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Georgian Pianist Giorgi Latsabize was born 15 April 1978 in Tbilisi, Georgia.
His hands first met the keys of a piano when he was three years old, an experience he vividly remembers to this day,
as he knew at that moment that this instrument would be the most important thing in his life. But there was no piano in his residence
at that time, and he could only play when his parents (both professionals in fields other than music) visited households where
there was a piano. In fact his parents revealed that Giorgi would cry hysterically whenever he was informed that they were visiting family
or friends where there was no piano. At the age of five he even began composing pieces, making use of these occasional opportunities.
By the time that Latsabidze was six years old, however, his increasingly evident enthusiasm for the instrument was rewarded when his family
obtained a piano and he began formal studies. At age seven, he was accepted into one of Tbilisi's Music Schools which, modeled after the
ex-Soviet Union pattern, cover the seven years of education preceding entry into gymnasium and university.
While there, at age 10 Giorgi was entered into the Georgian National Students Competition and, upon winning first place, was invited to perform
Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op.15 at the annual Gala Concert held at the Tbilisi State Concert Hall. Following this, Giorgi received further invitations to perform the
Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 with the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra, and the Beethoven Piano Concerto in C major, Op.15 with the same orchestra.
This was the start of a history of extensive music education, composition, and performance success that still continues, as outlined below. Today at thirty-one,
Latsabidze is already regarded by many as one of the more significant performers of his generation.
(See the press
reviews section, for example.)
After Latsabidze started his university education in Georgia, at
The V. Saradjishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire,
it was not long before his evident abilities
had attracted enough recognition that he began
to receive financial support from the Georgian
government through a Georgian Presidential
Scholarship, which continued essentially throughout
his remaining undergraduate and graduate studies
in Georgia. After graduating from the Conservatoire
with degrees at the Bachelor, Masters, and
Artist levels, each with the highest honors
available in Georgia (the Georgian Presidential
Prize in 1999, 2002, 2003), he continued his
pursuit of post-graduate work with degrees
obtained at the Hannover Hochschule fuer Musik
und Theater in Germany (receiving a DAAD scholarship,
2003) and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria
(2005). Latsabidze currently continues his
formal studies at the Thornton School of Music
of the University of Southern California (Los
Angeles) towards realization of a Doctor of
Musical Arts Degree, again with support provided
by a full scholarship at the Thornton School.
Moreover, by decision of the Keyboard Studies
Department in Spring 2007, Latsabidze was appointed
for the Graduate Teaching Assistantship at
the Thornton
School of Music.
During this time, Latsabidze has studied with numerous great teachers,
including Russudan Chodzava (Tbilisi State Conservatoire), Gerrit Zitterbart
(Hannover Hochschule), Klaus Kaufmann (Mozarteum), and Lazar Berman
(Florence , Italy). Currently he continues study (University of
Southern California) with the notable Concert Pianist, Author, University
Administrator, Educator, Composer and Music Editor, Dr. Stewart Gordon.
At the same time, Latsabidze has pursued an ambitious performance
schedule, appearing in master classes and concert performances throughout
Europe, as well as in Asia, South America and more recently in the
United States. While at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, and following
an audition with the famous Georgian Conductor Jansug Kakhidze (nicknamed "the
Slavic Karajan"), he was appointed as a resident soloist at the
Tbilisi Center for Music and Culture during the years 2000-2003, performing
an extensive series of works for both solo piano and for piano with
orchestra. During this period, he was recognized for giving an exceptional
performance of the 24 Etudes of Chopin in his hometown of Tbilisi to
a cheering audience of over a thousand people.
In 2005 Giorgi gave
solo concerts throughout Austria, following
which Governor Franz Voves of Styria, Austria
invited him to perform a series of private
salon concerts in the Presidential Residences
within the historic and famous Schloss Eggenberg,
Graz over the coming three consecutive years.
In additional subsequent appearances in Austria,
he performed Beethoven's Emperor Concerto
with orchestras in Vienna, Salzburg and Lienz.
In 2005 K-TV
Austria produced a DVD about Giorgi Latsabidze (Portrait
and Recital in Steinway Hall in Salzburg,
Austria ) which has been broadcast via satellite,
airing in most parts of Europe . In June 2008
he performed all 12 Transcendental Etudes of
Liszt at a concert in Hawaii (Honolulu Convention
Center), shortly thereafter repeating the
same program in Nice, France, with the latter
performance broadcast over Mezzo TV one of
the leading musical channels in Europe.
In late November 2008, Giorgi's recital, played in the famed Newman
Hall in Los Angeles, was documented LIVE
on film by Jeremy Gram Weaver of Onward
Entertainment (the L.A. based company for whom Giorgi scored
its first feature short Twilight's Grace
in 2006, his first commissioned film score in the US), now available
at Amazon.com as
a 2-disc DVD/CD set titled “Latsabidze: The Recital”--an astonishing
performance in a program including Mozart,
Chopin, Liszt and Bizet-Horowitz (complete
with encores).
Awards
- - Carol Hogel (Scotland) Music Scholarship presented by Flora Thornton
School of Music, Los Angeles, Dec. 5th, 2008
(PDF,
113 kB) (Video)
- - The Princess Marie of Liechtenstein, Countess Kinsky of Wchinitz
and Tettau (2008)
- - MTNA Academic Achievement Recognition of Excellence Award (2008,
Los Angeles, California) (PDF, 88 KB)
- - Keyboard Studies Department Award presented by Flora L. Thornton
School of Music, USC May 10, 2007, Los Angeles, USA) (PDF,
119 kB)
- - International Competition "Young Artist" (2006, Los
Angeles, USA)
- - International "Yehudi Menuhin" Foundation Competition
(2005, Salzburg, Austria)
- - International "N. Rubinstein" Piano Competition Gold
Medal (1999, Paris, France) (PDF,
101 kB)
- - International "Ennio Porrino" Piano Competition Third
Prize (1998, Cagliari, Italy) (PDF,
119 kB)
- - University of Southern California Merrit Scholarship (2005, Los
Angeles, USA)
- - Honorar Professor DDr. Herbert Batliner award for Outstanding Achievements
(2005, Liechtenstein)
- - DAAD, German Academic Exchange (2003, 2004, Germany) (PDF,
113 kB) (PDF Translation,
84 kB)
- - German Countess Dr. Marion Dönhoff award (2002, Germany)
- - Vladimir Spivakov award (2001, Russia)
- - Georgian Presidential Prize (2002, 2001, 1999, Georgia) (PDF,
73 kB) (PDF Translation,
171 kB)
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