Biorgraphy:

Praised by Italian press for her “rock solid technique” and “singing every sentence with an expressive logic of extraordinary maturity”, Russian-American pianist Aleksandra (Sasha) Kasman has performed in recitals and as a soloist with orchestras in the USA, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, France, and Japan. She is a prizewinner of national and international competitions, including the first prize and audience award of the III Premio Roberto Melini (Italy), first prizes at the NFMC National Collegiate Piano Competition, High Point University Inaugural Piano Competition and IKIF MacKenzie International Competition in New York, and top prizes at the VIII International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz (Ukraine) and Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition.

Sasha began studying piano at age six with her mother Tatiana and later continued studies with her father, 1997 Van Cliburn Competition silver medalist Yakov Kasman. In 2017, she received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham under the guidance of Yakov Kasman. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in piano performance at the Juilliard School under the guidance of Robert McDonald.

Sasha made her concerto debut at age thirteen with the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, and has since soloed with the Alabama Symphony, LaGrange Symphony, Southern Adventist University Symphony Orchestra, and played six concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. With her father, Sasha played Saint-Saens’s "Carnival of Animals" with the Brevard Symphony (FL), the New York Chamber Players, and the Hendersonville Symphony (NC). Among her recent engagements are a four-city solo recital tour in Northern Italy, performances in New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Juilliard’s Paul Hall, Roncegno and Riva del Garda (Italy), and St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, as well as duo-piano performances with Yakov Kasman across the USA, Russia, and South Korea.

Highlights of Sasha’s 2018 calendar include appearances in Boca Raton, FL, Columbia, SC (as a guest artist at the Southeastern Piano Festival), composition premieres and chamber music performances at Juilliard, and three more returns to Italy for solo, chamber, and concerto performances.

Sasha is passionate about classical music outreach; she served as Vice-President for UAB’s Music Notes for the Soul and has lectured and performed at numerous national honors conferences. She has taught masterclasses at Lee University in Tennessee and at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. A winner of the prestigious Edmund Assaly Memorial Fund scholarship and PianoArts Artist-in-Residence Fellowship, Sasha has completed three consecutive teaching and performing tours for the organization, focusing on working with children in schools and community establishments. In her March 2018 PianoArts tour, Sasha appeared in sixteen engagements over the span of eight days. Apart from music, Sasha enjoys studying French and ballet.

Sasha's concerto repertoire:

W. A. Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488

L. van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58

F. Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11

F. Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21

C. Saint-Saens, "Carnival of the Animals" for two pianos and orchestra

S. Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

S. Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

B. Bartok, Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Major

S. Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No.1 in D flat Major, Op. 10