NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

2/14/2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES- Pianists Nikita Fitenko and Katerina Zaitseva will perform at a Gala, "To Louisiana from Russia With Love," Sunday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at Magale Recital Hall on the campus of Northwestern State University. Tickets to this special concert are $50 with proceeds going toward the purchase of a Steinway Grand Piano for NSU and scholarships for Northwestern music students. A reception will follow the concert in the Natchitoches Room of Russell Hall.

Fitenko, who is a first-year faculty member at NSU, has performed before capacity crowds with the Natchitoches ­ Northwestern Symphony Orchestra and in a solo recital in January.

Fitenko graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with a Citation for Excellence in piano performance given to only five other graduates in the last 50 years. After being awarded a "City of Weimar" stipend from East Germany, he made his formal debut in 1992 with the St. Petersburg Capella Symphony and has performed throughout Europe.

He continued his studies at the University of North Texas where he received the Anton Rubinstein Memorial Award. In 1995, Fitenko was awarded top prizes in the Beethoven International Competition of the Houston Symphony. In 1996 he won the Beethoven Prize at the Byelorussian International Piano Competition in Minsk. Since 1996, Fitenko has worked with the Altarus Records Co. to record a series of contemporary Russian piano music.

A native of Moscow, Zaitseva attended the Music School affiliated with the Moscow State Conservatory. After graduating with distinction in 1994, she continued her studies at the University of North Texas, where she was granted the Liberace and Adele Marcus Scholarships as well as the outstanding Undergraduate Student Award.

Last May, she received her Master's degree from the Southern Methodist University. While at SMU, Zaitseva was awarded the Meadows Artistic Scholarship, as well as the Von Mickwitz Prize in Piano. She won several competitions including the MTNA and the SMU concerto competitions. Zaitseva has appeared as a soloist with the Moscow State Conservatory Orchestra, University of North Texas Symphony, Meadows Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Chamber Orchestra.

In March 2001, she played for the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, at the opening of the new Meadows Museum of Arts in Dallas.

In addition to performing, Zaitseva enjoys web designing and is nearing completion of a degree in information technology at the DeVry Institute in Dallas.

For ticket information, contact David Graham at (318) 357-0290 or Ron McBride at (318) 354-9841.

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