“He surrendered neither the smoothness nor the dynamic fluidity that the modern piano allows, and he gave his sense of fantasy free rein, and created an almost confessional spirit.”—Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
Recital:
Tuesday, February 1st, 7:30 p.m., Crowder Hall
Masterclass:
Wednesday, February 2nd, 5:00-7:00 p.m., Crowder Hall Stage
Question and Answer Session with Alexander Kobrin and John Milbauer:
Thursday, February 3rd, 1:00 p.m., Crowder Hall
With a career at the global forefront of classical music, Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Alexander Kobrin has been praised for his insightful musicianship, brilliant technique, and emotional engagement with the audience. Mr. Kobrin has appeared in recitals at major halls worldwide and has been a guest soloist with leading orchestras throughout his career. Currently keyboard faculty of the renowned Eastman School of Music, Mr. Kobrin has served on the faculties of the Russian State Gnessin’s Academy of Music, the Schwob School of Music of Columbus State University, and New York University’s Steinhardt School. Mr. Kobrin has released recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Quartz, and Centaur labels, covering a wide swath of the piano literature to critical acclaim including “critic’s choice” awards in Gramophone and Fanfare magazines.Join us for a three-day residency with Alexander Kobrin who will present a recital, masterclass, and question and answer session. The recital will include works by Beethoven, Scriabin, and Chopin, and feature Rachmaninoff’s solo masterpiece, Variations on a Theme of Corelli.
Mr. Kobrin has been an active guest soloist with leading orchestras throughout his career, including the New York Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Verdi, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Moscow Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Berliner Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Swedish Radio Symphony, Birmingham Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with such conductors as Mikhail Pletnev, Mikhail Jurovsky, Mark Elder, Vassiliy Sinaisky, James Conlon, Claus Peter Flor, Alexander Lazarev, Vassiliy Petrenko, and Yuri Bashmet.
He has appeared in recital at major halls worldwide, including Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, the Louvre Auditorium, la Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot in Paris, Munich’s Herkulesaal and Berlin’s Filarmonia Hall in Germany, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong, and the Sala Verdi in Milan, amongst others. Notable past engagements have included recitals under the aegis of the Cliburn Series, Washington Performing Arts Society, Chautauqua Institution Music Festival, La Roque d’Antheron, Ravinia Festival, Beethoven Easter Festival, Busoni Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festival Musique dans le Grésivaudan, and International Keyboard Institute & Festival, as well as annual concert tours in Japan, China, and Taiwan.
In addition to his international performing career, Mr. Kobrin has also been an active figure in music education for many years. From 2003 to 2010 he served on the faculty of the Russian State Gnessin’s Academy of Music. In 2010 Alexander Kobrin was named the L. Rexford Distinguished Chair in Piano at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, and from 2013 until 2017 was a member of the Artist Faculty of New York University’s Steinhardt School. In July 2017, Mr. Kobrin joined the faculty of the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. His masterclass schedule has included engagements with the International Piano Series and the Conservatories of Japan and China, as well as jury participation for the Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, Blüthner International Piano Competition in Vienna, E-Competition in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Neuhaus International Piano Festival in Moscow.
Mr. Kobrin has released recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Quartz, and Centaur labels, covering a wide swath of the piano literature. Bryce Morrison of Gramophone Magazine endorsed his Cliburn Competition release on Harmonia Mundi, writing that “in [Rachmaninoff’s] Second Sonata (played in the 1931 revision), despite fire-storms of virtuosity, there is always room for everything to tell and Kobrin achieves a hypnotic sense of the music’s dark necromancy” (Issue 2, 2006).
Born in Moscow in 1980, Mr. Kobrin was enrolled in the world-famous Gnessin Special School of Music at the age of five, after which he attended the prestigious Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His teachers have included renowned professors Tatiana Zelikman and Lev Naumov. Mr. Kobrin is the winner of numerous international piano competitions—besides the Van Cliburn, he has garnered top prizes from the Busoni, Hamamatsu, and Glasgow International Piano Competitions.
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