**Edisher Savitski will be accompanied by soloist, Valerie MacPhail and clarinetist, Karen Hill.
Pianist Edisher Savitski has enjoyed critical acclaim throughout his career: “As each of Savitski’s convulsive trills and ominous chords would hang in the air, it became clearer that indeed something special was happening. We will be lucky to hear Scriabin played anywhere near this powerfully any time soon” (Jack Walton, South Bend Tribune). “The piano of Edisher Savitski prays, laments and also makes joyful sounds; This amazing Georgian simply takes off to the sky!” (Hanuh Ron, Yediot Akhronot, Israel).
He has been appearing as a soloist with: Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Pacific Symphony among many others, and has been performing at prestigious venues worldwide. To name a few: at Carnegie Zankel Hall and Carnegie Weill Hall, New York; Wigmore Hall, London; Great Hall of Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria; Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg,Russia; Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy as well as in other venues in USA, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Morocco, Japan and New Zealand.
Dr. Savitski has appeared at major music festivals such as Salzburg Festival, Austria; Gilmore Keyboard Festival, Ravinia Festival, USA; Ruhr Festival, Germany; Ravenna Festival, Stresa Festival, Maggio Musicale Festival in Florence, MITO Festival, Italy. His performances were also heard in Grande Auditorio at Temporada Gulbenkian de Musica in Lisbon, Portugal; at Teatro la Fenice, Venice; Stadt-Casino Musiksaal in Basel, Switzerland; Salle Cortot in Paris, France; at Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago; Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky festivals through Pittsburgh Symphony; Edisher Savitski is the first prizewinner of the Third International Piano-E-Competition in 2006 and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in 2001, and took top prizes at the First International Piano-E-Competition in Minneapolis and the William S. Byrd International Piano Competition in Michigan.
In November 2007, Dr. Savitski became first pianist who performed from his home in South Bend, Indiana on Yamaha Disklavier piano that was connected to another Disklavier piano in the Recital Hall of Yamaha Artist Services International in New York City, in an unprecedented live performance/press conference. Dr. Edisher Savitski’s performances have been frequently broadcasted on live TV and radio throughout Europe and USA. In 2007 Savitski’s CD was released on Schubert Club’s Ten Thousand Lakes label. He is a Yamaha Artist.
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Dr. Edisher Savitski studied in central music school with Maya Beridze and later in the Tbilisi Conservatory with professor Nana Khubutia. During this
time he became a prizewinner of the international charity program “New Names”, Russia, and won collaborative piano competition arranged at the Tbilisi State Conservatory.
In 1998 he joined the renowned Alexander Toradze Piano Studio at Indiana University South Bend, where he earned Masters degree, Artist diploma, and has been awarded with
the Performers Certificate. In Spring 2013 he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance from Michigan State University. Currently Dr. Savitski is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama School of Music.
About the Friends of the Petrie School of Music
In 1983, a group of devoted faculty, administrators and community supporters formed the Friends of the School of Music. Among them was Carlos Moseley, whose world-wide musical connections helped establish Converse College as a venue for such eminent performers as Charles Wadsworth and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Yo-Yo Ma, Chanticleer, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Beaux Arts Trio and many others. In 2004, the Friends of the Petrie School of Music renamed our concert series the Carlos Moseley Chamber Music Series.
For decades the name Carlos Moseley has been synonymous with musical excellence. This great musician was revered for his contributions to music not only in his hometown of Spartanburg, but also around the world. Carlos enjoyed a distinguished career as a concert pianist, professor, and as president of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Chairman of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York. He served on the boards of Converse College and Brevard Music Center, and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, Duke University, Wofford College and Converse College. He was also a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor available to a citizen of South Carolina. Most recently, Mr. Moseley was honored with a marker on the Spartanburg Music Trail.
Subscriptions to the Moseley series and additional donations to the Friends of the Petrie School of Music provide support for Converse music students and make possible an array of education activities by Moseley Series artists. These activities include master classes and open rehearsals at Converse, as well as programs at local high schools.
Season Subscription- $150
Orchid Subscription- $375
(3-year subscription for seasons 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20)
Converse Faculty & Staff- $75
Non-Converse Student- $25
(Single Concert Entry)
General Single Concert Admission- $50
Requiem of Solace, a new English translation of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem written by Alissa Deeter, is an elegant and poetic interpretation in a contemporary and living voice that is geared towards the idea of renewal and regrowth instead of death. The work captures a particular essence of intimacy and healing through the use of The Sustainable Symphony versus the grandeur of orchestra.