About My Journey….
My recording of original, big band version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was released on Naxos in the album Jazz Nocturne – American Concertos of the Jazz Age. Most recently, I can be heard playing chamber music by S. Prokofiev, A. Copland, and A. Kernis on the album Finding Home released in 2022 on Sony Classical Korea. This recording can be purchased on Apple Music and on Amazon.
As a performer of contemporary works, I premiered Speak No Evil by E. McKinley at the American Composer’s Forum, and performed For Don by M. Babbitt, with the composer in attendance for his 90th birthday celebration at Tanglewood’s Contemporary Music Festival. As the recipient of Peggy Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship at Tanglewood, I worked with James Levine, Dawn Upshaw, Yo-Yo Ma, Charles Rosen and Claude Frank.
Engagement highlights include Petrushka with San Diego Symphony, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in Sydney, Australia, as well as performances in the US of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #4, op.58, Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto #4, op.44, Mozart’s Piano Concerto #23, K488 and De Falla’s Evenings in the Gardens of Spain under the batons of M/Os Imre Pallo, Philip Mann, Jahja Ling and Beverly Everett, among others. In February of 2025, I performed Michael Daugherty’s Tombeau di Liberace with Texarkana Symphony under the baton of M/O Mann.
My life has been full of unexpected twists and turns, but music and the love of sharing it with others has been a constant. I am that child whose life trajectory was transformed by the instrument and by the art form that taught me discipline, perseverance and how to problem solve.
Early on in life I set out on a quest to derive lessons from everything I encounter and to learn from everyone I meet. My thirst for knowledge led me to translate music into new spheres - to become a university professor, a higher education administrator and a consultant.
My path into the administration of higher education and consulting is the culmination of years of experience as a professional musician, as a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant and as a perennial problem solver. I love hearing an abstract idea - let’s create this program and making it happen in real life. Having been an international student in the US and in Europe, I learned first hand the logistical challenges of international students. In turn, as a professor I helped young people from overseas to come to the US to study music, and built programs to support their equitable employment and learning opportunities. I have taught and worked as an administrator at community and urban commuter colleges, at private liberal arts universities, and at large land grant institutions. My broad international experience taught me about the nuances and intricacy of personal communication, a deeper understanding of how my cultural background and personal energy impact what I want in life (my why?), as well as about how others respond to me.
As an experienced higher ed professional, familiar with all facets of this vast educational landscape, I want to share my professional and personal expertise to help guide students in their educational journey and to inspire the next generation of artists to find their path to success.
I grew up in Fastov, Ukraine - in a small town known as a major train stop on the way to the capital. My immediate and extended family members were working class professionals: cobblers, repairmen, hairdressers, and my mother - a laboratory technician. To my blue collar family, playing the piano was just another trade, a skill to support yourself and perhaps to entertain others with. At my first piano lesson, my mother told me: “Learn to play the instrument, since no one can take away what you can earn with your own two hands.”
Eventually I fell in love with the instrument and in turn it changed my life. I went on to study around the world, starting at McGill University in Canada and continuing on to Arizona State University, Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Royal Academy of Music in London; receiving a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Minnesota.
My principal teachers include Mr. John Melnyk, Prof. Tatiana Sarkissova, Prof. Alexander Braginsky, and Dr. Marc Silverman. I appeared as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe. Also, my live performance recordings were played on National Public Radio’s (NPR) Performance Today (H.Villa-Lobos’ Mystic Sextet), on New York’s classical music station WQXR (B.Bartok’s Contrasts), and on Little Rock’s KLRE (G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue).
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