Irina Shkurindina
Irina is a multi-faceted artist who has talents ranging from concert pianist to chamber musician, from accompanist to musical dramatist.
She graduated in classical piano from Moscow’s prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she received the “Congratulations of the Jury” for her work as a soloist and chamber musician. She obtained a post-graduate degree as soloist and chamber musician with distinction at the Geneva Conservatory.
Irina recently performed Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 with the Geneva Symphony Orchestra at Victoria Hall. As a chamber musician, she has played with Maxim Rysanov, Sergey Ostrovsky, Oleg Kaskiv and Camilla Nylund.
Irina has won numerous international competitions, her first at age 13 at Usti nad Labem in Czechoslovakia. She won the China International Piano Competition at age 16 and the Moscow National Accompanist Competition at 22. She was awarded a recording contract at the 2007 Zurich Orpheus Competition.
Her repertoire is broad, with a fondness for Russian composers such as Prokofiev, Schedrin, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff. Romantic composers, such as Liszt, Chopin and Schumann are also among her favorites, as are the modern composers Dutilleux, Gubaidulina and Jean-Luc Darbelay.
Irina has taught at the Geneva Conservatory since 2010.
She regularly performs as a soloist at numerous festivals, including the Schubertiade in Switzerland or Lourmarin in France. She also played at concerts in Belgium, Sweden, India, Japan and recorded four CDs: two CDs of romantic music as a soloist: a Trio Arc CD released in 2017 and a CD titled “Modern Cello” with cellist Dan Sloutskovski under the “Orpheus” label, released in 2020. She also released a debut CD with the Geneva Piano Trio, featuring Tchaikovsky’s grand trio.
In addition to her musical projects, Irina created “literary concerts” with actor-director Alain Carré’sdramatisation of the tumultuous romantic life of Franz Liszt, and the tormented sombre journeys of Rainer Maria Rilke, Federico Garcia Lorca and Lorenzo da Ponte. Her latest project on Sergei Rachmaninov’s exile was a big success in Canada, France and Switzerland.
She has an exciting new project for 2023: she is launching a chamber music festival called “Les Primeurs Musicales”, which aims to showcase the best young local musical talents and provide them with a platform to fulfill their professional aspirations. The festival will feature a variety of concerts, masterclasses, workshops and lectures, as well as opportunities for networking and collaboration. The inaugural edition of the festival is scheduled to take place from September 11 to 15, 2024, at the Théâtre des Salons, a charming historical venue in the heart of Geneva.
www.irinachkourindina.ch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-nrZLBScDI
