Professors

Yekaterina Lebedeva-Piano (Russia, UK)

Yekaterina Lebedeva-Piano (Russia, UK)

Yekaterina Lebedeva is a concert pianist and professor of piano at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. “Yekaterina Lebedeva: the most empassioned and expressive pianist of her generation: Russian, beautiful, outspoken, breathtaking.” – International Herald Tribune Yekaterina made her performance debut in an extensive national concert series in her native Russia. In 1988 she entered the Kiev State Conservatoire in the Ukraine. There she became in constant demand as a recitalist, performing solo and chamber concerts and appearing at major festivals in both the Ukraine and Russia. She graduated from the Conservatoire with Distinction in 1993. Yekaterina moved to London to establish a European base from which to develop her solo career further. In March 1998 she made a debut in the Purcell Room, invited to play as part of the SBC Young Musician’s Platform “FRESH”. Since then she has appeared regularly at the South Bank Centre and abroad. Highlights of past seasons included Schnittke’s concerto for Piano and String Orchestra (Cairo Symphony Orchestra), sell-out return performances in the Purcell Room (South Bank Centre), Stravinsky’s Concert for Piano and Winds at the Athens Megaron (Orchestra of Colours, Athens). Her […]

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Halit Turgay-Flute (Turkey)

Halit Turgay-Flute (Turkey)

“Crucially important… A born musician” as described by flutist William Bennett Dr. Halit Turgay completed his BA Degree, MA (Music) Degree in 1993 and PhD in Music Performance in 2002 at Istanbul University State Conservatory. At 23, he won the Skene Award in VII. Aberdeen International Young Musicians Festival in Scotland and at the same time he had been accepted to the Royal Academy of Music London to the class of William Bennett and he continued his education with a British Council Scholarship. He has performed as a solo flutist with many orchestras such asI Musici di Roma, Artemisa Chamber Orchestra, Savaria Symphonic Orchestra, London Octave Chamber Orchestra. As a solo artist, he won acclaim at many international festivals and concerts in Paris, Nice, Cannes, Marseilles, Moscow, Toulouse, Sofia, Athens, Bruges, Budapest, Beijing and London. Halit is also an important composer. As a composer he is influenced by history, archaeology, and mythology. He made important contributions to Turkish culture and repertoire especially with works dedicated to various regions of Turkey. Three of his works (Turkish Tea Jazz Suite, My Name is Istanbul and Mersin Flute Concerto) have been released on […]

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Lev Natochenny-Piano (Germany)

Lev Natochenny-Piano (Germany)

Lev Natochenny is an artist who defies simple classification. Described as a “real genius in his creativity” by European critics and a “rare master of his instrument” by New York critics, he combines innovation and intelligence, technical brilliance and attention to details of the musical text, and above all emerges with an astonishingly independent musical personality. Influenced by the greatest artists as Sviatoslav Richter and David Oistrakh, Lev Natochenny received his formal education from the famed Moscow Conservatory in the class of eminent professors Lev Oborin and Boris Zemliansky. Having been recognized early for his unusually mature and inspired interpretations and mastery of the instrument Mr. Natochenny became the Assistant to Prof. Lev Oborin at an unheard of age of 19. He went on to receive his Diploma with Honors from the same Conservatory, where he continued to develop his taste for uncommonly independent style recognized by critics and audiences alike. Subsequent honors, including Gold Medal “with particular distinction” in a scandal-marred 1981 F. Busoni International Piano Competition, First Prize in Young Artists International Piano Competition and Gina Bachauer Award, led to concert appearances in major halls throughout Europe and […]

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Mary-Ellen Nesi-Mezzo-Soprano (Greece)

Mary-Ellen Nesi-Mezzo-Soprano (Greece)

Mary-Ellen Nesi is a Canadian-born Greek mezzo-soprano noted for her rich tone, skillful coloratura and powerful stage presence. She concentrates on baroque, classical and belcanto music, having portrayed over 40 roles, and has recorded extensively in this repertoire. Her main roles include the title roles in Carmen and Cenerentola, Oktavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Charlotte (Werther), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Idamante (Idomeneo),Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sifare (Mitridate), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Adalgisa (Norma), Ramiro ( La Finta Giardiniera), Hansel (Hansel und Gretel), La Muse/ Nicklausse(Les Contes d’Hoffmann). Nesi particularly distinguished herself in principal roles in baroque operas by Monteverdi, Handel, Vivaldi. Porpora, Hasse, A. and D. Scarlatti, Pergolesi and Paisiello, and in operas by contemporary composers.  Mary-Ellen’s extensive list of performance credits include appearances at the Bayerisches Staatsoper, the Frankfurt Oper, the Dresden Semperoper, the Theater des Champs-Elysees, the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, the Theater an der Wien,the Greek National Opera, the Margravial Opera House (Bayreuth), the Operas of Bologna, Ferrara, Rome, Versailles, Nice, Strasbourg, Lisbon, Bilbao, Nurnberg, Wiesbaden, Mannheim and venues such as the Carnegie Hall and Avery […]

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Manolis Papasifakis- Accompanist (Greece)

Manolis Papasifakis- Accompanist (Greece)

Manolis Papasifakis was born in Athens, Greece, but his musical schooling began in the United States, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his family had relocated and remained through his early school years. Here, while still at pre-school age he was enrolled at the Drexel Hill Conservatory of Music and began piano lessons with the school’s director, Elijah Yardumian, brother of noted composer Richard Yardumian and a highly respected musical pedagogue in his own right. Mr. Papasifakis remained at this school under Mr. Yardumian’s tutelage for four years, after which his family returned to Athens. There followed a period of private musical study in Athens, and then formal study at the Athens Conservatory (piano with Aliki Vatikioti). Mr. Papasifakis returned to the United States as a student at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, from which he received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance (piano study with Wilbur Price). A ten-year residence in New York City followed completion of his college studies, during which he pursued a wide range of musical activity, reflective of his own varied interests. A member of the piano faculty at the Brooklyn School of Music […]

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