Wikipedia

Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo

Stanislava Varshavski and Diana Shapiro is a piano duo, formed in Israel and residing in the United States.

Stanislava Varshavski and Diana Shapiro
OriginIsrael, United States
GenresClassical music
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)Piano four hands
Years active1998–present
Websitewww.piano-4-hands.com

Stanislava Varshavski was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. A young piano prodigy, she had her orchestral debut at the age of eight. After receiving her initial musical training in Ukraine, Stanislava proceeded with her studies at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy in Israel.[1]

Diana Shapiro was born in Moscow, Russia. At the age of 17 she moved to Israel and started her studies at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy under Berkovich.[1]

In 1998, at one of their classes in the Academy, Stanislava and Diana were encouraged by Alexander Tamir to try playing as a piano duo.[2] The collaboration turned to be a real success and within a year the duo captured their first top prize at the International Piano Duo Competition in Bialystok, Poland.[3]

Both Ms. Varshavski and Ms. Shapiro received Bachelor and master's degrees from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where they studied with the Israeli duo Bracha Eden and Alexander Tamir,[1][2] and in 2005 moved to Boston, MA to continue their education under renowned American pianist Victor Rosenbaum. In 2011 both pianists completed Doctoral degree studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[4] During their studies at UW-Madison both artists served on the faculty of the Maranatha University[5] and upon completion joined the faculty of the Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, WI.[6]

The Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo has performed in such venues as the HKAPA Concert Hall in Hong Kong,[7] Henry Crown Symphony Hall in Jerusalem, Teatro Valle in Rome, and Lincoln Theater in Miami.[8] They have appeared with the Radio Orchestra in Munich,[1] the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra,[9] Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami's New World Symphony,[8] and Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra,[10][11] and have recorded for Bavarian Radio, Radio 4 of Hong Kong, New York's WQXR,[12] Israeli National Radio, and Wisconsin Public Radio.[13][14] In 2012 the duo has been featured in a documentary film presented on the Wisconsin Public Television.[15]

As music educators, Diana Shapiro and Stanislava Varshavski have presented master classes at a number of universities across the United States[5][16][17][18][19][20][21] and gave lectures at WMTA,[22] ISMTA and College Music Society[23] conferences. In 2016, Varshavski and Shapiro have been invited to showcase at the 2016 National Conference of the Chamber Music America[24] and served as judges at the 2016 Chicago International Competition for Piano Duos.[25]

Awards edit

  • 2012 – Winner of National Auditions of the Astral Artists in Philadelphia, PA[26]
  • 2008 – Career Grant from "Salon De Virtuosi" in New York, NY[27]
  • 2005 – Second Prize at the Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in Miami, Florida[28]
  • 2004 – The Grand Prize at the 15th International Piano Competition "Rome 2004" (two pianos section) in Rome, Italy[29][30]
  • 2004 – First Prize at the 15th International Piano Competition "Rome 2004" (one piano four hands section) in Rome, Italy
  • 2004 – First Prize at the "Kol HaMusica" Young Artists Competition in Jerusalem, Israel
  • 2003 – First Prize at the 13th Schubert Competition in Jesenik, Czech Republic[31]
  • 2003 – First Prize at the Israel Chamber Music competition in Jerusalem, Israel, 2003[30]
  • 2000 – Top 5 at the ARD Competition in Munich, Germany[30]
  • 1999 – First Prize (and two special prizes) at the International Piano Duo Competition in Bialystok, Poland[3][32]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "The First International Piano Duo Festival in Israel". 2003-09-10. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  2. ^ a b "Bach kicks off four-hands festival, Jerusalem Post, September 7, 2003".
  3. ^ a b "Previous editions". Pianoduo.pl. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  4. ^ "By All "Rites," Another Triumph at Farley's House of Pianos | Arts & Culture – Madison Magazine". Channel3000.com. 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  5. ^ a b "MBU Benefit Concert Raises Money for Grand Piano". Mbu.edu. 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  6. ^ "Silver Lake College Blog". Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  7. ^ "The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts – Annual Report" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  8. ^ a b "Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo, Mendelssohn Concerto in E major for two pianos and orchestra". YouTube. 2012-05-06. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  9. ^ "Morning service on Christmas morning – Part One". Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  10. ^ Sweeten, Lana (2016-04-18). "Pianists Varshavski, Shapiro dazzle symphony audience". Timesrecordnews.com. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  11. ^ Sweeten, Lana (2016-08-23). "From a cirque show to jazz trumpet and piano duo, symphony season has it all". Timesrecordnews.com. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  12. ^ "Winners of Astral Artists Auditions, Part II". 2014-03-19. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  13. ^ The Midday (2014-10-31). "Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo | Wisconsin Public Radio". Wpr.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  14. ^ The Midday (2012-06-27). "Stanislava Varshavski and Diana Shapiro | Wisconsin Public Radio". Wpr.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  15. ^ "Concert at Villa Louis | University Place | Wisconsin Public Television". Wptschedule.org. 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  16. ^ "Varshavski/Shapiro Piano Duo | Accents". Accents.mssu.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  17. ^ "Lycoming College hosts Varshavski-Shapiro piano duo – News | Lycoming College". Lycoming.edu. 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  18. ^ "Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo Recital – 11/16/2013 – Swarthmore College". Calendar.swarthmore.edu. 2013-11-16. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  19. ^ "St. Norbert College to Present Evening of Stravinsky Concert | St. Norbert College". Snc.edu. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  20. ^ "Guest Artists | Lawrence University". Lawrence.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  21. ^ "Piano duo brings four-hand performance to UW-Platteville | University of Wisconsin-Platteville". Uwplatt.edu. 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  22. ^ "WMTA Newsletter" (PDF). Wisconsinmusicteachers.com. August 2014. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  23. ^ "Diana Shapiro – College Music Symposium". Symposium.music.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  24. ^ "2016 National Conference Showcases | Chamber Music America". Chamber-music.org. 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  25. ^ "2016 Judges | Music Institute of Chicago". Musicinst.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  26. ^ "VARSHAVSKI–SHAPIRO PIANO DUO – Astral Advancing Classical Music". Astralartists.org. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  27. ^ "Grant Winners". Sdev.org. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  28. ^ "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation | 2005 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  29. ^ Stefano Vaccaro (2005-04-28). "AFC – Winners' roll – International Piano Competition "Rome"". Archived from the original on 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  30. ^ a b c "The Dynamic (Two Pianos) Duo". 2004-10-11. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  31. ^ "Rok 1978" (PDF). Franzschubert.cz. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  32. ^ "Dreamlike Israelites". 1999-12-13. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
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