Piano Duet:
Ekaterina Mechetina, Alexander Ghindin

Ekaterina Mechetina was born in Moscow into a family of musicians. She began to study music at the age of four then studied at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory (class of Professor Tatyana Koloss) before enrolling at the Conservatory’s undergraduate programme (class of Professor Vladimir Ovchinnikov) and continuing her education at its postgraduate assistantship programme (class of Professor Sergei Dorensky). During her studies, she was a fellow of the Vladimir Spivakov and Mstislav Rostropovich foundations and undertook an internship in Paris in 2004 at the invitation of the latter. 

Ekaterina has been a prize-winner of 7 international piano competitions, including Ferruccio Busoni Competition in Bolzano (Italy) and the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, U.S. (1st Prize and Gold Medal).

The pianist has appeared at world-renowned venues including Consertgebouw (Amsterdam), Yamaha Hall and Casals Hall (Tokyo), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Salle Gaveau (Paris), Great Hall of the Milan Conservatory, Milan Auditorium, Cecília Meireles Hall (Rio de Janeiro), Alice Tully Hall (New York), and others. Her performances can also be heard in Moscow and other Russian cities. 

Ekaterina Mechetina's broad repertoire includes over 50 piano concertos and numerous recital programs. She has appeared under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Saulus Sondeckis, Yuri Simonov, Pavel Kogan, Vladimir Ponkin, Dmitry Liss, Maxim Vengerov, Konstantin Orbelian, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alexander Sladkovsky, Gintaras Rinkevicius, Alexander Skulsky, Fedor Glushchenko, Lawrence Foster, Christian Badea, Barry Douglas, Fabio Mastrangelo, and Maria Eklund. 

In chamber programmes, she has appeared with Rodion Shchedrin, Vladimir Spivakov, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alexei Utkin, Alexander Knyazev, Alexander Ghindin, Boris Andrianov, Daniil Kogan, Graf Murzha, and other famous performers. In 2007, Ekaterina Mechetina, Nikita Borisoglebsky, and Sergei Antonov formed a trio that frequently appears in public and explores an extensive repertoire. 

Ekaterina has taken part in major international festivals, including December Nights of Svyatoslav Richter, Moscow autumn, Crescendo, Rodion Shchedrin Music festival, Russian Winter; and Benois de la danse in Moscow, Stars on Baikal in Irkutsk, Dubrovnik Festival, Consonances, Lille Piano(s) Festival, and Europalia (Belgium). 

She actively collaborates with contemporary composers such as Rodion Shchedrin (who entrusted her with the world premiere of his 6th Piano Concerto), Alexei Rybnikov, Tolib Shakhidi, Kuzma Bodrov, and many others. 

Ekaterina Mechetina has been teaching at the Moscow Conservatory since 2009 (being Associate Professor since 2020), and at the Conservatory’s Central Music School since 2016. Every year she gives master classes at the UNESCO Summer Creative School New Names in Suzdal. She has been member of the jury of Russian and international competitions (including the Nutcracker Television Competition for Young Musicians, the International Delphic Games, Astana and Seoul competitions) and hosts Diary of a Pianist and Musical Alphabet with Ekaterina Mechetina programmes on Radio Orpheus. 

The pianist's recordings have been released by Fuga Libera (solo album with Rachmaninoff works, 2005), Empire of Music (compositions by Shchedrin and Tolib Shakhidi, 2008), and Melodiya (music by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff, 2013). In 2019, the Moscow Conservatory label recorded and released her album Author's Suite with Tchaikovsky's pieces. 

Ekaterina Mechetina has received the Triumph youth award, Parabola independent award by Andrei Voznesensky foundation, 3rd degree Order of Catherine the Great from the National Committee of Public Awards, Prize of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Muses for the World Foundation, and Presidential Prize for Young Culture Professionals. In 2011, she became a member of the Culture and Art Council under the Russian President. 

Since 2013, Ekaterina Mechetina has been heading the Green Noise International Youth Art Festival (Surgut). In 2015, she was awarded the Honorary Badge of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for Strengthening Peace and Friendship of Peoples. In November 2017, she became a laureate of Russian Rome International Cultural Festival in the category Worldwide Promotion of Musical Culture. She was awarded the honorary title of Merited Musician in 2016 and Honoured Artist of Russia in 2018.

Alexander Ghindin has been unanimously acclaimed by critics and music lovers as one of the most talented and original pianists of the present day. 

Born in 1977 in Moscow. Before entering the Conservatoire in 1994, at the age of seventeen he became the youngest-ever laureate of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and is quickly establishing himself as one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation. Later he gained in Second prize at the International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels in 1999. These successes assisted the start of the pianist’s extremely intensive recital activities. In 2007 he was a First prize-winner at the International Piano Competition in Cleveland (USA) and was engaged for over fifty concerts in the USA. In July 2010 Alexander Ghindin won First prize at the International Piano Competition of Santa Catarina (Florianópolis, Brazil).

In 2001 Ondine records has released the world première recording of the original version of Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 1 and 4 performed by Alexander Ghindin together with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 2006, Alexander Ghindin was named Honoured Artist of Russia. Alexander Ghindin is a frequent jury member of such competition as the Nutcracker Young Performers’ International TV Competition (2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011); First Russian Music Competition (Moscow, 2010); International Piano Competition in Cleveland (USA, 2011) and others. 

Alexander Ghindin is also an International Artistic Co-Director of Swedish Royal Festival and Artistic Director and conductor of Soloists Ensemble Hermitage and Kaluga Youth Symphony Orchestra. Alexander Ghindin tours successfully throughout Russia and abroad. 

The pianist has performed with such major Russian and international orchestras as the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Russian National Orchestra, the Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi, the St Petersburg Camerata Orchestra of the State Hermitage, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Belgique, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Camerata Salzburg, Philharmonic Orchestras of London, Helsinki, Luxemburg, Liège, Freiburg, Rotterdam, Monte Carlo and Munich, Japan’s Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the New Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra to name but a few. 

Conductors the pianist has worked with include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Minin, Arnold Katz, Yurij Simonov, Dmitry Kitayenko, Fuat Mansurov, Vasily Sinaisky, Alexander Lazarev, Saulus Sondeckis, Alan Gilbert, Krzysztof Penderecki, Paavo Järvi, James DePreist, Leonard Slatkin, Louis Langrée, Eliahu Inbal, Arthur Fagen, David Shallon, Juozas Domarkas and others. 

Alexander Ghindin is a constant participant at international music festivals. He has appeared at the Russian festivals Russian Winter, Stars at the Kremlin, The New Century of Russian Piano Music, Vladimir Spivakov Invites, The Musical Kremlin and the International Sakharov Arts Festival as well as the Swedish Royal Festival in Stockholm, the Robert Casadesus International Piano Encounters in Lille, the Vladimir Spivakov Festival in Colmar, the Radio France Festival, Folle journee (France), Bad Kissengen Sommer (Germany), the Rising Stars festival (Poland), Days of Russian Culture in Moravia (Czech Republic), the Ruhr Piano Festival (Germany) and festivals in Echternach, La Roque d’Anthéron, Brussels, Limoges, Lille, Cracow, Rome, Sintra and Sicily. 

The musician has made numerous recordings on television and radio in Russia, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxemburg, Poland and Japan. He has released 28 CDs with leading recording companies in Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Finland and Japan including Decca, Capriccio, Ondine, Tri-M Classics, Russian Season, DML, CD Accord and Naxos among others.