Svetlana Smolina

Piano/Russia-Belgium-USA

“Music is the most amazing gift a human being can have, and I pour all my feelings into each piece I perform.”

Svetlana, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, has performed with orchestras and in recitals worldwide. Notable solo appearances with orchestras include Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, New York Philharmonic at Avery Fischer, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestra National de France, Pittsburgh Symphony, and many others.

A frequent guest at festivals worldwide, Ms. Smolina performances included Salzburg Festival, Hollywood Bowl Festival in Los Angeles, Ravinia Rising Stars Festival in Chicago, White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Rotterdam Phillips Gergiev Festival in Holland, International Gilmore Keyboard Festival, Hennessy Artists Series at Hanoi Opera House, Vietnam.

As recitalist she appeared in prestigious halls such as Royal Covent Garden Opera, Mariinsky 3 Concert Hall, Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory Hall, Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Lincoln Theater in Miami, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Grand Artists Series in Tel-Aviv, Academia Santa Cecilia in Rome, Vienna’s Sacher Hall, and many others.

Recordings and broadcasts include Stravinsky’s Les Noces (Valery Gergiev, conductor on Decca/Phillips and on Mariinsky Label which received ICMA award for Best Choral Work in 2011), a recording of solo works for the Chopin Project, a recital with violinist Vadim Repin for Deutsche Grammophone in Berlin and broadcasts for NPR, BBC, PBS, RAI, Cultura TV and other networks.

Recipient of the “New Names” Scholarship program in Russia, Svetlana has been a prizewinner of many international piano competitions, as well as Murray Dranoff International Duo Piano Competition (with Maxim Mogilevsky) in Miami, a triumph which has been echoed many times in distinguished prizes and awards.

DMA graduate from the University of Michigan, Svetlana received her BM from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, M.M. from the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University. Her principal teachers include Alexander Toradze, Arthur Greene, Natalia Fisch, Evgeny Mogilevsky, Monique Duphil. In the summer of 2011 Svetlana joined iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates in Los Angeles, making her debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall with iPalpiti Orchestra (Eduard Schmieder, conductor) and since, has been returning to iPalpiti festivals in solo and chamber concerts, and playing series of recitals in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties in California.

Svetlana Smolina was the Samuel Barber Artist -In-Residence at West Chester University of Pennsylvania's School of Music, and is a member of the piano faculty at Philadelphia International Summer Festival. Her current projects include recording a solo album at Cove City Sound Studios; the recording of Martin Matalon works for Naxos; the soundtrack for the upcoming film “You are Not You” starring Hilary Swank; and a tour of China with the Russian European Orchestra in 2014. This season she performed to critical acclaim in a duo with famed violinist Vadim Repin (iPalpiti’ Artistic Advisor) at Kroener Hall in Toronto.