Alexander Korsantia

New England Conservatory

Alexander Korsantia is one of the leading pianists of our time. A “major artist” (Miami Herald) and a “quiet maverick” (Daily Telegraph), Alexander Korsantia has been praised for a “piano technique where difficulties simply do not exist” (Calgary Sun).

In recent and upcoming seasons Mr. Korsantia performs all over the world including with the Illinois Symphony, Israel Symphony and the Baltic Philharmonic orchestras. He also continues to serves on jury panels of major piano competitions, such as he has in the past for the Arthur Rubinstein, Cleveland International, Hilton Head, Nina Simone Festival and E-Competitions.

In recent seasons Mr. Korsantia performed with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic, Xiamen Philharmonic, and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. With The Far Cry Chamber Group, he played Galina Ustvolskaya’s Piano Concerto in Boston und Tblisi.

Ever since winning the First Prize and Gold Medal at the Artur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and the First Prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition, Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Gianandrea Noseda, and Paavo Järvi, with such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI in Turin, Cincinnati Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alexander Korsantia is a frequent guest in many of the world’s leading concert series including in Warsaw, Boston, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Vancouver, Calgary, San Francisco, Lodz, St. Petersburg, and Blaibach, including major international festivals in Tanglewood and Verbier. A passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with other leading soloists such as Vadim Repin, Miriam Fried, Kim Kashkashian, Sergei Nakariakov, and the Stradivari Quartet.

His award-winning recordings include works by Beethoven, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and Copland. In 2020 his recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was released to great critical acclaim (with Stuttgart Philharmonic under Dan Ettinger, at German label Hänssler). His solo piano transcription of Ravel’s La Valse was published by Sikorski.

Born in Tbilisi, Alexander Korsantia began his musical education first with his mother, one of Georgia’s most respected piano teachers. Later he became a pupil of Tengiz Amiredjibi, Georgia’s foremost piano instructor. In 1992, he joined the famed piano studio of Alexander Toradze at Indiana University in South Bend, USA. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Georgian Order of Honor, National State Prize and Shota Roustaveli Prize, and the Golden Wing Award. Korsantia resides in Boston where he is a Professor of Piano at the New England Conservatory.

About

alexander kobrin
saturday, august 9, 2025 7:00 pm
christ church cathedral
haochen zhang
tuesday, august 12, 2025 7:00 pm
christ church cathedral

Sergei Babayan in recital

August 9, 2024 7:00PM Chirst Church Cathedral

Franz Schubert [transcr. Franz Liszt] (1797 - 1828)
Der Müller und der Bach S. 565 No. 2
Aufenthalt S. 560 No. 3
Auf dem Wasser zu singen S. 558 No. 2
Die Stadt S. 558 No. 11
Gretchen am Spinnrade S. 558 No. 8
Ständchen „Horch! Horch!“ S. 558 No. 9
Erlkönig S. 558 No. 4

Robert Schumann [transcr. Franz Liszt] (1810 - 1856)
Liebeslied (Widmung) S. 566

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)
Hymne de la nuit S. 173a/1
"Romance" in E Minor S. 169 "O pourquoi donc"

Manuel María Ponce (1882 - 1948)
Intermezzo No. 1

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943)
"Where beauty dwells" from Twelve Songs, Op. 21 No. 7
[transcr. Arcadi Volodos]

"Melody" from Twelve Songs Op. 21
[transcr. Arcadi Volodos]

"Dream" from Six Songs Op. 38
[transcr. Earl Wild]

Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962)
"Liebesleid"
[transcr. Sergei Rachmaninoff]

INTERMISSION

Frederic Mompou (1893 - 1987)
Canción No. 6
Canción No. 8
Canción No. 7
from “Cançons i Danses”

Komitas (1869 - 1935)
Chinar es
[transcr. Villy Sargsyan]

Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)
V Kuusi “The Spruce”
from Five pieces for piano, Op. 75

Harold Arlen (1905 - 1986)
"Over the Rainbow"
[transcr. Keith Jarrett]

Leonid Desyatnikov (1955 - present)
"Red arrowwood, green leaves"
from Songs of Bukovina No. 18

Jesús Guridi (1886 - 1961)
"La carrasquilla"
from Danzas viejas

Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963)
"Einleitung und Lied"
from Klaviermusik, Op. 37 Pt. 2 "Reihe kleiner Stücke"

Komitas (1869 - 1935)
Berceuse
1. Semplice from Seven Songs
[transcr. Georgy Saradjian]

Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875)
Chants du Rhin: I. L'aurore

Stephen Reynolds (1947 - present)
"Chanson d'automne"
from Two Poems in Homage to Fauré

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
Improvisation No. 15 in C Minor
"Hommage à Edith Piaf" FP 176

Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
"Au bord de l'eau", Op. 8 No. 1
[transcr. Sergei Babayan]

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
"Les chemins de l'amour"

Charles Trenet (1913 - 2001)
"En avril à Paris"
[transcr. Alexis Weissenberg]

George Gershwin (1898 - 1937)
"Oh lady, be good!"
[transcr. Maurice Whitney]

Johann Strauss II (1825 - 1899)
Arabesken über „An der schönen blauen Donau“
[transcr. Andrey Schulz-Evler]