Alexander Peskanov

Alexander Peskanov is an American/Russian concert pianist and a composer.

Life

Alexander Peskanov was born in Odessa, Ukraine, where he attended the Stoliarsky School of Music.[1] He immigrated to the United States from the U.S.S.R. in 1973, and attended the Juilliard School of Music.[1] His soloist career debut was with Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony. He has also appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, SABC Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Bogotá Philharmonic, Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as in the United States with the Baltimore, St. Louis, Houston, Utah, Richmond and Pacific Symphonies, and collaborated with Maurice Andre, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Yo-Yo Ma.

Peskanov has performed at the Wolf Trap, Aspen, Grant Park, Newport, Seattle, Vancouver, Monterrey, Sarasota and Flagstaff festivals, and in coast-to-coast recitals including a piano recital at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center as part of the series, “Russian Splendor,” the prestigious Van Cliburn Foundation Series in Ft. Worth, Texas, and the Gina Bachauer Piano Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a featured soloist at The 3rd Sopot International Music Festival in Poland in the performance of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1.

Peskanov founded a new piano syllabus/event, Piano Olympics in 1991, a program for evaluation of piano technical skills and authored a series of six books, The Russian Technical Regimen for the Piano, published by Hal Leonad/Willis Music.[2] He has also produced the movie soundtracks of He Knows You're Alone (1980 film) in collaboration with his brother, Mark Peskanov, The Clairvoyant (1982 film), The Lottery Rose (1984 film), as well as the music score for musical, Blockheads, Original London Production, (1984), London, England.[3] One of his compositions, Temptations, was animated by Stephen Malinowski.[4]

Composing

Peskanov is a composer of numerous works, but has mainly focused on music involving the piano. Peskanov has written 18 piano concertos, including 15 for young pianists of different levels. His Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Strings and Concerto No. 8 "Spring Concerto" were selected by the National Federation of Music Clubs for Festival Bulletin of 2020-2024.[5] The score and recording of Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Strings was released by Hal Leonard Publications. Between 2013 and 2016, Peskanov Piano Concertos No.1, 6, and 10 were performed by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and were broadcast on Estonian National Radio. In the summer of 2014, Peskanov's Concerto No.2 was premiered in Mexico at the Zacatecas International Music Festival. The winners of the 2015 Brown Piano Concerto Competition have performed his Concerto No.1 last January. In October 2015, Peskanov's Concerto No.5 was premiered in New York at the Carnegie Hall Gala Fundraiser, entitled, "Express Yourself Through Music" and dedicated to Musical Education and Autism. Peskanov's Piano Concerto No.3 (Maryland Concerto) and Piano Concerto No.7 (Anniversary Concerto) was premiered at Piano Concerto Extravaganza at College of Music, Payap University in Thailand. In April 2017, Peskanov's Spring Concerto and Azery Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra had a world premiere at Carnegie/Weill Recital Hall by the young piano soloists from 4 continents. In November 2017 the same two concertos had European Premiere at St. John's Smith Square, Westminster, in London, Great Britain. Also, Peskanov Concerto No.7 (Anniversary Concerto) was premiered in South Africa and Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Strings was premiered at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, Australia. In 2017, Thirteen Piano Concertos by Alexander Peskanov have been featured in newly released "The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Concertos" by Karen Beres and Christopher Hahn, published by Alfred Music. The new releases included several piano trios, written for Six Hands and “Spring Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra, published in 2015 by Alfred Music and selected for the National Federation of Music Clubs’ 2017–2020. Peskanov is the recipient of three special ASCAP awards.


Albums
  • Brahms: Violin Sonatas - Eugene Fodor (Violin), Alexander Peskanov (Piano) (Clarity Records)
  • Brahms: Violin Sonatas - Ilya Kaler (Violin), Alexander Peskanov (Piano) (Naxos Records)
  • Morton Gould: Concerto Concertante - Masako Yanagita (violin)/Alexander Peskanov (piano)/Bronx Arts Ensemble (Musical Heritage Society)
  • Spirits of the Wind – Peskanov Plays Peskanov (Touchwood Records)
  • Scott Joplin: Piano Rags (Naxos Records)

Compositions
  • Concerto for Piano Quartet and Orchestra
  • Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
  • Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Strings (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 2 “Ukrainian Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 3 “Maryland Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 5 for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 6 for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 7 "Anniversary Concerto" for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Spring Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 9 “Boston Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 10 “Italian Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concert Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 12 “Gypsy Concerto” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Azery Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 14 “Concert Suite” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 15 for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Concerto No. 16 “Fate and Destiny” for Piano and Orchestra (Arranged for Two Pianos)
  • Peskanov's Musical Gallery - Book 1 (solo piano collection)
  • Peskanov's Musical Gallery - Book 2 (solo piano collection)
  • Peskanov's Musical Gallery - Book 3 (solo piano collection)
  • Peskanov's Musical Gallery - Book 4 (solo piano collection)
  • Peskanov's Musical Reflections - Book 1 (solo piano collection)
  • Peskanov's Musical Reflections - Book 2 (solo piano collection)
  • Musical Collage (solo piano collection)
  • Tribute to the Masters (solo piano collection)
  • Lu Ann's Waltz (solo piano)
  • Clouds (solo piano)
  • The Rain (solo piano)
  • Russian Winter (solo piano)
  • Prelude in D (solo piano)
  • Smoky Mountain Rag (solo piano)
  • Sweet Dreams (solo piano)
  • Waltz Scherzo (solo piano)
  • Temptations (solo piano)
  • Joker's Waltz (solo piano)
  • Leave It To Me (solo piano)
  • I Like It! (solo piano)
  • Intermezzo (solo piano)
  • Sonata (Homage to Scarlatti) (solo piano)
  • Ghost Story (solo piano)
  • Elegie (solo piano)
  • Farewell Waltz (solo piano)
  • Brasileira (solo piano)
  • Hong Kong Serenade (solo piano)
  • Mexican Ballade (solo piano)
  • Doorbell Marimba (solo piano)
  • My Baby's Rag (solo piano)
  • Balletto (solo piano)
  • Black Key Blues (solo piano)
  • Sinfonietta (1 Piano, 4 Hands)
  • Country Rag (2 Pianos, 4 Hands)
  • Little Rock Suite - Book 1 (1 Piano, 6 Hands)
  • Little Rock Suite - Book 2 (1 Piano, 6 Hands)
  • Little Rock Suite - Book 3 (1 Piano, 6 Hands)
  • Sunshine Suite (1 Piano, 6 Hands, 4 Hands and Solos)
  • Chinatown Dragons (1 Piano, 6 Hands)
  • Equestrian Suite (Flute & Piano)
  • Irish Poem (Flute and Piano)
  • Sicilienne Impromptu (Flute and Piano)
  • Mambo, Arranged for Flute by Maria Lourdes Lobo (Flute and Piano)

Books
  • Piano Olympics Manual
  • Piano Olympics Student Assignments - Level 1
  • Piano Olympics Student Assignments - Level 2
  • Piano Olympics Student Assignments - Level "C"
  • The Russian Technical Regimen for the Piano - 6 Part Series

Videos
  • "In Search of Sound" (Beginner, Intermediate, Virtuoso) - 3 Part Series

References
  1. "BIOGRAPHY: Alexander Peskanov". Classical Video Concepts, Inc. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  2. "The Russian Technical Regimen for the Piano, Alexander Peskanov, Author". Hal Leonard. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  3. "BLOCKHEADS, Musical - Alexander Peskanov, Composer". OVRTUR. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  4. "Peskanov, Temptations (solo piano)". Youtube. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  5. Preysz, Sandra. "NFMC Festival Bulletin". National Federation of Music Clubs. National Federation of Music Clubs. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
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