Lev Natochenny (Russia / USA)
The Russian-American classical pianist and piano professor Lev Natochenny studied with Lev Oborin, Boris Zemliansky and Eliso Virsaladze, working on chamber music with Alexei Lubimov and in the violin class with David Oistrakh. In 1978 he was granted the permission to leave the USSR, and awarded at the International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy, while still being stateless.
After further studies with Ania Dorfmann at the Juilliard School, he taught at the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College of Music (The New School) and the City University of New York. Natochenny holds a Lifetime Distinguished Professor Chair at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. From 1988 to 2004, Natochenny was the founder and artistic director of Meranofest International Music Festival in Meran, Italy. Among his students are renowned soloists and chamber musicians like Martin Stadtfeld, Dirk Mommertz, Nami Ejiri, Soyeon Lee, Christopher Park, Evgenia Rubinova, Eugene Choi and Guoda Gedvilaite. Natochenny’s discography includes nominated recordings of music by Schubert, Brahms, Schubert, Shostakovich and Schnittke. He lives and works both in New York and Frankfurt am Main.