Elisso VIRSALADZE

She was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. At eight she began pianos lessons with her grandmother, an exceptionally talented pianist and music teacher. Virsaladze’s advanced studies were at the Tbilisi Conservatory, where her grandmother taught, and at the Moscow Conservatory. Among her other notable teachers were Heinrich Neuhaus and Yakov Zak.

In 1962 she entered the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and won the third prize. Four years later she won first prize at the 1966 Schumann International Competition in Zwickau, Germany.

She began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory in 1967, becoming full professor in 1994. She has built her concert career with regular tours across Europe, the U.S., South America, Japan, and Australia. She also appeared regularly in chamber music performances, though her collaborations with Natalia Gutman did not begin until the late ‘70s. She also made frequent appearances at music festivals, including at the Moscow-based December Nights Festival, organized by S.Richter In 1989 Virsaladze was given the prestigious title of People’s Artist of the U.S.S.R. In 1995 Virsaladze joined the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, a position she still holds along with her Moscow post.

She concertizes widely and has various and award-winning recordings. She has played with numerous important orchestras such as the Petersburg Philharmonic, LCO, and Royal Philharmonic under the baton of conductors such as Rudolf Barschai, Kyril Kondraschin, Ricardo Muti, Kurt Sanderling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Evgeny Svetlanov and Juri Temirkanov

She also serves regularly as a juror at important international piano competitions including the Tchaikovsky, Geza Anda, Rubinstein and Queen Elizabeth Competitions and also teaches regularly master classes .

埃莉索•維爾薩拉澤

埃莉索•維爾薩拉澤出生於格魯吉亞第比利斯，其祖母為才華洋溢的鋼琴家兼音樂老師，八歲時，埃莉索開始隨祖母習琴，後於祖母任教的學校第比利斯國立音樂學院學習，再升讀莫斯科音樂學院，她曾師從著名鋼琴家海因里希•紐豪斯和雅科夫•扎克。

1962年，她於莫斯科柴可夫斯基比賽贏得季軍，四年後於德國茨維考的舒曼國際鋼琴比賽(1966年)贏得冠軍。

1967年，她開始在莫斯科音樂學院任教，並於1994年成為正式教授。她曾於世界各地進行巡迴演出，當中包括歐洲、美國、南美、日本和澳洲。她亦有定期進行室內音樂演出，與娜塔莉婭•古特曼在七十年代後期開始合作。她亦是各大音樂節的常客，例如由斯維亞托斯拉夫•里赫特舉辦的莫斯科十二月夜晚音樂節。1989年，維爾薩拉澤獲頒蘇聯人民藝術家。1995年，她除了在莫斯科音樂學院任教外，還開始於慕尼黑音樂戲劇學院擔任教授。

埃莉索擁有豐富的音樂會演出經驗，同時曾錄製多張得獎唱片，和她合作過的知名樂團無數，例如：聖彼得堡愛樂交響樂團、倫敦當代管弦樂團和皇家愛樂樂團等；曾與她合作過的指揮家則包括：魯道夫•巴爾夏、基里爾•康德拉申、里卡多•穆蒂、庫特•桑德林、沃爾夫岡•薩沃里施、葉夫根尼•斯維特拉諾夫、尤里•特米爾卡諾夫等。

她亦經常獲邀成為各大國際鋼琴比賽的評審，包括柴可夫斯基大賽、安達蓋扎大賽、魯賓斯坦比賽和伊莉莎白王后國際音樂比賽，並定期教授大師班。