The young Moscow-born pianist VASSILY PRIMAKOV has enriched the current
concert scene with blazing and deeply personal playing, excelling in
repertoire that often lies far afield of the traditional Russian norm.
His playing has everything: a singing line, a seductive tonal palette,
and a blistering technical command - all placed at the service of an
uncompromising musical integrity.

Reviewing Mr. Primakov's performance of three Beethoven sonatas the
youthful Sonata in E, Opus 14, the popular Opus 57 "Appassionata," and
the enigmatic Sonata in C minor, Opus 111 veteran music critic Bernard
Holland of The New York Times wrote:

His musical thinking is well organized and has an appealing sense of
urgency. The slow movement of the "Appassionata" was not too slow, as
it often is, nor the finale too fast. He has the velocity to race at
top speed through the latter's whizzing coda, can handle the awkward
physical pitfalls of the C minor Sonata and has a genuine feel for the
mysteries of its last moments.
-December 5, 2006

Critic Joseph McLellan, writing for The Washington Post following the
artist's 2003 Kennedy Center recital debut, judged Primakov to be at
home in a wide variety of styles and technically outstanding, "clearly
a fully mature artist."

Earlier reviews in The New York Times and The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
also singled out Mr. Primakov for his exceptional musicianship. After
his 2002 New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall Mr. Primakov was
praised by Anne Midgette of The New York Times for having "...the whole
arsenal: clean finger work, a wide dynamic range, the ability to turn
on a dime and lead with a strong rubato into a different mood." At his
2004 concerto debut with the Westchester Philharmonic in Alice Tully
Hall, Jeremy Eichler of The New York Times reported that Primakov "gave
a fiery performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, with bold,
expressive phrasing and dramatic commitment that brought the audience
to its feet." Indeed, cheering audiences have become a hallmark of
Primakov's platform appearances.

In 1999 as a prizewinner of the Cleveland International Piano
Competition, Mr. Primakov was cited by senior critic Donald Rosenberg
of The Cleveland Plain Dealer for his idiomatic mastery of the Chopin
style:

Primakov once again played Chopin's Sonata No. 3, showing why the jury
awarded him the Chopin Prize. How many pianists can make a line sing as
the 19-year-old Moscow native did on this occasion? The slow movement
overflowed with dreamy lyricism shaped with a patient and colorful
hand. Every poignant phrase took ethereal wing. Elsewhere the music
soared with all of the turbulence and poetic vibrancy it possesses. We
will be hearing much from this remarkable musician.

During the 2006-07 season Mr. Primakov was heard in Carnegie Hall's
Zankel Hall as soloist in Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto with the
iPalpiti Orchestra conducted by Eduard Schmieder (March 7, 2007); in
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, K.467 with the Evanston (IL) Symphony;
in the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with the Monroe (LA) Symphony;
and Chopin's First Piano Concerto in E Minor with the Kenosha (WI)
Symphony and the Charlotte (NC) Philharmonic. Mr. Primakov's concert
schedule also included recitals in California, Ohio, South Carolina,
and New York.

Mr. Primakov's all-Chopin CD for Tavros Records was assessed in the
September, 2005 issue of Clavier as "a suave account of the composer's
works, played with personal reflection and commanding virtuosity; he
always keeps the essential poetry of the music in the forefront...This
recording is an outstanding achievement."

Vassily Primakov began his American career after winning First Prize in
the 2002 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions. His debut
recitals in the Young Concert Artists series in New York at the 92nd
Street Y, as well as at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and
Boston's Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, immediately brought him rave
reviews. Mr. Primakov has performed throughout the U.S., and has made
solo appearances with the San Diego Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Utah
Symphony, Westchester Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, and Yakima
Symphony, among others. He also appeared at Lincoln Center Out of Doors
with an All-Chopin recital program in August 2006.

Vassily Primakov was born in Moscow in 1979. After early studies with
his mother, he entered Moscow's legendary Central Special Music School
at the age of eleven as a pupil of the brilliantly unorthodox pedagogue
Vera Gornostayeva. At seventeen, following a summer at the Music
Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, he came to New York to pursue
studies at The Juilliard School with the noted pianist Jerome
Lowenthal, himself a student of Alfred Cortot and Willam Kapell. At
Juilliard Mr. Primakov won the prestigious William Petschek Piano
Recital Award, which presented his debut recital at Alice Tully Hall.

Prior to coming to the United States, Mr. Primakov won First Prize in
both the Rachmaninoff International Young Pianist Competition and First
Prize in the Tchaikovsky Young Artist Competition. While a student at
Juilliard, aided by a Susan W. Rose Career Grant, he placed among the
top two laureates of the Cleveland International Piano Competition
(1999) and won both the silver medal and the audience prize in the 2002
Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition.