Eleonora Karpukhova
Eleonora Karpukhova – Russian pianist, winner of numerous international competitions and a teacher at the Moscow State Conservatoire – was born in 1976 in Kazan (Russia) and began her musical studies at the age of 5. She studied at the Kazan Special Music School under K. A. Shashkina and, from 1992 to 1995, at the Central Special Music School of the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatoire under Prof. V. V. Kastelsky. In 2000, Eleonora graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire with honours. She successfully combined her studies with recitals in Russia and abroad. Eleonora completed her music education in 2003 as a probation assistant under Prof. M. S. Voskresensky.
While being a student, she won numerous international competitions including the Citta di Senigallia International Competition in 1996.
Eleonora convincingly confirmed her complete professionalism in 2002 by winning the 18th Varallo Sessia International Competition in Italy and the 29th Dr. Luis Sigall International Piano Competition in Chile. “The final round of the music competition in Viña del Mar was a phenomenal event”, wrote the Domingo newspaper. “An exceptional performance of Mozart’s concerto No. 20 in D minor by Eleonora Karpukhova got the audience into blissfulness and tranquillity”.
Further performances also brought her winning titles. In 2004, Eleonora won the Zlatko Grgosevich Competition in Zagreb, Croatia (Second Prize) and the Jose Vianna da Motta Piano Competition in Lisbon, Portugal.
Eleonora Karpukhova regularly performs in Russia, Ukraine, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Chile and Portugal.
Her concerts in the Small and Rachmaninov’s halls of the Moscow Conservatoire, Salle Cortot in Paris, Saal Gasteig in Munich, Teatro “Gil Vicente” in Coimbra, Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon and philharmonic halls of Kiev, Kazan, Donetsk, Kharkov and other cities have always been very successful.
Moscow pianists long esteemed Eleonora for a harmonic combination of strong will, warm emotions, inspiration and naturalness of her performing style.
Eleonora has vast experience of performing with an orchestra. She played numerous concerts with Orquestra Sinfonica de Chili, Orquestra Fundacao Gulbenkian, Orquestra Metropolitana, Orquestra de Algarve, Orquestra Sinfonica de Providencia ( Chile ).
Eleonora Karpukhova actively cooperates with such famous conductors as S. Soldatov, Y. Yanko, A. Cassuto, D. del Pino Klinge, F. Lentini, D. Nazareth and M. Zilm, D.Kolobov, A. Dumay.
Jeffrey Gilliam
Since joining the faculty at Western Washington University in 1992, pianist Jeffrey Gilliam has performed throughout the Pacific Northwest as solo recitalist; as guest pianist with The Seattle Chamber Players at Benaroya Hall; as chamber musician and soloist in the Marrowstone and Bellingham Festivals; and as concerto soloist with local orchestras. In addition, Mr. Gilliam’s extended association with the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin has led to his collaboration with superb instrumentalists, with whom he has performed at London’s Wigmore Hall, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City; in numerous concert tours across the U.S. and Canada, and in distinguished European, Asian, and South American festivals.
Originally from Akron, Ohio, Jeffrey Gilliam studied piano with Cécile Genhart at the Eastman School of Music, and with Theodore Lettvin at the University of Michigan. A Fulbright Scholarship in piano and in German literature enabled him to continue his studies with Günter Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, where he made his European recital debut in 1982. He has also performed in master classes for Leon Fleisher, György Sebök, John Perry, Maria Curcio Diamand, Dorothy Taubman, Tatiana Nikolayeva, and György Sandor. He studied piano accompanying with Martin Katz and with Margo Garrett.
Mr. Gilliam taught an accompanying course at The Juilliard School, and for three years he was Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Michigan School of Music. He worked on the faculty of the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad/Blonay, Switzerland for fourteen years. He has recorded with violinists Yehudi Menuhin, Ruggerio Ricci, and Alberto Lysy, for EMI, Opus 111, and Dinemec Classics, respectively.
At Western Washington University, Jeffrey Gilliam teaches piano and directs the piano accompanying program. He is also Artistic Director for the Sanford-Hill and Firehouse Piano Series (http://www.wwu.edu/sanfordhill/) He remains active as an adjudicator and clinician with the Washington State Music Teachers Association (WSMTA).
He has taught as a guest professor at The University of Pretoria, South Africa (1998-99), and at Silpakorn Fine Arts University in Bangkok, Thailand (1999). In 2005, he received his second Fulbright, a Senior Specialist Award for performance and teaching in Thailand. In May, 2006 he accompanied the Asian recital debut of WWU soprano alumna Erin Wall at the Musashino Cultural Center in Tokyo, Japan. In June, 2006 and 2007 he taught on the faculty of The Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at The New England Conservatory in Boston.