Virtuoso pianist Nikolai Lugansky, praised for his “plush sound and plenty impetuosity” by The New York Times, will open Washington University in St. Louis’ third Great Artists Series Feb. 10 with works by Claude Debussy, Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Sponsored by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, the Great Artists Series presents intimate recitals with some of the brightest stars in contemporary classical music. Following Lugansky will be mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford (March 21), violinist Gil Shaham (April 7) and sibling pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque (May 5).
Subscriptions are $120 and include premier reserved seating, post-concert receptions with the artists (when available), and all ticketing fees. Subscribers also will receive complimentary tickets to the March 2 performance by Third Coast Percussion, winners of the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music.
All recitals take place in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall of the 560 Music Center, located at 560 Trinity Ave in University City. Single tickets are $40, or $32 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff, and $15 for students and children.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Edison Theater Box Office at 314-935-6543 or edison.wustl.edu.
About Nikolai Lugansky
Born in Moscow, Lugansky memorized his first Beethoven sonata at age 5. Two years later, he enrolled at Moscow’s Central Music School and then studied at the Moscow Conservatoire.
Today, Lugansky works regularly with top conductors such as Osmo Vänskä, Yuri Temirkanov and Mikhail Pletnev. Recent concert highlights include engagements with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the London and Baltimore symphony orchestras, and European tours with the Russian National Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Sakari Oramo.
Lugansky appears frequently at many of the world’s most distinguished festivals, including La Roque d’Anthéron, the Verbier Festival, Tanglewood, Aspen and Ravinia. His numerous honors include being named a People’s Artist of Russia and both the Diapason d’Or and an ECHO Klassik Award for his recording of Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonatas. The Guardian U.K. described his most recent recording, of Tchaikovsky’s “Grande Sonata” and “The Seasons,” as “insightful and mature.”
Lugansky is artistic director of the Tambov Rachmaninov Festival as well as a supporter of, and regular performer at, the Rachmaninov Estate and Museum of Ivanovka.
