Mogilevsky and Smolina Win Prize at International Piano Competition By Douglass Dowty
			Oberlin pianists Maxim Mogilevsky and Svetlana Smolina recently won the Murray Dranoff Prize and the Bronze Medal at the 8th International Murray Dranoff Duo Piano Competition. The competition took place last December in Miami Beach, Florida. Mogilevsky, who is on the piano faculty, and Smolina, his wife, who is pursuing her bachelor’s degree and studying with Monique Duphil, were the only US-based contestant to win a medal. The competition drew 139 duos from 17 countries. Four duos were selected to perform with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in the final round. Applicants were screened through a videotaped audition, a live recital audition, and four semifinal rounds. The jury included noted pianists Ivan Davis, a pupil of Vladimir Horowitz, and Michel Beroff. The competition also commissioned a duo piano piece from Lowell Liebermann, who was present at the competition. As winners, Mogilevsky and Smolina were awarded a cash prize, a 2003 New York recital debut at Merkin Hall, and other concert engagements in the U.S. and Europe. Also, their rendition of the Casadesus Double Piano Concerto earned them the competition’s Robert Casadesus Prize and an opportunity to record this work on the Universal label. Mogilevsky and Smolina learned of their triumph earlier this month while they were in Russia, performing the Mozart Double Concerto with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under conductor Yuri Temirkanov. Their appearances later this year include performances at the University of Miami Series, the Gilmore Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. The duo will also give their recital debut in Rome, Italy, and perform with the RAI Orchestra of Torino, Italy. On May 9, Mogilevsky and Smolina will perform the Mozart Double Concerto in Finney Chapel with the Oberlin Orchestra under Conductor Paul Polivnick, music director of the orchestra. They will also perform at the Cleveland Museum of Art Series in September.
			Back to the Backstage Pass