T
he Faculty Artist Series presents pianist Alexander Kobrin, Assistant Professor of Piano, Thursday, September 6, at 7:30 p.m., in Kilbourn Hall, at the Eastman School of Music. Kobrin will be playing Chopin: Piano Sonatas No. 1-3.
Called the “Van Cliburn of today” by the BBC, pianist Alexander Kobrin has placed himself at the forefront of today’s performing musicians. Alexander Kobrin has won top prizes in international piano competitions, including the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, First Prize in the Busoni and Scottish competitions, and Top Prize at the Hamamatsu competition. His prize-winning performances have been praised for their brilliant technique, musicality, and emotional engagement with the audience. The New York Times has written that Kobrin was a “fastidious guide” to Schumann’s “otherworldly visions, pointing out hunters, flowers, haunted corners and friendly bowers, all captured in richly characterized vignettes.” After Kobrin’s performance of Second Piano Concerto by Johannes Brahms with Syracuse Symphony in Syracuse, NY, a critic wrote, “This was a performance that will be revered and remembered as a landmark of the regeneration of exceptional classical music in Central New York.”
Kobrin has appeared with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the New York, Tokyo, Warsaw, Royal Liverpool, and Moscow Philharmonics; the Dallas, Birmingham, Swedish Radio, Berliner, and BBC Symphonies; and the Russian National Orchestra, British Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Verdi, Orchestre de las Suisse Romande, and Chicago Sinfonietta. He has released recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Quartz, and Centaur labels and his recording of Robert Schumann’s Carnaval, Waldszenen, and Arabesque was named a Top 5 Album of the year by Fanfare Magazine in 2015. Gramophone praised Kobrin’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Sonata on the Cliburn Competition disc, noting “Kobrin achieves a hypnotic sense of the music’s dark necromancy.” In 2017 his Russian Music CD has received the “critic award” by Fanfare magazine. He has also recorded works by Chopin and Haydn.
In addition to his acclaimed performances, Kobrin has served on the faculties of the Gnessin Academy of Music and New York University’s Steinhardt School, and held the L. Rexford Whiddon Distinguished Chair in Piano at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Georgia. He has given master classes in Europe and Asia and has been a jury member for many international piano competitions, including the Busoni, Blüthner, Neuhaus and the “Prix Animato.” Joining the Eastman faculty in the fall of 2017, Kobrin continues to perform mainly as a soloist and chamber musician.
The Faculty Artist Series is generously supported by Patricia Ward-Baker.
Tickets for Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series are $10 for the general public and free to current Season Subscribers. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main St.; by phone (585) 274-3000; or online at http://eastmantheatre.org
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division—about 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 percent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Six alumni and three faculty members have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, as have numerous GRAMMYÒ Awards. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 800 concerts to the Rochester community.