NATCHITOCHES – Pianist Nadejda Vlaeva will present a concert at Northwestern State University on Monday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The concert is part of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Tickets are $15. Northwestern State University, BPCC@NSU and Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts students are admitted free with a current student I.D. A livestream will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream. Northwestern State Assistant Professor of Piano Dr. John Price and Associate Professor of Piano Dr. Francis Yang are co-directors of the of the Louisiana Piano Series International.
Vlaeva will perform one of her compositions along with works by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Sergei Bortkiewicz.
Vlaeva, winner of the coveted Musician of the Year award given by the Bulgarian National Radio, is an award-winning pianist who has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including at Carnegie Zankel Hall, the Rose Hall in Lincoln Center, the Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai, and The Concertgebouw in The Netherlands. Her overwhelming musicality, poetic nature, and electrifying virtuosity have garnered accolades from many world-famous musicians. Lazar Berman called her talent “God-given”; Maestro Hans Graf observed that “her musicality and the depth of her interpretation amazed me,” and Arnold Steinhardt, leader of the Guarneri String Quartet, praised her as “one of those people of extraordinary ability whom we hope for but rarely see.”
Vlaeva is a Hyperion Recording Artist and was the first pianist to record the complete Bach Transcriptions of Camille Saint-Saëns [“positively stunning,” BBC Music Magazine Instrumental CD of the Month]. The CD’s opening track inspired the award-winning short animation movie “Ouverture” that premiered at the Lincoln Center Film Festival in New York. Her “Piano Music of Liszt” CD won the Grand Prix “Liszt” du Disque, and her CD “Piano Music of Sergei Bortkiewicz” was a Musicweb Recording of the Year (“absolutely first class”). Her “A Treasury of Russian Romantic Piano” CD was described as “truly inspired,” “exquisite,” knockout performances,” “extremely well-played,” and “unfailingly sympathetic and musical.” Her newest CD contains world-premiere recordings of works by the noted Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov. It has been named an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine and a Critic’s Choice in International Piano.
In addition to her seven internationally released CDs, Nadejda Vlaeva recorded soundtrack music for the documentary film “In Search of Cezanne” produced by Academy Award winner Allan Miller. At the E.G. Conference she collaborated with BBC Planet Earth and also with the violinist Joshua Bell. The American Composer Lowell Liebermann has dedicated two works to Nadejda Vlaeva, both of which were premiered by her.
Vlaeva was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and began playing the piano at age five. She has studied piano in Bulgaria, The Netherlands and New York City. At age 15 she won first prize at the Liszt competition in Lucca, Italy.
