NINO GUREVICH, piano

The georgian pianist Nino Gurevich (Nino being a georgian female name, equal to “Nina” in western languages) was born in 1976 in Tbilissi, Georgia. Music surrounded her since early childhood: her mother was a piano teacher and her father, Professor Willi Gurevich, conductor and music researcher, was the principal of the composition and music theory department of the Tbilissi State Conservatory. Nino received her first piano lesson at the tender age of 4 from Professor Edisher Russishvili, a distinguished piano professor at the Tbilissi State Conservatory and a close friend of the family. Professor Russishvili immediately recognized the girl’s enormous musicality, natural creativity and pianistic potential, and, though he usually worked exclusively with the Conservatory students aged 16 and over, he gladly took the task of teaching her.

In 1982 Nino was accepted at the “Z. Paliashvili” Music School for especially gifted children and officially began her studies with Professor Russishvili, with whom she stayed throughout her time at the school and then at the Tbilissi State Conservatory. As her debut at age of 9 she performed Mozart piano concerto N. 23 with Georgian Simphony Orchestra. Still a schoolgirl, she already had a great success playing solo recitals, concertos with best orchestras of Georgia under such distinguished conductors as Djansug Kakhidze, Revaz Takidze and Vakhtang Machavariani. She was a regular guest at the famous Telavi International Music Festival, alongside masters of an international fame such as Elisso Wirssaladze, Dmitriy Bashkirov, Oleg Kagan, Oleg Krysa, Yuri Bashmet, Natalia Gutman, Eduard Brunner, Saulius Sondeckis. From 1991 to 1999 she made multiple recordings for Georgian Radio and Television.

The list of the national and international piano competitions, at which she was commended, is also impressive: starting with the second prize at the First Tbilissi Piano Competition in 1987, she became a laureate as well as winner of the Special Prize by the German Embassy at the 1. State-of-Georgia Piano Competition in 1995; a laureate of the First International Tbilissi Piano Competition in 1997. She is also a diplomant of the B. Dvarionas International Young Pianists Competition in Vilnius (1989); of the First International Frederic Chopin Young Pianist Competition, Moscow, Russia (1992). In 1991 Nino Gurevich was awarded a Commendation and Scholarship of the International Program “New Names” for exeptionally gifted young musicians and in 1998 she was the receipient of the Vladimir Spivakov International Foundation scholarship.

At the Telavi International Music Festival Nino Gurevich was noted by the eminent georgian pianist Elisso Wirssaldze.  After graduating from the Tbilissi State Conservatory with honours in 1999, Nino Gure­vich went to Munich, Germany, to complete her pian­istic education at the Munich’s “Hochschule für Musik und Theater” under the guid­ance of Professor Wirssaladze, one of the most sought–after piano teachers in Europe. She was the winner of the “Musikhochschule München” Concerto Competition in 2000 and successfully took part in various international piano competition, among them: F.Chopin (Warsaw), R.Schumann (Zwickau), C.Schumann (Düsseldorf), F.Schubert (Dortmund), F.Busoni (Bolzano).

Nino Gurevich enjoys regular concert activity as a soloist as well as a chamber musician. Among the highlights of her performing career are: solo recital at the International Oleg Kagan Festival, Kreuth, Germany in 2001, performances throughout Germany, Italy, Austria as a member of the "Daphioni" piano trio from 2002 to 2004, performance of Beethoven’s Concerto No.4 with the State Symphony Orchestra of Novosibrsk Philharmony under maestro Arnold Katz in 2003, two solo recitals in Dortmund, Germany as part of the international “Ruhr Piano Festival” in 2007.

Critics about Nino Gurevich:

In Miss Gurevich’s interpretation one could especially praise her creative originality, perfect feeling of time and style, extraordinarily fine pianism. The concert was a joy for the audience. (“The Evening Tbilissi”)

Meditative perfection of Debussy’s floating tones… In Schumann Miss Gurevich was able to fully show her poetic inspiration… The audience was showered with a rain of fiery virtuosity. (“Tegernseer Zeitung”)