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EVA VIRSIK, PIANO
 Eva Virsik has appeared internationally as an orchestra soloist and recitalist throughout Europe and the United States, highlighted by her Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2008 and her performances to sold-out houses with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National de Lille, in addition to her success with many distinguished orchestras in Europe and in the USA. Her festival performances include notably the Festival of Contemporary Music in Berlin, the Russian Winter series tour, the Bratislava BHS Music Festival, and in the U.S., the Arcady Music Festival and the Saco River Festival in Maine. She was heard in numerous recitals in major cities and gave special performances in the Robert Schumann House in Zwickau and the Smetana House in Prague. She appeared on European Television networks, and in the United States, her performances were televised on Maine PBS. She was a featured artist in a live-aired recital on WGBH Radio Boston, and she recorded for the archives of the German Radio SWR, Slovak and Czech Radio networks, and the Opus label. In September 2010, she released a new album entitled Piano Encores, which has received a rave review in the classical magazine Fanfare, and is being distributed worldwide. Also in 2010 she was praised by the Slovak-American Cultural Center for her contribution in representing her homeland, and soon after was honored to perform for the President of Slovakia, Ivan Gašparovič, during his official visit to the United Nations in New York. Her current engagements for 2011 and 2012 include the Jiangsu Orchestra in China, the Orchestra of Southern Finger Lakes in New York, the Žilina Chamber Orchestra in Slovakia, and numerous recitals in Europe, USA, and Asia.
Eva Virsik was born in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where she became known as a child prodigy. She started piano lessons and appeared on television at age four. Since age five she composed her own music. Her first piano teacher was Slovak composer Dušan Martinček. She won her first competition at age six and at age eight she played in Bratislava a one-hour solo recital to critical acclaim. She became a student of the Bratislava Conservatory at age eleven, won first prizes at several international piano competitions, and performed at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague at age fifteen. She made her orchestra debut the same year with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, led by maestro Libor Pesek. She continued her studies at the Moscow State Conservatory, completing it with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Her teachers were Yakov Zak and Stanislav Neuhaus, the son of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus. In addition to performing, Virsik devotes herself to teaching, master classes, publishing, and recording. A collection of her childhood compositions entitled “I Have Music” was published in 2002.
FROM CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“…magical sound of piano…an overwhelming impression.”Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Germany “...a beguiling Chopin player of immense authority...If her Ravel is colorful and sophisticated, her Rachmaninoff playing, exquisitely balanced, restrained, yet never less than poetic, is even more impressive." Fanfare Magazine, USA
“in Schumann’s ‘Kreisleriana’…she demonstrated extraordinary degree of control, imagination and immense manual power…Yet it was in the supremely difficult ‘Gaspard de la Nuit’ by Maurice Ravel, where she was able to show her true virtuosity…in spite of the innate difficulty of the work, Virsik was in her element, with alternating phrases of sparkling clarity interspersed with typical Ravel glazed, underwater-water-like passages. It was truly a superb piece of artistry." Maine Times, USA
“...intense emotional submerge, refined details, one of a kind creative atmosphere marked by technical confidence and ease, brilliance and poetry...” ‘Music Life’ Magazine, Slovakia
“...The same finesse of finger technique that makes her Scarlatti so fresh is also evident throughout the ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’ Variations of Mozart, which showcases Virsik’s strong lyrical bent, as well as her keen intelligence and wit."
Fanfare Magazine, USA
“once again she showed how flawlessly she can depict the haunting poignancy with her delicate touch…The piece held the audience spellbound with its rippling imagery.” Journal Tribune, USA
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