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NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu
)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
4/20/2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES Pianists Nikita Fitenko and Katerina Zaitseva will present a recital Monday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.
The program will include: Ballroom Scenes: Nine Character Pieces by Robert Schumann and three works by Johannes Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Sixteen Waltzes and Two Hungarian Dances.
Fitenko and Zaitseva have been playing as a duo since 2001, performing in recitals and with orchestras throughout the United States and Russia. The duo's most recent performances include an appearance with the Lewisville Lake Symphony in Dallas a recital at the Meadows Museum of Art in Dallas and the Bach Concert Series in Alexandria.
Their wide and diverse repertoire includes works ranging from the classical to the music of the 20thcentury. Next month, they will record their first CD on the Classical Records label featuring Works for Pian Four Hands by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Their future projects for this season include recording of Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos for Czech National Radio as well as recitals in Russia, South Korea and the United States.
Fitenko, an assistant professor of piano at Northwestern State University, has performed recitals and with orchestras in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, and South and North America.
A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Fitenko graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with a citation for excellence given to only five other graduates in the last 50 years. After receiving the Anton Rubinstein Memorial Award he came to study to the United States, pursuing his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of North Texas.
He is a prizewinner of numerous competitions including the Byelorussian International Piano Competition in Minsk, Byelorussia, the Beethoven Piano Competition and the Houston Symphony National Young Artist Competition. In 1999 and 2000, his three CDs of complete piano music by the Russian composers Georgy Sviridov and Sergey Slonimsky were released on the Altarus label.
For the past three years, Fitenko has been the artistic director of the Louisiana Piano Series International - one of the most interesting and diverse classical piano series in the United States. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Louisiana International Piano Competition.
Zaitseva, a faculty member at Louisiana College, previously taught at Northwestern. A native of Moscow, she has performed throughout the United States and Russia including appearances in Moscow State Conservatory Hall, the Kennedy Center and Steinway Hall. Her orchestral appearances include performances with the Moscow State Conservatory Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Meadows Symphony Orchestra, the Northeast Arkansas Symphony, and Rapides Symphony Orchestra. In March 2001, Zaitseva played for the King Juan Carlos of Spain at the opening of the new Meadows Museum of Arts in Dallas.
Zaitseva received her master's in piano performance from Southern Methodist University, a bachelor's from the University of North Texas and a diploma from the Music School affiliated with the Moscow State Conservatory in Russia. Zaitseva is a winner of numerous competitions and awards including the MTNA Competition, SMU Concerto Competition, Von Mickwitz Prize in Piano, as well as the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award.