GREAT RUSSIAN MASTERS
One Piano Four Hands
Vassily Primakov, Piano
Natalia Lavrova, Piano
Thursday, February 25, 2027
7.30 p.m.
The Kosciuszko Foundation
15 East 65 Street, NYC 10065
PROGRAM
Selections by Anton Arensky. Peter Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky & Sergei Rachmaninoff
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Vassily Primakov has been hailed as a pianist of world class importance. Considered as one of the greatest interpreters of F. Chopin - Gramophone wrote that "Primakov's empathy with Chopin's spirit could hardly be more complete," and the American Record Guide stated: "Since Gilels, how many pianists have the right touch? In Chopin, no one currently playing sounds as good as this! This is a great Chopin pianist." Music Web-International called Primakov's Chopin concertos CD "one of the great Chopin recordings of recent times. These are performances of extraordinary power and beauty."
Vassily's first piano studies were with his mother, Marina Primakova. He entered Moscow's Central Special Music School at the age of ten as a pupil of a renowned professor at the Moscow Conservatory, Vera Gornostaeva. After graduating, at the age of 17, Primakov moved to New York to pursue his studies at the Juilliard School with the legendary pianist, Professor Jerome Lowenthal. At Juilliard, Mr. Primakov won the William Petschek Piano Recital Award, which presented his New York debut recital at Alice Tully Hall. While at Juilliard, aided by a Susan W. Rose Career Grant, he won Silver at the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999, and both the Silver Medal and the Audience Prize in the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. Later that year Primakov won First Prize in the 2002 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions. In 2007 he was named the Classical Recording Foundation's "Young Artist of the Year." In 2009, Primakov's Chopin Mazurkas recording was named "Best of the Year" by National Public Radio.
Since 2002, Vassily Primakov has continued to actively concertize and perform extensively throughout the USA and abroad. Touring in Europe, Asia, and South Africa, Primakov has performed in some of the finest venues—both solo and with orchestra.
Vassily has also been very active as a recording artist and a producer, putting out albums for various record labels (Naxos, Bridge Records, LP Classics). So far, he has released over 30 albums that include works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, Arlene Sierra, and Poul Ruders Piano Concerto No. 2 (which was written for Mr. Primakov and nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2012).
Starting in 2011, Primakov has been in close collaboration with a fiery pianist Natalia Lavrova, with whom he performs frequently as a duo (one piano, four hands and two pianos) and has recorded repertoire such as the Two Piano Suites of Arensky and Rachmaninoff, as well as four-hand repertoire of Schubert, Corigliano, Czerny, and Tchaikovsky. Since 2012, Vassily Primakov is proud to be a Yamaha Artist.
In addition to his performing and recording career, Vassily is a full time teacher with a full studio of young talent. He is passionate about kids and their future in music and always proud of all their accomplishments.
Primakov resides in Westchester County, NY with his husband, Benoit Lamarche, and always looking for new adventures. In August 2026, Primakov is starting to record All 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas, to be released in 2 volumes.
Natalia Lavrova is a highly regarded performer of multi-faceted artistry, whose sincerity of interpretation and beguiling charm upon the stage has won the hearts of audiences around the world. Ms. Lavrova enjoys a diverse career upon the international platform, and additionally holds substantial positions in the worlds of arts administration and pedagogy.
Solo and orchestral performances have taken Ms. Lavrova throughout her native Russia to Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States, to include notable New York venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall. Ms. Lavrova has captured top prizes at the New Orleans, Isabel Scionti, Frinna Auerbach, Heidi Hermanns, Music Academy of the West, Silver Lake, and Senigallia International Piano Competitions. Upon her debut at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Ms. Lavrova was the youngest performer of 1996 admitted to the quarterfinal round. In her repertoire, she has over 30 concertos and extensive solo recital programs, as well as substantial chamber music repertoire, including an ongoing partnership with her duo partner, pianist, Vassily Primakov. Her repertoire includes works of Arensky, Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Debussy, Milhaud, Godowsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Corigliano, Barber and many others.
Natalia Lavrova was born in Moscow. She entered the Moscow Conservatory at the age of five, and was subsequently accepted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, as a pupil in the studio of Herbert Stessin. Ms. Lavrova went on to earn her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at Juilliard, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.
Ms. Lavrova is the founder and president of a very successful private school, Music School of New York City and together with Vassily Primakov, she is the co-founder and partner of LP Classics, a new record label dedicated to unearthing rare, never-before released recordings and live performances of celebrated artists and emerging stars.
Natalia Lavrova is a Yamaha Artist in Education.