Eduard Zilberkant

Recognized as one of today's most gifted artists, and enjoying an active career as both pianist and conductor, Eduard Zilberkant has been received enthusiastically by audiences and press alike throughout Europe and the United States. He has performed in such halls as The Academy of Music and Curtis Hall at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Artur Rubinstein Hall and Warsaw Philharmonic Hall in Poland, Volgograd Opera House in Russia, and Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage. A grand prizewinner of the Young Keyboard Artist International Piano Competition in the United States, and a prizewinner at the Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, Eduard Zilberkant gained critical acclaim at the 1985 Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. This resulted in concerts with the Lodz Philharmonic and recitals at the International Chopin Festival in Dusznicki, Poland. This past year Eduard Zilberkant was invited to conduct the Czech National Symphony Orchestra both in Prague, and on tour to Germany. He also played recitals at the Assisi International Piano Festival in Italy, and at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City.

Eduard Zilberkant was born in Russia and gave his first recital live on Russian Television at the age of seven. He made his American Debut at the age of twelve performing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1, resulting in an invitation from conductor Robert Shaw to perform the Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Since then he returned to perform with that ensemble more than twenty times. Robert Shaw, Louis Lane, Robert Spano, Carl St. Clair, Peter Baberkof, and Mary Woodmansee Green, are just a few of the internationally renowned conductors with whom he has collaborated.

Eduard Zilberkant's recent CD, Zilberkant Plays Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, was recorded on the ACA label and release to high critical acclaim. The American Record Guide stated, "...the artistic approach of this Russian pianist emphasizes a strongly colored rhetoric, supported by a passionate and sensitive temperament.... Zilberkant reveals a brilliant sense of the construction of the work while infusing it with a breath of recreation; Zilberkant's pianistic and musical qualities are found not only in his speed but also in his ability to distill the slow tempos by drawing them out to the extreme...Zilberkant offers a passionate interpretation...." Radio France, Polish Radio and Television and PBS Radio and Television in the United States have also broadcast his performances. Music critics have asserted that as pianist he "possesses a remarkable keyboard mastery; plays in the style of the old romantic masters; he knows how to extract quite a palette of colors from the piano; his playing is subtle and passionate at the same time; he has the equipment that makes for pianist greatness;" and as a conductor he "brought admirable intelligence to his reading of the piece...and sculpting the individual lines into a monumental and heroic structure; his weaving of the finale's awesome counterpoint show him to be a musician of significance whom we hope to hear again; he made an impression for feeling the nuances of tempo, pauses, and accents...; he brought out new colors and romantic feeling with full balance of the sound from the orchestra."

Eduard Zilberkant has studied with such renowned teachers as Vitally Margulis, Jerome Rose, Leon Fleisher, Theodore Lettvin, Harvey Wedeen and Irina Petrovna Penyayeva. He has collaborated in recitals with international artists such as Paul Rosenthal, Daniel Avshalomov, Andres Diaz, Erez Ofer, Samuel Mayes, Donald McInnes, Nitzan Haroz, Frederick Hemke, as well as Prague and Kairos String Quartets. Presently he is a member of the Alaska Trio, and the Alaska Chamber Players.

A Fulbright Scholar in Germany, Eduard Zilberkant received a Solisten Diploma from the Freiburg Musik Hochschule. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Temple University and served on faculty of Temple University, Villanova University, and Breisach Jugendmusikschule in Germany. He has been a guest artist at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City, Assisi International Piano Festival and Orazio Frugoni Music Institute in Italy, Icicle Creek Music Center in Washington, International Summer Music Festival in Switzerland, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Fine Arts Camp. Presently, he is Associate Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Music Director and Conductor of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, the Arctic Chamber Orchestra, and the Fairbanks Youth Symphony.