Valentina Lisitsa
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Valentina Lisitsa (Ukrainian: Валентина Лисиця, translit.Valentyna Lysytsya, Russian: Валентина Лисица) is a Ukrainian-born classical pianist. She currently lives in the United States and performs in many prestigious concert venues worldwide. Her husband Alexei Kuznetsoff is also a pianist, and her partner in duo-pianism.
[edit] Biography
Valentina was born into a family of non-musicians in Kiev, Ukraine. She started playing piano at the age of three, performing her first solo recital only a year later. Despite her early disposition to music, her dream at that point was to become a professional chess player. She attended the Lysenko music school for Gifted Children and, later, Kiev Conservatory, where she eventually met her future husband, Alexei Kuznetsoff. It was when she met him that she began to take music more seriously. In 1991 they won the first prize in what is considered to be the most important duo-piano competition in the world — The Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition. In the same year, they moved to the United States to further their careers as concert pianists. After recording a number of solo works, Valentina's solo career truly began. The recording session resulted in two solo CDs, which were followed by a number of performances in prestigious venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Musikverein. Recently, she has been the pianist in recital engagements accompanying for Hilary Hahn.
To date, Valentina has recorded 6 Cds for Audiofon Records (two of which are in duet with Alexei Kuznetsoff), a Gold CD for CiscoMusic label (With cellist DeRosa), a duet recital with violinist Ida Haendel on VAI label, DVDs of Frédéric Chopin's 24 Etudes, Schubert-Liszt Schwanengesang, and her most recent DVD titled Black and Pink.
