LILYA ZILBERSTEIN – Germany
Lilya Zilberstein got her first taste of international success in 1987 when she won the Busoni Competition in Bolzano. By 1988, the Moscow-born pianist was able to perform big tours abroad in the West. Traveling for her concerts took her to almost all of Europe, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Canada, and Brazil.
She started playing the piano at 5 years old. In 1985, she won first prize in the Competition of the Russian Federation and was one of the prizewinners at the All Union’s Competition in Riga. She emigrated to Germany in 1990. In 1991, she debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, which formed the basis of a longterm cooperation. Ms. Zilberstein has since performed with the foremost orchestras and conductors in the world. She is a regular guest in the major concert halls and at the most important festivals in Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. She has toured with violinist Maxim Vengerov and celebrated the 20-year anniversary with her duo partner Martha Argerich in 2019.
Highlights of recent years include a residency at the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, invitations to play at the Salzburg and Easter Festivals, and performances with Düsseldorf Symphony and Cologne Gürzenich Orchestras, where she played Tchaikovsky‘s rarely performed Third Piano Concerto (documented by a critically acclaimed CD by Oehms Classics).
She has recorded eight albums for Deutsche Grammophon; more recently, she has recorded the Brahms Sonata for Two Pianos with Martha Argerich (EMI) and Clementi, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov (Hänssler Classic).
Since 2015, she is professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, succeeding Paul Badura-Skoda and Oleg Maisenberg.