“…fiery sensibility and warm touch”

“…power and agility… effortless effect… nuanced and incisive all round.”

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Latest Release

Anton Rubinstein

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 25
Piano Concerto No. 2 in EF Major, Op. 35
Pièces caractéristiques, Op. 50

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Anna Shelest, piano

listen here

“Easily the top choices now for these two concertos.” American Record Guide

Youtube Channel Update - Shelest at the Piano

Since the pause in concert life, Anna & Dmitri Shelest have been recording and posting performances of programs planned for the 2020-2021 season, as well as shorter works and special presentations on their YouTube Channel - Shelest at the Piano. Tune in for weekly updates!

about

Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of “a fiery sensibility and warm touch,” Anna Shelest is an international award-winning artist who has thrilled audiences throughout the world.

A champion of esoteric repertoire, Anna has, since 2017, been collaborating with the legendary conductor Neeme Järvi to record rare works for piano and orchestra. Their complete set of Anton Rubinstein’s piano concerti has been released to great acclaim, praised by the American Record Guide as “Easily the top choices now for these two concertos [#1 & #2]” and Gramophone for “power and agility, effortless effect, nuanced and incisive all round [#4 and Caprice Russe]. Maestro Järvi’s and Anna’s live concert recording with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra of Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Cecile Chaminade’s Konzertstuck is set for a near-future release.

The 2019 release of “Donna Voce,” a survey of music by women composers from the last three centuries, has become Anna’s ongoing musical project that includes live performances, lectures and videos, as well as a sequel album - “Donna Voce II,” featuring Fanny Mendelssohn’s monumental piano cycle Das Jahr (“The Year”).

Anna regularly performs with her husband Dmitri as the Shelest Piano Duo, and have produced over 100 episodes for their YouTube channel “Shelest at the Piano.” Praised for their “stirring performances of rare repertory” (Fanfare), the duo traces its roots to music school in Kharkiv, Ukraine. At their 2018 Carnegie Hall debut, the duo’s CD release of “Ukrainian Rhapsody” brought renewed attention to the music of their homeland. Anna and Dmitri, who met as classmates in middle school, began performing together after their marriage in the United States. Their inventive programs brought them to a broad array of venues from concert stages to state functions, and in the words of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, “realized diplomacy through music.”

An “effective collaborator” (The New York Times), Anna made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1. Since then, she has appeared as a soloist with many distinguished orchestras, among them the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. In recital, she has been heard in New York City’s Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Alice Tully Hall, Washington, DC’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes and Austria’s Wiener Konzerthaus.

A native of Ukraine, Anna received her early music education at the Kharkiv Special Music School. She received her Masters Degree from The Juilliard School in New York City, where she studied with Jerome Lowenthal.

Anna Shelest makes her home in New York City with her husband and two sons.

Shelest Piano Duo

“Be warned- it will knock you right off your seat!” -the Whole Note

“…refreshing delight… boisterous dexterity” -Stage & Cinema

Praised for their “stirring performances of rare repertory” (Fanfare Magazine), Shelest Piano Duo is a husband-and-wife team of ANNA AND DMITRI SHELEST who take their roots to the music school in Ukraine. At their official Carnegie Hall debut
in February 2018, their CD release of Ukrainian Rhapsody brought the renewed attention to the music of their homeland. The Duo, who met as classmates in middle school, began performing together after their marriage in the U.S. Their inventive programs brought them to a broad array of venues from concert stages to state functions, and, in words of Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, “realized diplomacy through music.”

Dmitri Shelest started studying piano at the age of six in Ukraine and soon enrolled into the Kharkiv Special Music School, succeeding at his first contest when he was 11 years old. It was also piano that brought him across to the U.S. after he was offered a full scholarship to Northern Kentucky University as a bachelor’s degree candidate in piano performance.

While at NKU, Mr. Shelest won top prizes in various international piano competitions and participated in music festivals. After graduating in 2005, he pursued a post- baccalaureate degree in entrepreneurship. Since relocating with his family to New York, he has been active as a chamber musician in addition to managing a record label and a piano retail showroom.

Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of “a fiery sensibility and warm touch,” Anna Shelest is an international award-winning musician who has thrilled audiences throughout the world. Anna, a champion of esoteric repertoire, is currently collaborating with the legendary conductor Neeme Järvi on a project of recording the complete works for piano and orchestra by Anton Rubinstein.

Anna made her orchestral debut at the age of 12 years old with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, playing Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.” Since then, she has been a soloist with world-class orchestras such as Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra among others.

As a soloist, she has appeared at Alice Tully Hall and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

Born in Ukraine, Mrs. Shelest received her early music education at Kharkiv Special Music School. After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree at Northern Kentucky University, she graduated from The Juilliard School with a master’s degree.

Today, Anna and Dmitri Shelest make their home in New York City with their two sons, Ivan and Alexey.

UKRAINIAN - AMERICAN PROGRAM

To celebrate the solidarity between the United States and Ukraine, the Shelest Piano Duo offers a dazzling program of music by American and Ukrainian composers. From the striking fanfares of Mykola Lysenko’s Taras Bulba Overture to the cool city vibes of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the audience experiences an eclectic and exciting tour of the two countries’ musical worlds.

The program could be tailored from under 30 minutes to 70 minutes in length. A list of composers would include the Americans Amy Beach, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Samuel Barber, Kendall Briggs and George Gershwin and the Ukrainians Mykola Lysenko, Levko Revutsky, Serge Bortkiewicz, Valentyn Silvestrov and Myroslav Skoryk.

If there is an opportunity to include a fundraiser, the artists support Razom, which has provided more than 200 tons of tactical medicine, hospital supplies and medicines, and communication devices that are delivered by volunteers and partners throughout Ukraine to regions that need it most, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.

REcordings

Anton Rubinstein

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 25
Piano Concerto No. 2 in EF Major, Op. 35
Pièces caractéristiques, Op. 50

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Anna Shelest, piano

listen here

Donna Voce

Fanny Mendelssohn Sonata in G Minor
Amy Beach Ballade in D-Flat Major, Op. 6; Four Sketches: No. 2 & 3
Clara Schumann Scherzo No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 14
Cécile Chaminade Les Sylvains, Op. 60; 6 Concert Etudes, Op. 35: No. 1 & 2
Lili Boulanger Prelude in D-Flat Major
Chiayu Hsu Rhapsody Toccata

ALBUM OF THE WEEK!

Interviews on ClassicalMPR

Interview on WOSU

Interview on KPR

Review by Stage & Cinema

Anton Rubinstein

Piano Concerto No. 3 in G, Op. 45
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 94

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Anna Shelest, piano

Anton Rubinstein

Piano Concerto No.4 Op. 70 in D minor; Caprice Russe Op. 102 in C minor

Live at Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.
Neeme Järvi, conductor
The Orchestra Now
Anna Shelest, piano

review in The Whole Note Magazine here

Ukrainian Rhapsody

Anna and Dmitri Shelest, piano

Mykola Lysenko Suite on Ukrainian Themes, Op. 2
M. Lysenko Overture to the Opera “Taras Bulba”, arr. for piano four hands by Levko Revutsky
L. Revutsky Preludes, Op. 4 & Op. 7, Waltz
Alexander Zhuk Ukrainian Rhapsody
Myroslav Skoryk Three Extravagant Dances for piano four hands

Review by Stage & Cinema…

Sergei Prokofiev

Piano Concertos No. 1, Op. 10 in D-flat and No. 2 Op. 16 in G minor

Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra
Niels Muus, conductor
Anna Shelest, piano

TUTTI

Orchestral arrangements for piano four hands

Shelest Piano Duo

Bedřich Smetana Moldau
Franz Liszt Les Préludes
Peter Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, "Pathetique": III. Allegro molto vivace
Maurice Ravel La Valse, arr. for piano four hands by Lucien Garban
George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, arr. for piano four hands by Henry Levine

review in The Whole Note Magazine

Spirit & Romance

Bach-Busoni Chaconne
Franz Liszt Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
Schubert-Liszt Gretchen am Spinnrade
Wagner-Liszt Isoldes Liebestod
Schumann Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 11

Pictures at an Exhibition

Ginka-Balakirev “The Lark”
Tchaikovsky Romance Op.5; Valse Op.40 No.8; Romance Op.51 No.5; Valse Op.40 No.9; Nocturne Op.10
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

Donna Voce ( Woman’s voice) is a virtuosic piano program that puts listeners up close and personal with female composers of the last three centuries. By sharing their compelling life stories and wide ranging oeuvre, Anna Shelest makes the case for the power of this music to capture the hearts and minds of today’s listeners.

learn more

Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 6:00 pm
Piano Evenings with David Dubal
Grace and St. Paul's Church
123 W 71st St, New York, NY 10023
Cesar Franck Prelude, Fugue and Variation op. 18
for piano 4 hands, with Dmitri Shelest
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor op. 7
tickets and details

June 22-29, 2024
Faculty at Rising Star Piano Camp
Pittsfield, MA
details

Saturday, April 13, 2024, 7:00 pm
DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (MN)
Dirk Meyer, conductor
Symphony Hall, Duluth Entertainment Convention Center
C. Schumann: Piano Concerto
tickets and details

Estonia Concert Hall
ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Anton Rubinstein Piano Concerto No. 2 in F, Op. 35
watch broadcast

Estonia Concert Hall
ESTONIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Program:
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto op. 7
Cecile Chaminade Konzertstuck op. 40
Francis Poulenc Concerto for two pianos
With Dmitri Shelest
watch broadcast