A Concert by Duo Pianists Nikita Fitenko and Katerina Zaitseva

Nikita Fitenko and Katerina Zaitseva have been playing together as a duo since 2001. Hailed by critics for their “superlative sound, superlative interpretation, and superlative pianism” (European Piano Teachers Association Journal), the duo has performed and presented masterclasses worldwide, with recent appearances including at the Moscow State Conservatory Hall (Russia), the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Tokyo College of Music (Japan), and Madeira Music Festival (Portugal). Their critically acclaimed CDs featuring works for piano four hands by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, as well as Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 1 and Symphonic Dances for two pianos, were released by the Classical Records label and are available through Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify.

Internationally acclaimed pianist Nikita Fitenko has given recitals and appeared with orchestras in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, and North and South America. While performing a wide and diverse repertoire, Nikita Fitenko is an acknowledged master of Russian piano music, and his CDs for Altarus Records of the complete piano works by leading contemporary Russian composers Georgy Sviridov and Sergei Slonimsky have garnered rave reviews from the international music press. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, he graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with a citation for excellence given to only five other graduates in the last fifty years. He then came to the United States to continue his studies, earning both master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of North Texas. Dr. Fitenko has been invited to serve on many international piano competition juries and has presented master classes at multiple locations in Europe and Asia. He has been a tenured member of the piano faculty at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. since 2008, and is also the artistic director of the American International Piano Competition and Festival and the Washington International Piano Festival.

Praised by Fanfare magazine as a pianist with an “imaginative and colorful interpretive approach,” Katerina Zaitseva has performed at major venues in the United States, Europe, and Asia and has been featured as soloist with orchestras both in this country and abroad. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, Master of Music from the Southern Methodist University, Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas, and a diploma from the music school affiliated with the Moscow State Conservatory. She has recorded seven CDs for the Classical Records label, including solo works by Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, and Liszt as well as Glazunov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. Currently, Katerina Zaitseva serves on the piano faculty at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. Among her students are winners of state and national competitions, and she has presented masterclasses in England, Korea, Japan, and the United States.