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Biography
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Born in India into a family of Russian diplomats, Irina Chkourindina performed at a very young age as a soloist in recitals held in India’s eleven biggest cities by the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. All the world’s a stage as Shakespeare said!
Formed in the famous “Russian school” at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the young pianist continued her studies with such famous professors as Andrey Pisarev (assistant of S. Dorensky) and Kira Shashkina (teacher of M. Pletnev) and, who all assisted her as she brilliantly surmounted the difficult steps towards becoming a successful pianist. She obtained her master’s diploma for classical piano and was awarded the First Prize along with the congratulations of the jury.
When she was 23 years old, Irina decided to leave Russia and move to Geneva where she attended classes with Edson Elias, professor at the Ecole Normale de Paris and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse de Lyon. She obtained her soloist’s diploma in 2005 with honours and in 2006 studied chamber music at the Geneva Conservatory where she obtained yet another diploma, again with distinguished mention.
She participated in (and regularly won) numerous international competitions, her first at age 16 in 1994 when she won the First International Piano Competition in China, with another prize-winning
performance at the 2000 Moscow National Accompanist Competition, her most recent victory coming at the Zurich Orpheus Competition.
Her repertory embraces almost the entire range of classical music. When forced to name her personal favourites, she admits, true to her origins, of having a particular fondness for the virtuoso repertory, notably for Russian composers such as Prokofiev, Schedrin, Shostakovitch and Rachmaninoff. But Liszt and Janacek are also among her favourites, as are modern composers of the likes of Dutilleux.
At present, Irina is performing as a soloist in numerous festivals, such as the Divonne Festival of Chamber Music in 2006 and the Schubertiade Festival in French-speaking Switzerland, to name but a couple. She has also given many concerts in France, Belgium, Sweden, Japan and Switzerland (with the Orchestra of the Swiss Romande in 2005) and recorded four CDs devoted to classical romantic compositions (by Liszt, Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff etc.). Together with Ardina and Jan Nehring of the ARC Trio, she appeared at the Wettingen festival in Argovia, with an excellent review from the critics. The trio will gather again in 2009 at the Baden Festival, Aarau Festival, at the Schubertiade 2009 in Payerne and for the “Musicales de Compesières”. In a rare gathering of artistic talent, Irina and actor and director Alain Carré have teamed to stage Franz Liszt’s tumultuous romantic life or Rainer Maria Rilke and Frederico Garcia Lorca’s tortured lives.
Watching her plunge body and soul into such masterpieces as she combines her touch and extreme sensitivity with an unbelievable energy is indeed an experience in itself!
Illyria Dufey |
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