(1959-01-06) January 6, 1959 (age 65) Moscow, Russia
Genres
Classical
Occupation(s)
Pianist
Instrument(s)
Piano
Musical artist
Elena Kuschnerova (Russian: Еле́на Ефи́мовна Кушнеро́ва,
tr.Yelena Yefimovna Kushnerova; born 6 January 1959 in
Moscow) is a Russian-born classical
pianist.
Biography
Elena Kuschnerova was born into a musical family in
Moscow. She began her piano education at the age of five with her mother. At seven, she became a student of Tatyana Kestner at the Moscow Central Music School. At the age of nine, Kuschnerova made her first appearance with orchestra conducted by
Aram Khachaturian playing
Bach's
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, which was recorded by
Radio Moscow. Upon graduation she studied at the
Moscow Conservatory with
Sergei Dorensky. After receiving her diploma (with honors) in 1982, she went on tour in the Soviet Union for the next eight years. Foreign appearances and participation in international competitions were not allowed by Soviet authorities.[1][2]
In 1992 Kuschnerova emigrated to Germany and started a new career there. In the following years, she earned international acclaim giving concerts in Western Europe, USA and Japan.[1][2] As a piano professor she taught master classes in Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and the USA. Since 2006 she has been guest professor at the
Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima. Kuschnerova lives nowadays in
Baden-Baden and in
New York.
Music
Several composers have written piano works for Kuschnerova, who also premiered most of them.
During her time as a student in Moscow, Kuschnerova was influenced by the composer
Alexander Lokshin.[3] In 1982 he dedicated a piano cycle "Prelude and Theme with Variations" to her. She premiered it the same year;[4]
Siegfried Matthus, "Die Sehnsucht nach der verlorenen Melodie" ("Longing for the lost tune"), piano concerto. First performance by Elena Kuschnerova 2002 in Dresden with
Dresden Philharmonic orchestra, conductor
Marek Janowski;[5]
Mikhail Kollontay, piano concerto op. 45. First performance by Elena Kuschnerova 2011 in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, conductor
Freddy Cadena;[6]
Jürgen Otten names Kuschnerova in Die großen Pianisten der Gegenwart (The Great Pianists of Modern Times) together with
Elisabeth Leonskaja and
Lilya Zilberstein as the three most notable Russian female pianists. He acknowledges her "flawless technique" and "enormous tonal wisardry" and calls her "pianist par excellence".[1]