Biography
Anna Borisovna Semkina studied piano at the Central Music School of the Moscow State Conservatory of P.I. Tchaikovsky. She performed her very first recital at the tender age of 12 years and was awarded a Scholarship from the “Vladimir Spivakov Fund”.
After gaining admission to the Moscow State Conservatory of P.I. Tchaikovsky, she studied under Natalia Troull, herself an international pianist, and Artiste Emeritus in Russia, who has coached many widely renowned pianists such as Evgenii Starodbucev, Daniil Cvetkov and Olga Zheltikova.
Anna obtained her Masters with top marks in the four main subject areas: Soloist, Chamber Music Pianist, Accompanist and Professor of Piano.
She has received many Distinctions whilst playing at competitions, including the first prize for piano at the Alexandre Tansman Competition in Lodz, Poland. She was also Finalist in international competitions in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Marsala, Italy.
After obtaining her Masters, Anna took up the position of Professor of Piano at the University of Split, Croatia, where her teaching qualities were rapidly established. Her students were winners and runners-up in different contests.
At the same time, Anna delivered a series of recitals at the Foyer Hall and the Pinakoteka Hall in Split, and also appeared with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in Zagreb. She gave further performances at the Zal Bolshoi, the Maly Zal and at the Rachmaninoff Hall in Russia, as well as in Wooton Hall (near Birmingham) and at Tunbridge Wells, near London, England.
She participated in master classes with renowned artists such as Mstislav Rostropovitch (Russia), Massimiliano Damerini (Italy), Maksim Vengerov (Switzerland) and Vladmir Spivakov (Russia).
She has shared the stage at various concerts with artists such as James Barralet, Elizaveta Sushenko, Mihovil Karuza, Anna Vladanovic-Lebedinski, Dimitri Zhuchenko, Tereza Kusaovic, Nelli Manuilenko, Cynthia Hansell, Vladimir Kosjanenko, Vesna Podrug and Dr Colleen Gray.
In parallel, Anna pursued her training and in 2013, she obtained a “Post graduate of Arts” as a Concert Pianist and Music Critique at the Moscow State Conservatory of P.I. Tchaikovsky, under the direction of Natalia Troull.
Born in Kazakhstan in 1984, Anna moved to Switzerland in 2013, where she continued her career as a concert pianist. She taught at the Ecole de Musique in Leysin-Les Ormonts and at the Ecole Vivalys, Ecublens.
In 2016, Anna performed a series of concerts, with her programme “Fantômes au Clair de Lune” that included musical pieces from Beethoven, Chopin, Scriabin, Saint-Saëns and Liszt.
Anna has a new programme, “Contes de Fées de Russie” (Russian Fairy Tales), planned for 2017-2018, and she invites us all to discover it.