Evgeny Kissin

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Evgeny Kissin

Evgeny Igorevich Kissin (Евге́ний Ки́син) (born October 10, 1971) is a well-known Russian pianist.

Kissin was born in Moscow to a Jewish family. At age 11 months, he reportedly was able to hum along to a Bach tune his sister Alla was playing on the piano. At age 6 he commenced his own piano studies at the esteemed Gnessin School of Music for Gifted Children. He first studied there with Anna Pavlovna Kantor and continues to study with her to this day.

At the age of 12, Kissin made his debut with orchestra and the year after that he gave his first recital in Moscow. Kissin's extraordinary talents were made manifest to the international scene in 1984, when he played and recorded Chopin's two piano concertos with the Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra.

On September 30, 1990, Kissin made his Carnegie Hall recital debut. Among the standard piano concerti, he has recorded Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos No. 2 and 3, Mozart's Piano Concertos No. 12 and 20, Brahms' Paganini Variations, and Beethoven Piano Concertos No.2 and 5.

In 2005 Kissin and the conductor-pianist James Levine played a program of Schubert's piano music for four hands in Boston's Symphony Hall and, 4 days later, in Carnegie Hall in New York and Munich. The Carnegie Hall performance was recorded live. The recording was released to acclaim by RCA (82876-69282-2).

[edit] Awards and Recognitions

Kissin was a special guest at the 1992 Grammy Awards.

Musical America, Instrumentalist of the Year, 1995
Triumph Award, Outstanding Contribution to Russia's Culture (Youngest Awardee), 1997
Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Manhattan School of Music 2001
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra), 2006