Alexander Braginsky
Alexander Braginsky was born and educated in Moscow. He received his first piano lessons from his mother, a well-known concert pianist. At the age of six he began study with Alexander Goldenweiser, a close friend of Leo Tolstoy and a classmate of Rachmaninov and Scriabin. It was through Goldenweiser, with whom he spent 12 years as his youngest student, that Braginsky came into contact with the great 19th-sentury romantic tradition.
After Goldenweiser death, he continued to study with Theodore Gutman, another illustrious representative of the “Golden Age” of Russian piano school. Braginsky’s repertoire extends from Baroque to avant-garde. He performed over twenty world premieres, most of which were works commissioned and written for him, including music by Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen and Paul Fetler’s Piano Concerto, commissioned by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Braginsky performed extensively in the former USSR, Israel, England, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Spain, France, Cuba and the United States. The London Times characterized Braginsky’s playing as “splendid,” and the Chicago Sun-Times called him “…a pianist with a fine, commanding sound that he can also use with great delicacy and expression.” Braginsky has recorded for DDF, Sound StarTone and d’Note labels. He has appeared repeatedly on BBC, National Public Radio, RTB-BRT and other radio stations throughout the world
Braginsky was artist-in-residence in Churchill College, England in 1981 and 1986. From 1995 to 2006 he was Professor on the faculty of the International Music Summer Course in Vienna, Austria, and has given numerous masterclasses in most of the major schools in Europe, Asia and North America. He is the faculty member at the International Keyboard Institute at Mannes College in New York City. Currently Braginsky teaches at the University of Minnesota School of Music, where he is Professor of Piano. Many of his students have won national and international competitions. Braginsky frequently judges International and National Piano Competitions. In 2001 he established the Minnesota International Piano e-Competition. From its first installment in 2002, the e-Competition became one of the world’s highest ranked piano competitions. It has extensive Internet presence and is watched by hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe. Braginsky is the President and Artistic Director of the competition. In 2008 he introduced the first International e-Piano Junior Competition. He is also the Founder and President of the Musicians in Debut International (MIDI), an organization dedicated to advancement of young musicians world-wide.