DENIS EVSTUHIN, piano

Denis Evstuhin Russian pianist Denis Evstuhin has earned international acclaim for his vibrant artistry, remarkable sound quality and brilliant virtuosity by audiences and critics alike. Denis has performed in major cities throughout Europe, Russia, and the USA. He has appeared on stages of the world's most prestigious venues, including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the great Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff Halls in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theater and Philharmonic Halls in St. Petersburg, as well as Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Evstuhin appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Fairbanks Symphony, and the Sioux City Symphony. Denis has earned prizes in a number of international competitions around the World. In 2010 Denis was a guest on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.

Denis holds a B.M and M.M. from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. While in the USA, he received DMA degree in Piano Performance at the University of Minnesota (studio of A. Braginsky). Evstuhin has participated in master classes, performing for some of the most distinguished pianists of our time.

After a successful performance at The Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis in July 2009, Denis was invited to organize and serve as Artistic Director of Music at the Museum, a concert series featuring a wide range of Russian classics. Recent highlights include a performance with Osmo Vanska and Erin Keefe in Minneapolis and 2014-2015 US tour.

For more information visit: www.evstuhin.com


ANTON MELNICHENKO, piano

Anton Melnichenko Russian-born pianist Anton Melnichenko has been performing on several continents since his first solo recital at the age of twelve. His performances have always garnered him both public and critical acclaim. In addition to top prizes Melnichenko has received various special audience awards on numerous international competitions.

A graduate of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Anton has also received an Artist Diploma at Hamline University, as well as his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Professor Alexander Braginsky.

Melnichenko has earned top prizes in a number of international and national competitions, including first prizes at the International Competition "Citta di Fasano" (Italy), the Shubert Club Competition (USA), International Competition The Art of 21st century (Ukraine), Gavrilin International Piano Competition (Russia), as well as the fourth prize at the V International Piano Competition in Andorra. He has also appeared on many television and radio stations in Russia, US and Europe, such as Minnesota Public Radio, Russia K Channel (Culture), Russian National Television and others, performing works by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich.

Besides his solo career Anton Melnichenko is an established collaborative pianist and has been working with many instrumentalists and vocalists around the world. He is also a staff collaborative pianist at Hamline University.


MLADA KHUDOLEY, voice

Mlada Khudoley Praised by the New York Times for her "lush, sizable and luminous voice", Russian soprano Mlada Khudoley has performed at such illustrious theatres as Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, the Royal Opera of Denmark, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Dusseldorf), the Stuttgart Staatsoper, the Leipzig Oper, the Graz Oper, the Teatr Wielki (Warsaw), the Greek National Opera, the Teatro Massimo (Palermo), the Teatro Regio (Turin), opera houses in Los Angeles, Washington, Dallas, Minnesota, Vancouver (Canada), Tel Aviv, the Latvian National Opera and the Kazan and Yekaterinburg Opera Houses.

She has performed with such outstanding conductors of the present day as Valery Gergiev, Seiji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Gianandrea Noseda, and the singers Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Vladimir Galuzin, Bryn Terfel, among other.

Her repertoire includes Bellini's Norma, Santuzza (Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana), Donna Anna, Donna Elvira (Mozart's Don Giovanni), Manon (Puccini's Manon Lescaut), Fevronia (Rimsky-Korsakov's The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh), Strauss' Salome (Salome) and Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos), Tchaikovsky's Lisa (The Queen of Spades), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Verdi's Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Aida, Abigaile (Nabucco), Violetta (La traviata), Wagner's Sieglinde (Die Walkure), Senta (Der Fliegende Hollander), Elisabeth (Tannhauser) among others.

For more information visit: www.mladakhudoley.com


OSIP NIKIFOROV, piano

Jasmine Wei-Ting Chang Osip Nikiforov is a Russian pianist, who studied under the tutelage of the world-renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman at Manhattan School of Music and is a Third prize-winner of the 2016 San Antonio International Piano Competition.

Born in the city of Abakan in Siberia to a family of musicians, Osip started studying piano with his father at age 6. Since 2010 Osip Nikiforov has been residing in the United States. In 2021 Osip was a finalist in the Jinji Lake International Piano Competition in Suzhou, China, and in 2020 he was awarded First prize at the San Antonio Young Artist Tuesday Musical Competition. In 2016 he became a recipient of the Adopt a Young Artist award, given to a young classical musician in Minnesota. He is also the Second prize winner of the 2014 Music Teacher National Association Competition in Young Artist Division in Chicago.

Osip is also regularly invited to perform at concert series as well as festivals, such as the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, the Memorial Classical Music Series in Houston, and Mozart Festival Texas in San Antonio and the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series in St. Paul, among others. Besides the United States, he has given solo recitals in Spain, Israel, South Africa, Russia, and Japan.

Osip has also frequently collaborated with national and international orchestras, including the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Khakass Philharmonic Orchestra, the Incarnate Word Symphony Orchestra, and Golden Valley Symphony Orchestra. Osip graduated from Shattuck St. Mary’s School in Minnesota and the University of Minnesota, where he studied piano with professor Alexander Braginsky, who was the last student of Alexander Goldenweiser. Currently, he is a Malcolm W. Perkins Teaching Fellow in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Rice University, studying with internationally-renowned pianist Jon Kimura Parker. He has also appeared on Minnesota Public Radio, WFMT Radio, GetClassical, and Classical Connect. In the fall of 2021, Osip’s first piano solo album, Russian Elegie, was released by Orpheus Classical Label on all major digital platforms.

For more information visit: www.osipnikiforov.com


BRIAN BILLION, piano

Brian Billion Pianist Brian Billion is a top-prize winner at many national and international competitions, including 1st prize at the Lancaster International Piano Competition (2015), The 1st Catholic University of America International Piano Competition (2014), The Mu Phi Epsilon Scholarship Competition (2015), the Aberdeen Civic Orchestra Young Artists Concerto Competition (2009), and the 2nd Annual Grant Competition (2012).

Mr. Billion began studying under Dr. Ivo Klatchev in 2012 at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. as the recipient of the Archdiocesan Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship for university based on academic excellence. Upon graduation in 2016 he received the special award from the School of Music faculty for best undergraduate instrumentalist. In 2018 Mr. Billion completed his Master’s degree in piano performance at The Juilliard School in New York, studying with Hung-Kuan Chen. Currently Mr. Billion is pursuing his Doctorate in piano with Alexander Braginsky at University of Minnesota. He is also a Theory Teaching Assistant at UMN, teaching all four theory core classes to music majors.

Brian has performed at such international venues as Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall), the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Lincoln Center’s Paul Hall and Peter J. Sharp Hall, the Cascais Cultural Center in Lisbon, Portugal, the Teatro Comunale Degli Industri in Grosseto, Italy, Mariahilferkirche in Vienna, Austria, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, among others. He has performed as a soloist with Orquestra de Camara de Cascais e Oeiras, the Aberdeen Symphony, and the Millersville University Orchestra.


ANASTASIYA NYZKODUB, clarinet and piano

Anastasiya Nyzkodub Ukrainian-born clarinetist Anastasiya Nyzkodub is currently completing her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Minnesota where she studies with professor Alexander Fiterstein. Prior to her DMA studies she also completed her Master's degree at the University of Minnesota. Ms. Nyzkodub received her Bachelor Degree in Clarinet Performance at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.

Before coming to the US, Anastasiya studied clarinet with her father, Sergiy Nyzkodub at the College of Arts in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). She participated in a summer program New Names in Russia and played in a chamber ensemble Consone. While pursuing her Bachelor degree she played and toured with New Music Ensemble.

In 2015 Ms. Nyzkodub received a First prize at the Thursday Musical Young Artist Competition. During past seasons she performed with Minnesota Fringe opera and Mankato Symphony. She was a semi-finalist of the William Byrd Young Artist Competition (2017).


OLGA SCHLOSSER, voice

Olga Schlosser Russian-born Olga Schlosser started her musical education at the age of 6. After graduating from the Music School in Yekaterinburg, Russia, she continued her musical education at the Yekaterinburg Tchaikovsky Musical College. She has worked as a Soloist with Moscow's National Orchestra and has been involved in Music ministry at churches in both Russia and the US.

In her teaching Olga Schlosser focuses on helping her students to find their unique voice as well as to develop stage confidence, musical style, and artistic potential.

 


STELLA SOKOLOVSKY, piano

Stella Sokolovsky Stella Sokolovsky has begun studying piano at age 6 and was accepted to the Music Lyceum at the State Conservatory in Minsk, Belarus. At the age 11 she started performing in major cities throughout Belarus, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Great Britain, Canada and the USA, performing works by J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Medtner, Liadov, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff and others.

Stella's musical education culminated at the State Academy of Music in Minsk, Belarus. In a summer of 1994 she had participated at the Interlochen Art Camp in Michigan, taking Master's level courses of piano and organ performance. In 1998 Sokolovsky participated at master-class of the celebrated pianist Daniel Pollack. She has also earned several honorable diplomas from various International piano competitions in Europe.

Her teaching experience has begun with coaching young students at the Belarusian State Academy of Music. For several years Sokolovsky has successfully taught piano for both young and adult students at Music for everyone School and the Millennium Center for performing arts in Minnesota. In her teaching style, Stella combines essentials of both Russian and American traditions and methods of teaching.


IRENE MERZ, violin and guitar

Irene Merz Academically trained musician, performer, and teacher, Irene Merz was born in Tbilisi, Georgia and received her Master's and Doctoral Degrees at Tbilisi Conservatory of Music. She is a Third-place winner of the 7th Annual Competition for Caucasus region musicians. While in Georgia, Irena was a member of Kutaisi Symphony Orchestra and Tbilisi Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.

Irene enjoys sharing her professional skills with students of all levels, from beginners to advanced, using a unique combination of 35 years of educational and performance experience.

Irene is also an experienced music therapist. She organized and participated in various musical programs at hospitals, orphanages, and nursing homes.