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Historical Piano Concerts Series
About the Musicians

Dmitry Rachmanov

Russian-born pianist Dmitry Rachmanov has garnered much acclaim for his powerful performances which combine probing intellect with passionate insight. Critics for major publications have called his performances “dazzling, thrilling, soulful, and deeply moving.”

Rachmanov has appeared at international festivals including the St. German-en-Laye’s Juillet Musical and Moulin d’Andé in France, Soesterberg in Holland, Terra Magica in Croatia, Banff in Canada, Prussia Cove in England, and Spoleto USA, Bard and International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York. His recitals, chamber engagements and orchestral appearances have brought him to venues such as London’s Barbican Centre, the Kennedy Center and the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, Chicago’s Cultural Center, San Francisco’s Old First Concerts, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and the 92nd Street Y, and to numerous countries from Canada to Jamaica, England to Slovenia. The pianist’s repertoire ranges from Bach to Bartók and from the German Romantics to the Russian twentieth century avant-garde.  Rachmanov’s interest in original performance practice brought him to the Massachusetts’ Frederick Historical Piano Collection where he has made regular appearances performing on original fortepianos. His all-Beethoven CD, released by Omniclassic in 1998, received critical acclaim, and he has been heard live on NPR, WNYC-FM and WQXR-FM in New York and WFMT-FM in Chicago.

An avid proponent of the Russian repertoire, Rachmanov performed the Shostakovich First Piano Concerto at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Scriabin Concerto with the Porto National Orchestra in Portugal, and the Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds at Chicago’s Rudolph Ganz Hall. His 1989 US premiere of Boris Pasternak’s Sonata was broadcast nationwide by National Public Radio, and his 1998 recital at Merkin Concert Hall entitled “The Art of the 19th Century Russian Character Piece,” was noted by the New York Times for the “considerable color and focus” he brought to the individual works and he was praised as a “suave and gifted pianist.” A founding member of the Scriabin Society of America, Rachmanov gave a four-recital series which included all ten Scriabin piano sonatas to celebrate the composer’s 120th anniversary in 1992. His January 2005 San Francisco recital was acclaimed for “depth of concept, keen intelligence,” with Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations described as “sensational”.

Rachmanov’s awards include honors at the Senigallia, E. Pozolli and Maryland Piano Competitions, first prize at the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, a Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the George Schick Award for Outstanding Musicianship presented by Manhattan School of Music. In 1995 he was a recipient of a grant from ArtsLink, enabling him to return to his native Russia for a series of successful performances.

Rachmanov began his studies at Moscow’s Gnesins School of Music and has earned undergraduate and graduate diplomas from The Juilliard School and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music, all on full scholarship. Among his teachers are Ada Traub, Nadia Reisenberg and Arkady Aronov, and he has coached with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Yvonne Lefébure, Claude Frank, John Browning and Menahem Pressler. He has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and most recently at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Rachmanov’s research projects include a two-part article on the recorded legacy of Chopin’s F Minor Ballade, Op. 52, which was published by International Piano magazine in the January/February and March/April 2005 issues.