Hailed for having “established herself as a very fine interpreter…” (NYCR), the Russian-born pianist Yelena Grinberg is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the most vibrant poetic young artists on the classical music scene. She is well known for her intellectual precision and keen musical insight, and for her passionate performances as both a chamber musician and a solo lecture-recitalist with a strong preference for unusual and thematically innovative programming.

As a winner of the Artists International Competition (2005), Ms. Grinberg performed her sold-out New York Debut recital of the Baroque Reflections program at Carnegie’s Weill Hall and was highly acclaimed for her “grand performance in a grand tradition” (NYCR).

During 2011-2012 Season, Dr. Grinberg will present a solo lecture-recital The Art of Chaconne, with works by Gubaidulina, Bach-Busoni, Handel, and Liszt.  She also performed a special violin-piano program “Celebrating Liszt at 200” at Steinway Hall and Bronxville Women’s Club as part of her G-Sharp Duo with violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron. Dr. Grinberg also showcased a complete cycle of Beethoven’s works for cello and piano as part of her Smigelskiy-Grinberg Duo with cellist Serafim Smigelskiy at Steinway Hall, Beethoven Pianos, and the Nyack Library.

The highlights of the 2010-2011 season included Dr. Grinberg’s solo lecture-performance on “Humor in Music” and a special series of lecture-recitals dedicated to Liszt’s bicentennial celebration at The Harvard Club and, as a part of the G-Sharp Duo, a program entitled “Liszt and His Circle” at Steinway Hall and The Bronxville Women’s Club. She also made a special debut appearance with cellist Serafim Smigelskiy at The Roerich Museum and The Players Club.

At Juilliard, Dr. Grinberg has been a faculty member in the Piano Minor Department and taught the undergraduate course on Piano Topics. She has also coached piano duo and chamber music as an adjunct faculty member in Columbia University’s Music Department and was the organizer of the Barnard-Columbia-Juilliard (BCJ) concert series at Columbia University’s Miller Theater. She is currently on the piano faculty at the Crestwood Music Education Center in Eastchester, New York. In addition, Dr. Grinberg is a highly passionate and dedicated private piano instructor, coordinating student recitals at New York’s Steinway Hall.

Born in Moscow, Dr. Yelena Grinberg began her professional piano studies at The Gnessin School of Music for Gifted Children at the age of five. She came to the United States in 1992 and entered Juilliard’s Pre-College Division that same year. As a student in the joint degree program, she graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University summa cum laude, and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, with a major in English Literature and a minor in Philosophy. She holds both her M.Mus and DMA degrees in Piano Performance from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Jerome Lowenthal and Oxana Yablonskaya. In addition, she continues to enjoy her private piano instruction with Richard Goode.

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Reviews

“In the Allegro, stormy sections interspersed with passages of exquisite loveliness given extra sweetness by Ms. Grinberg’s sensitive touch…”

– Jon Sobel, Co-Exec. Editor of Blogcritics, 2011

“There was an overall sense of aesthetic delight…”

– Anonymous Art Review, Wall Street, 2010

“[She has] established herself as a very fine interpreter…”

– New York Concert Review, 2005

“…a grand performance in a grand tradition”

– New York Concert Review, 2005