Tallinn Philharmonics House of the Blackheads
11th of February at 6 p.m.
FESTIVAL OPENING CONCERT
Piano night with Irina Zahharenkova
Programme: Beethoven
Buy tickets 15/10€
IRINA ZAHHARENKOVA is one of the most outstanding and unique pianists of her generation. She started with piano lessons with her mother when she was four, studied at the Tallinn Georg Ots Music School (Prof Mare Ots) and Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (piano: Prof Lilian Semper; harpsichord: Prof Maris Valk-Falk) where she got her master’s in 2003 (Prof L. Semper). Irina continued at the EAMT doctoral studies in 2003–2011. In 2010 she also got her master’s from Helsinki Sibelius Academy in Finland (Prof Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna). Irina has furthered her studies in the master classes of S. Kovachevich, A. Hewitt, A. Schiff, V. Meržanov, H. Dreyfus, P. Hantaï, C. Stembridge, P. Vapavuori etc. She has won first prizes in major international piano competitions: M. Čiurlionis Competition (Lithuania, 2003), Prémio Jaén Competition (Spain, 2004), “Van Vlaanderen” Festival Piano Competition Brügges (Belgium, 2004), Competition in Epinal (France, 2004), “Praha Spring“ Harpsichord Competition (Czech Republic, 2005), Georges Enescu Piano Competition (Romenia, 2005), Competition in Genf (Switzerland, 2005), Alessandro Casagrande Competition (Italy, 2006), Johann Sebastian Bach Competition (Leipzig, 2006), Villa-Lobos Competition (Brazil, 2006), A. Rubinštein Piano Competition (Israel, 2008) ect. Irina has performed in several international festivals in Italy, Germany, Finland, Norway and Estonia. She has also performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre National de Lorraine. As an extremely versatile musician, I. Zahharenkova frequently performs on the piano and harpsichord also in solo recitals and chamber music concerts. Two CD’s with Irina’s interpretations of J. S. Bach “Goldberg Variations” BWV 988 (2010, Classical Recordings) and D. Scarlatti Sonatas (2012, Classical Records) and also DVD “Keyboard Juggleress” (Estonian Records Production 2009) have been released. Irina’s repertoire encompasses a wide range of musical styles from baroque to contemporary. Today she lives and teaches in Finland, Sibelius Academy and at the EAMT. Irina has also pursued the organ, chemistry, as well as Estonian and Finnish philology for her own interest. I. Zahharenkova is a scholar of the Music fund PLMF.
