Nikita Fitenko • USA

Internationally acclaimed pianist and Yamaha Artist Nikita Fitenko has performed recitals and with orchestras in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, and South and North America. He has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as St. Petersburg Capella Symphony, Russian Cham-ber Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow, St. Petersburg State Conservato-ry Orchestra, State Hermitage Orchestra, Slovak National Philharmonic, Corvallis Symphony Orchestra, Lewisville Symphony, Rapides Symphony, and Northwestern Symphony Orchestra among others.

While performing a wide and diverse repertoire, Nikita Fitenko is an acknowledged master of Russian piano music. His CDs for Altarus Records of complete piano works by leading contem-porary Russian composers Georgy Sviridov and Sergei Slonimsky have garnered rave reviews from the international music press. Fanfare Music Review wrote, "Fitenko plays magnificently!" Slonimsky himself described Fitenko's interpretation of his piano music as "outstanding." He al-so added, "It is very vivid, imaginative, virtuosic, fascinating, and pianistically brilliant."

Mr. Fitenko's recording of Scriabin's Piano Concerto with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow was released internationally on Classical Records label. His latest recordings of works by Bach, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov as well as ‘All Tchaikovsky CD’ for Clas-sical Records were released in 2015 & 2017 (all recordings are available through Amazon & iTunes).

In addition to solo recitals, Nikita Fitenko performs extensively in piano duo with Katerina Zaitseva. Hailed by critics for their "superlative sound, superlative interpretation, and superlative pianism…", the duo has performed worldwide with most recent appearances at the Moscow State Conservatory Hall (Russia), Madeira Music Festival (Portugal), Kennedy Center's Millen-nium Stage (Washington, D.C.), Yamaha Hall (NYC), Piano Duo Series (Tokyo, Japan), Nan-cyphonies Music Festival (France), University of Florida Young Pianists Festival, and Berkeley University (California, USA). Their critically acclaimed CD featuring works for piano four hands by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms has been released internationally by the Clas-sical Records label and is available through Amazon & iTunes.

Native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Nikita Fitenko graduated from the St. Petersburg State Con-servatory with a citation for excellence given to only five other graduates in the last fifty years. After receiving the Anton Rubinstein Memorial Award, he came to study to the US pursuing his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of North Texas. His principal teachers includ-ed Roman Lebedev, Igor Lebedev, and Joseph Banowetz. Dr. Fitenko has been invited to serve on many international piano competition juries, including 2015 & 2018 Campillos International Piano Competition (Malaga, Span), 2013 Schubert International Piano Competition (San Cristo-foro, Italy), 2012 Nordic International Piano Competition (Malmo, Sweden), 2011 Chopin Inter-national Piano Competition (Hartford, CT), 2010 & 2018 Scriabin International Piano Competi-tions (Grosetto, Italy), 2009 American Pianists Association's Classical Fellowship Awards (Indi-anapolis, IN), 2008 Rachmaninov International Piano Competition (Moscow, Russia), and 2003 World International Piano Competition (Cincinnati, OH) among others. He has presented master classes at the Verdi Conservatory of Music (Turin, Italy), Hochschule fur Musik (Saarbruken and Cologne, Germany), Tokyo College of Music, Jose Iturbi Conservatory of Music (Valencia, Spain), Estonian Academy of Music (Tallinn, Estonia), Korean National, Seoul National,

Yeonsei, Hanyang, Sejong, and ChungAng Universities (South Korea), Sichuan Conservatory, Xinghai Conservatory, Jinan University, Changchun University, Hangzhou University (China), as well as at the 2010 Convention of the Maryland State Music Teachers Association, and the 2009 Chinese-American International Piano Institute (Chengdu, China). Among his students are winners of national and international competitions including the National MTNA Competition. Currently, Dr. Fitenko is the Chair of the Department of Music Performance at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art (The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC). He is also the Artistic Director of the American International Piano Festival & Competition (www.aipfc.us), the Washington International Piano Festival (www.washingtonpianofest.com), and the Middleburg International Music Festival (www.middleburgmfi.org). Prior to that he was Associate Professor and Coordinator of Keyboard Area at Northwestern State University of Lou-isiana. Dr. Fitenko is also the founder of the Louisiana International and Florida International Piano Competitions

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