How did you become interested in music?

My parents were not musicians, but they loved music. My father always had the New York classical radio station, WQXR, playing day and night, in every room of the house, in the car, in the garage, even when he was working outside. So music came naturally to me, and by the time I sat down for my first piano lesson, I felt I had a good idea of how what I was playing should sound. I feel like I’ve known music my entire life because I was listening to it before I could walk or speak. In my case, it would have been difficult not to play, rather than play music.
My parents started taking me to concerts when I was two. Initially, I didn’t have a seat of my own and sat on my parents’ laps. My parents always had to reserve seats in the last row of the hall so that I wouldn’t block anyone’s view. Honestly, I don’t have many early recollections of these concerts, and I’m pretty sure I slept through just about all of them. Once, as I was looking through old concert programs, I came across a concert we attended by the pianist Emil Gilels, a giant from the Old Russian school, and I bite myself by the elbow every time regretting that I’m unable to recall this occasion many would dream of.
When I was very young, I especially loved attending Sunday afternoon concerts because the concert venue sold cupcakes and cookies during intermission. Getting a treat was definitely worth the ordeal of sitting through a concert that may not have been otherwise very interesting. Eventually though I came to enjoy the music itself and started to bring my own scores so I could follow along with the performer. My mother scolded me when I lost my place in the music, but that didn’t stop me from persevering.

How did you decide on the piano?

After coming across a recording of Marcel Dupre playing on a beautiful 18th-century pipe organ in France, I was determined to play just such a pipe organ. I was captivated by the instrument’s magnificence and power. My parents told me that installing a pipe organ at home was not possible, as the force of the sound coming through the pipes would bring down the walls of the house. They had to do a lot of convincing so that I would stop begging for an organ. So I settled, albeit begrudgingly at first, for the piano, the next closest instrument to an organ in my child’s imagination.

What brought you to your first piano lesson?

My grandmother studied the piano at the conservatory in Poltava, Ukraine, and there was a piano in the house. My mother really wanted me to be a ballerina and instructed me to practice dance steps with my father while she played waltzes on the piano. By the time I was six, I grew tired of this routine and cried because I wanted to play the piano, not dance. I told my mother that I wanted to do what she was doing, so my parents decided to send me to a piano teacher.

How did you decide on a music career?

When I was in third grade, our English teacher gave us an assignment to write a letter to a famous person. Most of my classmates, especially the girls, wrote to rock stars. I chose to write to Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was one of my favorite pianists at the time. To my surprise, he replied to my letter and answered all of my questions, including how many hours he practiced each day and which composers were his favorites. The letter was written in a humble tone, with extreme patience and awareness that one was writing to a child. Nevertheless, his letter made a profound impression on me. Ever since then, I think I just made up my mind that all musicians were very lovely people! So I decided to become one myself.

What led you to teaching?

Twenty years later, I had a very special opportunity to play for Mr. Ashkenazy privately in Berlin. I played the entire Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, a 35-minute work that he himself recorded and also arranged for orchestra as a conductor. He was so quiet as I played that midway through, I was convinced he had fallen asleep. I turned around to see, only to observe that he was listening very attentively. Wow! He made a profound impact on me once again! He was very generous and kind, and gave me some excellent pointers. I learned how far patience and warmth can go in inspiring a student. A year later, I began teaching. Perhaps it was this experience that prompted the desire to help young students.

What aspect of teaching appeals to you the most?

I enjoy allowing students to express themselves artistically and gain confidence and insight as individuals. Also, I feel that exposure to music will, like it or not, impact them as people and their lives for decades to come. That’s very special - knowing that you are contributing positively to a young person’s life in a way that will be with them forever.

Who are your favorite students to teach?

Sometimes the favorite student to teach is not the most talented one but the one who wishes to learn and improve, even if it’s in a very small way. I love when a student says, “Let me try this again” or “I’d like to do this part over” without my prompting them. I also love it when students ask questions. That tells me that I’ve formed a connection with the student, and makes teaching very exciting! The worst situation is when I feel like I’m dragging the student by the hair. In that case, I try to change my approach so that I’m getting through to the student.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to read, especially Russian literature. I also love to travel, museums, movies, playing tennis, being amidst nature, and investing money (only on my own!) for fun in my free time. Basically, getting as far away from music as I possibly can so that I can return to it refreshed and inspired.