famous music festivals such as International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, La Folle Journée de Nantes and Chopin Festival in France, Rheingau Music Festival (Germany), Merano Music Festival (Italy), Denis Matsuev’s «Crescendo» Festival, Valery Gergiev’s «Mikkeli Music Festival» (Finland) , Mariinsky International Piano Festival (St. Petersburg), Master Pianist Series (Amsterdam), «Stars on Baikal» International Music Festival, International Winter Festival «Arts Square» directed by Yuri Temirkanov (St. Petersburg), Festival of Larisa Gergieva, Eilat Chamber Music Festival in Israel, International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo in Italy and Stars of the White Nights Festival in Russia.

In addition to his 1st prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, he has won numerous awards and prizes at international competitions and festivals, including the Grand Prix of the I International Competition for Young Pianists Grand Piano Competition, the Premio Giovane Talento Musicale dell’anno 2017 and Best Young Musician of 2017. Also in 2017, Alexander became the first Young Yamaha Artist. In 2019, he received a second prize at the I China International Music Competition.

In the spring of 2020, the Sony Classical Label released the “Tchaikovsky 2020” box-set on the 180th anniversary of P. Tchaikovsky with the record of Tchaikovsky 1st Concerto performed by Alexander Malofeev with the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Sladkovsky.

This season sees Alexander performs with the New World Symphony under baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra with Patrick Summers, La Scala Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly, Münchner Symphoniker, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo, Prague Philharmonia, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi with Robert Treviño, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and Russian National Orchestra.

He performs recitals at Tonhalle in Zurich, La Seine musicale in Paris, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Boston Celebrity Series, Tilburg Recital Series and Vancouver Recital Society in Canada.

Alexander Malofeev participates in international music festivals such as Ravinia festival, Festival Napa Valley, Aspen Music Festival, La Jolla Music Festival in California , Lucerne Festival and Festival La Folle Journée de Nantes.

Irina Sherazadashvili
Mezzo-soprano

Born in 1992 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Irina Sherazadishvili earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in vocal performance at the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire. In 2021, she won the Grand Prix of the 33rd Marmande International Singing Competition and she was a finalist of the Tbilisi International Singing Competition The Opera Crown. In 2022, she was a finalist of the XVII Monserrat Caballe International Singing competition. Since 2016, she has been a soloist at the Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theater where she took part in the following productions: Aida (High Priestess), Werther (Charlotte), Macbeth (Dama), Nabucco (Fenena), Cavalleria Rusticana (Lola), La Forza del Destino (preziosilla), Don Carlos (Princess Eboli), etc.

The Georgian repertoire is very important to Irina. She often appears as Naana in Zacharia Paliashvili’s opera Abesalom and Eteri and performs three different parts (Maro, Babusi, Barbale) in the comic opera by Victor Dolize Keto and Kote.

In 2021, Irina Sherazadishvili made her debut as Second Lady in The Magic Flute at the Capitole Theater in Toulouse under the baton of Frank Beermann, directed by Pierre Rigal. During the summer of 2022, she returned to France to give a recital at the Festival Nuits Lyriques de Marmande and made her debut as Mallika in Lakmé. In February of 2023, Opéra de Bordeaux invited her to give a recital as part of their Midi Musical.

Nino Jvania
Piano

Nino Jvania has been praised for her “consistently compelling performance, an ideal combination of precise touch, choreographic flair, and calm, keen concentration” (Boston Globe) and recognized as “the Snow Queen of New Music” (Westfälischen Nachrichten). After graduating from Tbilisi Vano Sarajishvili Conservatoire, she went to Germany to study at Robert Schumann-Hochschule Düsseldorf. Her particular interest in the 20 th century and contemporary music led her to multiple participation in Stockhausen-courses (Germany), the scholarship of International Ensemble Modern Academy, and the prizewinning performance at the Orléan International Piano Competition of 20th Century Music (France), where she was awarded the II Prize and the Special Prize for the Best Piano Accompaniment of Song Cycles.

As a soloist, accompanist, and ensemble musician, Nino has been invited to various festivals and courses, such as NEC SICPP (USA), Encuentros (Argentina), Stockhausen International Symposium (Ukraine), Young Euro Classics (Germany), Close Encounters (Switzerland), Viola Forum (Poland), NovemberFest (UK), Delft Chamber Music Festival (Netherlands), etc. 2010 and 2013/14 she was a visiting professor/scholar at New England Conservatory and New York University, holding also guest lectures at Harvard and Tufts Universities.

Nino is the co-founder of the New Music Student Ensemble of Tbilisi Conservatoire and Ensemble Georgia Modern. Performances have taken her to prestigious halls worldwide, such as Paris’s Salle Cortot, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Boston’s Jordan Hall, New York’s Merkin Hall, Spectrum and NYU Black Box Theater, Düsseldorf’s Tonhalle, Baki’s State Philharmonic Hall, and Schloss Elmau.

Boris Giltburg
Piano

The Moscow-born, Israeli pianist is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling interpreter. Critics have praised his “singing line, variety of touch and broad dynamic palette capable of great surges of energy” (Washington Post) as well as his impassioned, narrative-driven approach to performance: “the interplay of spiritual calm and emphatic engagement is gripping, and one could not wish for a more illuminating, lyrical or more richly phrased interpretation” (Suddeutsche Zeitung).

In recent years Giltburg has engaged in a series of in-depth explorations of major composers, concentrating on the works of Beethoven, Ravel and Rachmaninov. To celebrate the Beethoven anniversary in 2020 he embarked upon a unique project to record and film all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas across the year, blogging about the process as it unfolded. “These interpretations are enormously pleasurable and at times revelatory… Giltburg’s pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven” (Five stars, BBC Music Magazine). He also recorded the complete concerti with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, appeared in the BBC TV series “Being Beethoven” and performed both concerti and sonatas in concert.

In 2021-2023 Giltburg explores the complete works of Maurice Ravel, performing the solo works shared amongst Bozar, Flagey and the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw, and the whole cycle at Wigmore (including the Violin Sonatas with Alina Ibragimova). He also plays the Ravel concerti with the Orchestre National de France/Macelaru at Bozar, Brussels Philharmonic/Prieto at Flagey, and Residentie Orkest/Bihlmaier at the Concertgebouw.

Giltburg is widely recognized as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov: “His originality stems from a convergence of heart and mind, served by immaculate technique and motivated by a deep and abiding love for one of the 20th century’s greatest composer-pianists.” (Gramophone). In 2023, during Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversary year, Giltburg will continue his recording of Rachmaninov’s solo works, as well as release the last disc in his acclaimed Rachmaninov concerto cycle. To coincide with this, Giltburg plays Rachmaninov concerti with Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony at the Barbican, with Tomáš Netopil and the Czech Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum, with Nicholas Collon and the Finnish Radio Symphony, and the complete cycle with the Brussels Philharmonic and Giancarlo Guerrero at Flagey. Recital appearances featuring Rachmaninov include the Stuttgart Liederhalle, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, Birmingham Town Hall, Spivey Hall, Atlanta and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

Giltburg regularly plays recitals in the world’s most prestigious halls, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus and Southbank Centre. He has worked with many top orchestras across the world including the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, NHK Symphony and at the BBC Proms. In 21/22 he debuted at the Santa Cecilia di Roma with Kirill Petrenko.

Giltburg is a consummate recording artist and has been exclusive to Naxos since 2015, winning the Opus Klassik award for Best Soloist Recording for Rachmaninov concerti and Etudes Tableaux; and a Diapason d’Or for Shostakovich concerti and his own arrangement of Shostakovich’s 8th String Quartet. He also won a Gramophone Award for the Dvorak Piano Quintet on Supraphon with the Pavel Haas Quartet, as well as a Diapason d’Or for their latest joint release, the Brahms Piano Quintet.

Giltburg feels a strong need to engage audiences beyond the concert hall. His blog “Classical music for all” is aimed at a non-specialist audience, and he complements it with articles in publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Guardian, Times and Fono Forum. During the lockdown period in spring 2020, Giltburg regularly streamed live performances and masterclasses from home, with over 1 million views.