The Artists / Ojika International Music Festival 11

…The pianist let the notes bubble without any effort… and the way, thie music “swinged” reminded of the exceptional playing of Mozart by Friedrich Gulda…”
wrote the german press on her performance of Mozart´s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488.

This Austrian pianist of Russian extraction is enjoying an exceptional career which might best be attributed to her success in integrating the sounds and philosophies of the Russian and Central European schools - two very distinct musical cultures. No wonder, then, that her interpretive style is quite unique.
And it is extraordinary that Lisa Smirnova, in contrast to the traditional practice of great Russian pianists, has made a name for herself, not with works of the Romantic period, but with those of the Western European repertoire - ranging from Handel, to the Viennese classics, Brahms, and works of the modern period.

Lisa Smirnova started to play the piano at the age of four, Anna Kantor and Lev Naumov in Moscow were her first teachers. Later, she completed her studies under Karl-Heinz Kaemmering in Salzburg, also master classes with Maria Curcio and Robert Levin were of great importance.

Her concert life was intensive from the very outset. Lisa Smirnova is in demand worldwide, both as a soloist and as a partner in chamber music. At the early age of 20, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York and embarked on her first tour of Japan, during which she celebrated her debut at Santory Hall in Tokyo.
In 1993, appearances followed at London's Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the Vienna Konzerthaus. The summer of 1996 saw her debut with Benjamin Schmid at the Salzburg Festival. Since then, her concert activities have extended to international concert podia in Europe, Asia and the USA, along with regular guest performances at the prominent music festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, Salzburg Mozart Week, the Schleswig Holstein Festival and the Lucerne Festival.

Lisa Smirnova is a much sought-after soloist with such internationally renowned orchestras, as Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, the Antwerp Beethoven Academy, the German Chamber Academy, the Wurttemberg Philharmonic, the Halle State Philharmonic, the Rhein Philharmonic Koblenz, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tallinn Philharmonic Rochestra, the Lutoslawski Philharmonic Orchestra Breslau, Hungary's Budapest Philharmonic, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia and many others..
 She has had the privilege of working with such conductors as John Storgards, Andrey Boreyko, Ivor Bolton, Lev Markiz, Manfred Honeck and Carlos Kalmar.  

Among numerours CD-Recordings, Benjamin Schmid and Lisa Smirnova brought out a world premiere recording of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas, Paganini's Caprices for Violin, with piano accompaniment composed by R. Schumann. These recordings were received enthusiastically ba the international music press and won the highes awards in France and Australia and have been released again in 2010.
Her partnership with BMG/Arte Nova Classics from 1995-2002 was crowned by her recording with Daniel Raiskin of Ernst Bloch's complete works for viola and piano, appearing in February of 2003 and rapidly conquering the Dutch classics charts.
Her performances of Beethoven's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 are especially noteworthy, as the young pianist has garnered herself an excellent reputation as an interpreter of classical Viennese music and the works of Schubert.
Since 2003, the artist has been under contract with the new-artist label, Oehms Classics. Their first production – a solo CD entitled  "Man lebt nur einmal" featuring an unusual and highly captivating compilation of waltzes for piano, appeared in the autumn of the same year and was officially introduced to the public at Steinway Vienna.
Numerous broadcast awards from the likes of ORF, WDR, SDR, NDR, the BBC, Radio France and Bavarian Broadcasting, further attest to her extraordinary career.
From 2007-2010 Lisa Smirnova was artistic director of the Nagasaki-Ojika International Music Festival in Japan.
With the „New Classic Ensemble Vienna“, which was founded by Lisa Smirnova in 2007 she performs the highlights of her Repertoire such as Baroque and Classical Piano Concerti  in a chamber formation.
With the action group "Die neue Perspektive", which she founded in 2005, she encourages exchange visits between outstanding Russian teachers and students and their western colleagues, in the sphere of classical music.

Current Highlights

During the Mendelssohn Year 2009, Lisa Smirnova is performing both of his Piano Concerti in one evening in a demanding series of concert at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Elizabeth Hall Antwerpen, Sala Verdi In Mailand, Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg as well as numerous venues in Germany and Finland.

The complete recording of Händel´s Eight “Londoner” Suites on a modern piano
will be released by ECM New Series in 2011.

In July 2010 the artist is performing the Austrian Premiere of Rodion Shchedrin´s “Concerto lontano” at the Great Hall of Mozarteum in Salzburg.

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