Faculty Artist Series: Pianissima

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Faculty Artist Series: Pianissima

A Family Affair
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 . 8PM
Principal People: 

Larissa Dedova, Mikhail Volchok, Daria Scarano and Anastasia Voltchok, pianos

Special Announcement: 

Please note: The livestream of this performance will only be available to view live. The stream will not be available for viewing afterwards.

Event Attributes

Presented By

Presented By: 
UMD School of Music
Accessibility: 

For more information regarding accessible accommodations, please click here.

Venue: 
Seating: 
General Admission

Join us in person at The Clarice or watch the livestream from the comfort of your home. 

UMD School of Music piano faculty Larissa Dedova and Mikhail Volchok are joined by their daughters and UMD alumnae Daria Scarano and Anastasia Voltchok to present a recital that is truly a family affair. Program repertoire includes pieces by Rachmaninoff, Milhaud and Ravel, along with a composition by Mikhail Volchok.

Program:
Mikhail Glinka: Valse-Fantasie in B minor (arr. for 4 pianos)
Witold Lutoslawski: Paganini-Variations in A minor for 2 pianos
Mikhail Volchok: Dialogues for 2 pianos
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 1 Op. 5 “Fantaisie-Tableaux” for 2 pianos
Darius Milhaud: Scaramouche Suite Op. 165b for 2 pianos
Maurice Ravel: Boléro (arr. Jacques Drillon for 4 pianos)

Health + Safety

All patrons 12 years of age and older are required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result from a test taken within 48 hours of the performance for entry into the venue (home tests will NOT be accepted). 

Masks must be worn at all times. Please see our Health + Safety page for more information.

PROGRAM MENU: PROGRAM • ABOUT THE ARTISTS
 

Program

 

Valse-Fantasie in B minor
Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857)
arr. A. N. Schefer
 
Paganini-Variations in A minor for two pianos
Witold Lutoslawski (1913–1994)
 
Dialogues for two pianos
Mikhail Volchok (b. 1950)
 
Suite No. 1 in G minor “Fantaisie-Tableaux” for two pianos, Op. 5
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
 
INTERMISSION
 
Scaramouche Suite for two pianos, Op. 165b
Darius Milhaud (1892–1974)
 
Boléro for four pianos
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
arr. Jacques Drillon
 

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 
LARISSA DEDOVA
 
University of Maryland Piano Professor and Division Coordinator Larissa Dedova has appeared in solo and chamber recitals in concert halls throughout the world to critical acclaim at such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Great Hall of St. Petersburg Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, the Teatro Ghione in Rome, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, the Neue Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, the Salle de Tanneurs in Tours, the Neue Welt Hall in Zwickau, the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, the Stadtcasino in Basel and Bulgaria Hall in Sofia. As a soloist, she has played with famous orchestras including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Kiev Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Chambre de Budapest, the Moscow Philharmonic and the Estonian State Symphony Orchestra, among many others.
 
Dedova’s recording credits include releases for the Melodia label as well as for the ConClaRec and Morning Storm labels. Her four-CD set “Debussy: The Complete Solo Piano Music,” released in May 2011 on the Centaur Records label, earned praise from Fanfare Magazine, declaring Dedova “an artist of the highest caliber” with “an unerring musical instinct and flawless technique.” Larissa Dedova’s two-CD set “Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Music” was released by Centaur Records in June 2017. Blair Sanderson writes that “it is a first-rate recording of these polished gems, and her playing is wholly at the service of Ravel perfectionism and artistry,” and Fanfare Magazine calls it “a stunning performance.”
 
Dedova’s most recent five-CD set, “Schubert Piano Sonatas,” was released by Centaur
Records on Oct. 15, 2021.
 
Dedova is a graduate of The Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she studied
with Lev Oborin and Evgeny Malinin.
 
 
 
MIKHAIL VOLCHOK
 
Piano Lecturer Mikhail Volchok studied in the best schools of Russia: with Professor Yakov Zak at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and with Professor Pavel Serebriakov at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg for his Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, the latter obtained at the age of 25.
 
The winner of the 5th Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Volchok has toured with famous conductors, such as M. Jansons, A. Lasarev, A. Jansons, and E. Serov, among others. He appears in solo recitals and in duo recitals with Larissa Dedova in Europe, the United States and Asia. In 1996, Piano Duo “Dedova-Volchok” became the winner of the International “Pro Piano” Competition in New York.
 
A dedicated teacher, Volchok has been invited to festivals and masterclasses in Italy, Croatia, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, France and the United States.
 
Volchok’s recording credits include releases for the Melodia label as well as for the ConClaRec, Morning Storm and Centaur labels.
 
Volchok is the author of numerous compositions, including a piano sonata, piano concerto, string quartet, Capriccio for 15 instruments, Dialogues for two pianos as well as a piano trio and cello sonata. His Three Poems of Anna Ahmatova for soprano, flute and piano were premiered in Basel, Switzerland in July 2016.
 
Since 1997, Volchok has been on the piano faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park as well as a master teacher at Levine Music in Washington, D.C.
 
 
DARIA SCARANO
 
Silver Medalist of the Emil Gilels International Piano Competition Daria Scarano ’03, ’06, ’11 (B.A., M.M., D.M.A. in piano) began her piano studies when she was five years old in Moscow, Russia. She attended the renowned Moscow Central School of Music of the State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. As one of the most promising students, Daria was chosen to give a special performance for the Russian Royal Romanov Family at the Nobleman Palace in Moscow by the time she was eight. Daria came to the United States in 1997; two years later, she was admitted to the University of Maryland School of Music at the age of 15, where she acquired her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
 
Daria has performed as a soloist, with orchestras and as a chamber musician throughout North and South America as well as Europe at such venues as the Stadtcasino Musiksaal in Basel, Switzerland; the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, Maryland; the Moscow Conservatory Recital Hall in Moscow, Russia; the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy; the Zarizino Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia; the Fontainebleau Palace Salle des Colonnes in Fontainebleau, France; the Tchaikovsky Cultural Center Hall in Moscow, Russia; the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile in Santiago de Chile, Chile; the Odessa Philharmonic Hall in Odessa, Ukraine; and the Washington Arts Club in Washington, D.C. She has collaborated with Alexander Toradze and his piano studio, Phillipe Entremont, Charles Siem, Anastasia Voltchok and Philippe Bianconi. Her appearances with orchestras include the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra under Maestro James Ross, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Tsung Yeh, the Orquesta Sinfonica del Instituto Cultural de Providencia under Maestro Denis Kolobov and the Odessa Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Hobard Earle.
 
Daria is the recipient of the Robert Casadesus Award, the Portia Silver Rosenbaum Rotkin Award, the Chevy Chase Women’s Award, the Yamaha Corporation Award and the Global Music Award. Her recording of Franz Liszt piano solo works was released on Centaur Records to critical acclaim.
 
 
ANASTASIA VOLTCHOK
 
Born in Moscow to a family of professional pianists, Anastasia Voltchok ’05 (D.M.A. in piano) began her piano studies at the age of four. Since her orchestral debut with a Haydn piano concerto at the age of eight, she has performed extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe and the United States.
 
Anastasia Voltchok studied under Yevgeny Malinin and Larissa Dedova at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and subsequently under Rudolf Buchbinder at the Musik-Akademie in Basel, Switzerland and under Santiago Rodriguez at the University of Maryland, College Park in the United States. She won the 1st prize and the Gold Medal at the International World Piano Competition in Cincinnati in 2003. Her performances have been broadcast by Swiss National Radio, Italy’s RAI TV and France Musique as well as by various broadcasting corporations in Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. She has recorded works by Schubert, Liszt and Prokofiev for the Novalis label and works by Chopin, Schumann and Rachmaninoff the Genuin label. On tour, Voltchok appears with the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Sao Paolo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarraa and Kremerata Baltica.
 
Her recent highlights include recitals at New York’s Lincoln Center, Tonhalle Zurich, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Victoria Hall in Geneva, and the Gulbenkian in Lisbon. Anastasia Voltchok is a guest artist at the Moscow Easter Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron Piano Festival and the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Piano Festival in Bergamo and Breschia. She collaborates closely with conductors and soloists such as Valery Gergiev, Michal Nesterowicz, Dennis Russell Davies, Roman Kofman, Gidon Kremer and Alexander Toradze. In 2016, Voltchok founded the Stars at the Rhine music festival in Basel, Switzerland. The annual event has become an important venue for promoting young talent as well as welcoming international stars. Last summer’s highlight was the performance of the Rachmaninoff suites by Anastasia Voltchok with the legendary Martha Argerich on July 4.
 
Besides enjoying her free time with her family, Anastasia Voltchok enjoys painting and writing poetry. She exhibits throughout Europe and in New York, and her second book of poetry is about to be published in German language in Baden-Württenberg this coming winter.
 
Upcoming performances include appearances at Tonhalle in Zürich, at Stadt-Casino Basel with München Philharmonic Orchestra, and in Jena with Jenaer Symphoniker where Anastasia will perform as a soloist with the orchestra and will do live painting to the orchestral performance of the Variations of Ginastera in the second half.