VASSILY PRIMAKOV

Vassily Primakov began studies at Moscow’s Central Special Music School at age eleven as a pupil of Vera Gornostayeva. He then attended the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and theJulliard School in New York, where he studied under Jerome Lowenthal.

In 1999 Primakov won second prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and in 2001 he was a semi-finalist in the Van Cliburn Competition. Primakov then won both the Silver Medal and Audience Prize at the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. In 2007 he was honored by the Classical Recording Foundation with their Young Artist of the Year Award. His disc of 21 Mazurkas by Chopin was named a "Best of Year" by National Public Radio (2009). In 2011, along with his duo partner Natalia Lavrova, Mr. Primakov launched a new Record Label LP Classics.

Mr. Primakov has released 26 CDs and one DVD.

NATALIA LAVROVA

Natalia Lavrova was born in Moscow. She entered the Moscow Conservatory at the age of five, and was subsequently accepted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, as a pupil in the studio of Herbert Stessin. Ms. Lavrova went on to earn her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at Juilliard, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.

Upon her debut at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Ms. Lavrova was the youngest performer of 1996 admitted to the quarterfinal round. Ms. Lavrova has captured top prizes at the New Orleans, Isabel Scionti, Frinna Auerbach, Heidi Hermanns, Music Academy of the West, Silver Lake, and Senigallia International Piano Competitions. 

Solo and orchestral performances have taken Ms. Lavrova throughout her native Russia to Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States, to include notable New York venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall.