Since winning First Prize in the 1987 Busoni International Piano Competition, Lilya Zilberstein has established herself as one of the finest pianists in the world. In North America, she has appeared with the symphonies of Chicago (at Ravinia), Colorado, Dallas, Flint, Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kalamazoo, Milwaukee, Montreal, Omaha, Quebec, Oregon, and Saint Louis, as well as the Florida Orchestra and the Pacific Symphony, to name a few. In Europe and Asia, engagements include the Berlin Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Helsinki Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, NHK Symphony (Tokyo), RAI Symphony (Torino), Royal Philharmonic, La Scala Orchestra, Taipei Symphony and the Vienna Symphony. Festival engagements include Lugano, Peninsula, Festival Cultural de Mayo, Chautauqua and Mostly Mozart, both in New York and Japan.

A captivating recitalist, Ms. Zilberstein appears regularly in music centers throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Japan. Recent performances have taken her to Madrid, Berlin, Budapest, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Innsbruck, Luxembourg, Stuttgart and Liverpool. Also a sought-after collaborator, Ms. Zilberstein has been performing duos with Martha Argerich for many years. In addition to show-stopping performances in Norway, France, Italy and Germany, a CD of the Brahms Sonata for Two Pianos played by Ms. Zilberstein and Ms. Argerich was released in 2003. Recent collaborations include extensive tours in the United States, Canada and Europe with Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov. Featured on the EMI recording Martha Argerich and Friends: Live from the Lugano Festival, Mr. Vengerov’s and Ms. Zilberstein’s performance of the Brahms Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano won a Grammy nomination for best classical album as well as best chamber music performance.

Lilya Zilberstein has also made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon; these include the Rachmaninoff Concerti Nos. 2 and 3 with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic, the Grieg Concerto with Neeme Järvi and the Göteborg Symphony, as well as solo works of Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Mussorgsky, Liszt, Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel and Chopin. A recording of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Rachmaninoff’s 6 Moments Musicaux was recently released on Hänssler Classic.

A native of Moscow, Ms. Zilberstein is a graduate of the Gnessin Pedagogical Institute. In addition to the Busoni Competition Gold Medal, she was the 1998 Prizewinner of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy (other recipients include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Esa-Pekka Salonen). She moved to Hamburg in 1990, where she lives with her husband and their two sons.