Vladimir Viardo To Perform Opening Concert
2003 International Russian Music Piano Competition

Steinway Society The Bay Area announces the booking engagement of Concert Pianist Vladimir Viardo on Friday, May 23, 2003 at 7:00pm. Mr. Viardo’s performance at the Le Petit Trianon Theatre located in Downtown San Jose will mark the opening ceremonies and concert of the 2003 International Russian Music Piano Competition. Tickets are priced at $25.00 General and $20.00 for Students and Seniors 65 and over. A special package offer of $75.00 General and $65.00 for Students and Senior 65 and over has been established for the eight day competition that includes five concerts and the “Russian Extravaganza”.

The Steinway Society is a non-profit volunteer based organization whose mission is “To promote excellence in piano performance and music education in the Bay Area”. Steinway Society is proud to once again Sponsor and Co-present the International Russian Music Piano Competition and Extravaganza. In our ninth season, the Russian Extravaganza is the 6th and concluding event of the Steinway Society’s 2002-2003 Concert Season.

Founded in the year 2000 by Dan and Irina Morgan, the Third Annual Russian International Music Piano Competition and Extravaganza will feature 40 international competitors from 17 countries and nearly 100 competitors in total. The countries that will be represented in this years’ competition include Venezuela, Ecuador, South Africa, China, Korea, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Armenia, Azerbaidjan, Italy, Germany, Canada, England, Ukraine, and the USA. The event begins with opening ceremonies and a concert by award winning pianist and adjudicator Vladimir Viardo on Friday, May 23rd at 7:00PM and concludes on Saturday, May 31st with the Russian Extravaganza. The Extravaganza will provide an evening of entertainment including Russian Opera, folk music, dancing, Russian Delicacies, wine and vodka tasting and a special performance by the competitions jury members in their “Jury Flurry”. Mr. Viardo will also be presenting a lecture and Master Class on May 28th on Sergi Rachmaninoff and the Russian tradition.

Born in the Caucasus Mountains near the Black Sea, Vladimir Viardo studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Lev Naumov. During his studies Vladimir won numerous prizes including the top-prize at the 1971 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris, the “Grand prix”, the “Prix du Prince Rainier” and also won the top-prize in the Fourth Quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

For nearly thirteen years, Vladimir was a virtual prisoner of the iron curtain. Just as mysteriously, when the new era of “Glasnost” and “Perestroika” began to open the doors of the then Soviet Union, he was allowed to perform in Germany and in the United States. He was immediately offered a tour, a recording contract with the Dallas Symphony and a position as an in house artist in the prestigious music department of the University of North Texas (the world’s largest instrumental school). Vladimir still works there and has established the ‘Viardo Fellows foundation’ to provide artist training. An extraordinary and celebrated teacher, his students come from all around the world such as Eastern Europe, Spain, Mexico, South Africa and the United States. His master-classes are much in demand throughout the world and his name appears in the book of ‘The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in the USA’.

Vladimir has worked throughout the world at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, Salle Pleyel in Paris and the Concertgebouw and has toured the States, Canada, Europe, Asia, South Africa and Israel. As a soloist Vladimir’s work has included performing in Central and South America with Mehta, Kitaenko, Maazel, Spivakof, Comissiona and Penderecki among others.

In the past few years Vladimir has performed regularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, notably at the While Nights Festival and at the Great hall of Moscow conservatory performing a concerto by Karamanov. 1998/99 took him to Germany, France, Portugal, Russia, Brazil, Poland, Canada and the United States.

Mr. Viardo will be performing works by Schubert-Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev.

Le Petit Trianon Theatre, www.trianontheatre.com, is located in downtown San Jose at 72 North 5th Street. Tickets for the Vladimir Viardo concert are priced at $25.00 General and $20.00 for Students and Seniors 65 and over. A special package for the entire Competition including all (Five Concerts) may be purchased for $75.00 General and $65.00 for Student and Seniors 65 and over. For tickets and information please call 408-246-4200 or contact the Steinway Society website at www.steinwaythebayarea.com.