CREDO & BIOGRAHPY

Credo

"My training and academic studies were in classical piano music with a special emphasis on the masterpieces of the Romantic period. I submerged myself passionately in the emotional world of the composers and tried to understand their artistry fully and interpret it in my own way.

 

For me the piano was also always the instrument through which I wanted to express my feelings and musical ideas. I started to compose little pieces of my own when I was still a child. Later, when I played music by Clara Schumann-Wieck, I was prompted to romantic day-dreaming at the piano. My fingers began to glide spontaneously over the keys, musical ideas were taken up playfully and apparently independently, extended and varied. This creative process has now become the centre of my artistic production along the lines of the masterpieces of the Romantic era.

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Romantic feeling has to result from the elements of the current time leading to modern musical forms we all know and which shape our emotional world. Even elements of blues and jazz contribute to the modern romantic sound and help convey the musical impressions of our time.

 

I see my romantic creations as the starting point for a discourse about romantic ideas in the present time. This is why my concerts consist of masterpieces of the Romantic era in the first half and my own compositions in the second part. Let’s experience both these worlds of feeling together!"

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Bio

Ekaterina Kitáeva, a native Muscovite, received her first piano lessons at the age of four. Due to her extraordinary talent, she was early on accepted into the special Music Academy of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.
She completed her studies in Moscow and at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, concluding in the master class of Prof Joachim Volkmann. Numerous master courses helped her develop into one of the most remarkable pianists of recent generations. Among her master class professors have been

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• Olesya Larchenko (a student of Emil Gilels),

• Boris Bloch,

• Vitaly Margulis,

• Lazar Berman, and

• Vladimir Krainev (a student of both Neuhaus sr. and jr.),

 

Sergiu Celibidache was deeply impressed by her playing and said she would without any doubt belong on stage. Her artistic development has been highlighted by numerous prizes and awards, including a number of popularity awards. Throughout her career, Ekaterina has been a highly valued artist at important domestic and foreign music festivals and concert halls, like Alte Oper Frankfurt, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden or Rheingau Musik festival, and has been enthusiastically greeted by both the media and the general public.

She played the piano passages in the movie "Angel seeks piano", starring, among others, the later Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz.

Romantic piano music, including the romantic compositions of 20th century Russian composers, is at the centre of the artistic work of Ekaterina Kitáeva. She began to improvise and compose her own pieces at a young age. In her compositions with a romantic influence, she creatively uses rhythmical and harmonic elements of the present day, including those of blues and jazz.