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Alexander Korsantia, pianist

b i o g r a p h y...........back to roster....up June 2012 Dubbed “a major artist” by the Miami Herald and a “quiet maverick” by the Daily Telegraph, pianist Alexander Korsantia has been praised for the “clarity of his technique, richly varied tone and dynamic phrasing” (Baltimore Sun), and a “piano technique where difficulties simply do not exist” (Calgary Sun). The Boston Globe found his interpretation of Pictures of an Exhibition to be “a performance that could annihilate all others one has heard.” And the Birmingham Post gushed that “his intensely responsive reading was shot through with a vein of constant fantasy, whether musing or mercurial.” Ever since winning the First Prize and Gold Medal of the Artur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the First Prize at the Sidney International Piano Competition, Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Gianandrea Noseda and Paavo Jarvi and orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Kirov Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic. During the 2011/12 season, Korsantia could be seen and heard in his debuts with the Edmonton Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Duluth Superior Symphony and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, while also returning to the Pacific Symphony and Mannheim Symphony. He also gave again a recital at the Festival Piano Jacobins in Toulouse. In 2013 he will perform Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Recent engagements included Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto with Gergiev and the Mariinski Orchestra in Eliat, Israel, followed by a tour across that country with the Camerata Israel performing the 1st Concerto by Shostakovich, a work later repeated at the Batumi Festival in Georgia under Maxim Vengerov. He also performed with the Israel Symphony, Mannheim Symphony, Goteborg Symphony. Earlier, he made his debut with the Cincinnati Symphony and Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concerto, and performed with the Omaha, Elgin and Pacific Symphonies. These concerts followed a stint with the Israel Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos the previous summer, where he performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and the 2nd Brahms Piano Concerto nine times. In Europe he was heard on tour with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, performing Chopin’s 2nd Piano Concerto in France and Germany, as well as with the Noeburg Chamber Orchestra across Germany. He also gave recitals at the Festival Piano Jacobins in Toulouse, and in Calgary, Lodz, and his hometown, Tbilisi, Georgia. Other noteworthy engagements have included a televised performance of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg; performances at the Stresa Festival in Italy under the baton of Yuri Bashmet; concerts at the Newport, Tanglewood, Vancouver, Gilmore festivals; with the symphony orchestras of Vancouver, Omaha, Oregon, Louisville, the RAI Orchestra in Turin, Oslo Philharmonic, and the City of Birmingham, the Georgian State Orchestra, the Kirov Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra and others. He has also participated in a United States recital tour with renowned violinist Vadim Repin. A veritable superstar in his country of birth, he performed at the inauguration of Georgian President Saakashvili in 2004, a year after National TV released a full-length documentary about him. In 1999, he was awarded one of the most prestigious national awards, the Medal of Honor, bestowed on him by then-President, Eduard Shevardnadze. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Korsantia began his musical studies at an early age. Among his mentors are his mother, Sventlana Korsantia and Tengiz Amiredjibi, Georgia’s foremost piano instructor. In 1992, he moved his family to the United States and joined the famed piano studio of fellow Georgian, Alexander Toradze, at Indiana University. Korsantia resides in Boston where he is a Professor of Piano on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. b i o.. ...r e v i e w s back to roster...up . . . .

. r e v i e w s...........back to roster....up Israel Sinfonietta Georgian pianist Alexander Korsantia, now residing in America, was a wonderful surprise. Crouching over the keyboard, dressed all in black, he tossed off the concerto with ease and style, projecting the image of a major pianistic talent. - The Jerusalem Post, 6/20/09 PianoSummer Gala at SUNY New Paltz Frederic Chopin's Scherzo No. 2 in D flat is a marvelous example of his genius to charge his short pieces with symphonic contrasts and dynamics. Alexander Korsantia met the challenge and with flying colors filled the hall with exuberant sound. From the first repeated roll call to the harmonic, exalted theme, he played with passion and conviction, ending with fortissimo chords that brought the disparate elements together in a resonant coda. Korsantia was in his element with Chopin. - Times Herald-Record, 7/14/09 Cincinnati Symphony It would be hard to find a more convincing replacement for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor than Korsantia, a native of Tbilisi, Georgia. The prize-winning pianist is on the faculty of the New England. From his first notes of the Rachmaninoff, we knew we were in for a treat. Here was an artist of depth and musicianship, who projected a refined touch, clarity and beauty of line. His use of rubato (give and take in the tempo) was liberal, sometimes causing the pulse to sag. But the softer, lyrical themes had an intimate quality that was quite beautiful. Korsantia’s arsenal included a spectacular technique, and he attacked the treacherous opening of the finale as cleanly as I’ve ever heard. His final cadenza came off like a rocket, for an exciting finish. - The Enquirer, 2/29/08 Elgin Symphony Here is a pianist of the first order who is not afraid to play the work in the grand manner. Korsantia uses lots of pedal, and on occasions he rose from the bench to really pound in his notes. I was afraid that the piano lid would come crashing down. How exciting would that have been! For sure, Rachmaninoff would have hated it. Korsantia is a nervous pianist who needs to calm down his shaking jowls and twitches and learn to relax more in performance. Korsantia has loads of technique, and the soft passages of the work truly sang. His no-nonsense reading of the work reminds me of the great Russian pianist Stanislav Richter's way with the composition. - The Beacon News, 11/11/07 Calgary Recital Beginning his program with early Beethoven and finishing with late Prokofiev, Korsantia held the audience in the palm of his hand, his performance the last word in polish, bravura technique and musical concentration. Korsantia’s magical way with piano miniatures was evident from the outset in his exquisite performance of an early Beethoven sonatina — a student work, really — usually performed today by pre-teens. Treating the work with respect, Korsantia made the piece sound mature beyond its actual substance. Two Chopin mazurkas followed. Korsantia is a marvellous Chopin player, the composer’s always-present melodies coloured and shaped, and the pianistic figuration natural and flowing, with just a touch of “brilliante” to give it a French elan. Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1 in B minor closed the first half, perhaps the best live performance I have heard of the piece. - The Calgary Herald, 10/12/07 Pacific Symphony Alexander Korsantia joined the symphony to close out the first half with an aggressive and athletic performance of the ubiquitous first concerto in all its primary colors. Big sweeping melodies, crashing chords, blistering octaves. The usual drama. Korsantia hit all the marks. Plenty of flourish, a sort of “What have I got to lose” panache matched with a snapping muscular precision. - Orange County Register, 9/9/07 South Bend Symphony Alexander Korsantia and the orchestra made Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” a conversation between the two of them. Korsantia’s playing in the riotous first movement was full of flourishes, while his playing on the slower parts of the second movement was lush and backed by expansive playing by Yeh and the orchestra. It ended with a fast, exciting reading of the third movement. - South Bend Tribune, 5/13/07 b i o.. ...r e v i e w s back to roster...up . . .

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