Concert Piano Series

The concert Piano Series brings acclaimed pianists from around to world to the Dixon Hall stage. November 6 features Tulane's own Professor Faina Lushtak and the reknowned Steven Spooner.

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Faina Lushtak was born and raised in the Soviet Union. She began her piano and composition studies at the age of six, taught by her mother, Evgenia Lushtak. She went on to study at the Stoliarsky School for Musically Gifted Children in Odessa under the tutelage of Eleonora Levinson, followed by the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she was taught by Genrietta Mirvis, Yakov Zak and Tikhon Khrennikov, and earned degrees in piano performance and composition.

She was a faculty member at the Moscow Conservatory, performing throughout the Soviet Union until immigrating to the United States in 1978. Ms. Lushtak’s performances have inspired audiences in Russia, Western Europe, Canada and the United States. She has appeared with orchestras under many conductors, including Klauspeter Seibel, William Henry Curry, Maxim Shostakovich and Alfred Savia. She has performed as a solo recitalist in major venues throughout the United States, including Lincoln Center. Ms. Lushtak has made frequent guest artist appearances and conducted master classes at university campuses, including at Emory University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Texas Christian University. She has repeatedly served as director of the Brandywine International Masterclasses at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She has also been a guest artist and judge at international competitions and festivals, including the Wideman International Piano Competition, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, the Canadian National Music Competition, the Eastman Young Artists International Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the New Orleans International Piano Competition.

Her performances have earned widespread critical acclaim. At her debut at Alice Tully Hall, The New York Times wrote, “The qualities she prizes most are clarity of line and transparency of texture. Incisive clarity remained her hallmark.” The Times-Picayune wrote that “her technique is sure and ample” and spoke of her “beautiful, singing lyricism.” At the Bachauer Festival, The Salt Lake Tribune commented that “two hours spent basking in her glorious music wasn’t enough.”

Ms. Lushtak is the Downman Professor of Music at Tulane University, where she heads the piano division. She also serves on the faculty of the Orfeo International Music Festival in Italy. She is a Steinway Artist. Ms. Lushtak’s performance of works by Rachmaninoff and Scriabin was recorded on the Centaur label, as was her performance of Chopin Mazurkas. Ms. Lushtak’s recording entitled “La Poésie de la Vie”, produced by E.F. Virgin records, features some of her favorite pieces by various composers from Bach to Débussy. Her most recent CD showcases her own piano compositions, ranging from simple pieces for children to works for musically sophisticated audiences.

Ms. Lushtak’s compositions for piano have been published by Willis Music, and by the British music publisher Boosey & Hawkes.

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At the very forefront of American pianists, critics and audiences have unanimously hailed the distinctive and compelling performances of pianist Steven Spooner. “Such a breadth and variety of difficult pieces made me wonder at first if this (recording) was a hoax (Dedications box set). But, no, the DVD proves that Steven Spooner is the real deal, a pianist of apparently limitless raw technique that’s almost note perfect.” “He might be the best faculty pianist I’ve heard” American Record Guide.

Passionately devoted to the solo recital as a platform for innovation, he has been engaged and often re-engaged at prestigious venues such as the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Shanghai Concert Hall, Budapest’s Great Hall of the Liszt Academy, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Rome’s Santa Cecilia, and Singapore’s Esplanade.

During the past seasons he has daringly reinvented the solo recital by allowing audiences to vote on the spot for one of five programs he has prepared and like golden age pianists, his programs often feature his own glittering arrangements and compositions. This season he will perform the cycle of Beethoven Sonatas in a series of fascinating lecture-recitals in addition to duo performances with renowned pianist Sergei Babayan.

In 2016 he released a monumental project of 16 CDs honoring his heroes of the Russian School called Dedications. This mammoth project was met with enormous critical acclaim from all over the globe. His enthusiasm for new music has produced an ongoing collaboration with renowned Deutsche Grammophon composer, Mohammed Fairouz (commissioned by the ROKI Foundation) to premiere and record several of his works during the next few seasons. His latest recording project with David Dubal, explores the many facets of the Liszt repertoire.

Steven is prizewinner at each of the seven international piano competitions he has entered and top prizewinner at both the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Artlivre International Piano Competition. He captured First Prize and was recipient of the Niekamp Career Grant as most outstanding pianist in French music at the Paris Conservatory. In 2008, he was awarded the Ivory Classics Foundation Prize that enabled him to apprentice with the legendary virtuoso Earl Wild.

Steven is an active collaborator and performs with a diverse and distinguished list of musicians including, the Borromeo Quartet, Pianist Sergei Babayan, Violinist Renaud Capuçon, Silk Road Ensemble Bassist Daxun Zhang, Philadelphia Orchestra Trombonist M. Dee Stewart, and Baritone Chris Thompson. Steven has released more than 30 recordings on the Naxos, A Life of Music, and other recording labels. He has studied at the Moscow and Tbilisi Conservatories in the former Soviet Union, and Indiana University, Bloomington. His teachers have included Earl Wild, the great Georgian pianist Nodar Gabunia, Karen Shaw, Logan Skelton, Edmund Battersby, and he has coached with such prominent musicians such as Tatiana Nikolayeva, Viktor Merzhanov, and Emile Naoumoff.

Steven has served as guest artist-in-residence at Paris Conservatory Summer Sessions and has been appointed to the artist faculty of many of the leading summer festivals such as the Colburn Music Academy, Amalfi Coast Music Festival, Musicfest Perugia, the International Institute for Young Musicians, the Adam Gyorgy Castle Academy in Budapest, and even his own Steven Spooner Inspire Festival in Singapore. He has just been appointed Artistic Director of the Chicago International Music Competition and Festival.