Internationally acclaimed pianist and Steinway Artist Eva Virsik has appeared to great success as a
recitalist and orchestra soloist throughout Europe, the United States, and in Asia. Fanfare magazine described her as a "...imaginative, charming, and cultured musician and an instrumentalist of formidable skills," and
Music Life magazine praised her "brilliance and poetry." In Europe, she performed in major cities
throughout Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Greece, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. She enjoyed
great success appearing with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Lille, France,
with several major orchestras in the Czech Republic, as well as all leading orchestras of Slovakia, including the Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the State Philharmonic Košice. In the United States she played her orchestra debut with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and she toured along the East Coast, including Portland, Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York City, where she debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2008.
In recent seasons she performed with orchestras in the United States and Europe, including return
engagements such as with the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Eastern Connecticut Symphony and conductor Toshiyuki Shimada. Touring Europe, she dazzled audiences as a soloist with the Slovak Sinfonietta and conductor Oliver von Dohnányi, in recitals at the Mozarthaus in Vienna, and in the historic series at the Mirbach Palace in Bratislava. She was the featured artist at the Robert Schumann Festival in Elmira, New York, where direct descendants of Robert Schumann's family attended her performances. In 2016 she returned to New York City with a recital at the Steinway Hall, and during a trip to Asia in November 2017, she played a recital in Ankara, Turkey, where the Embassy of Hungary provided their venue and an authentic piano formerly used by composer Bela Bartok.
Virsik is frequently engaged to bring music for high level diplomatic events. In 2010, 2012, and 2014, at events of the United Nations in New York, Eva Virsik performed for two consecutive presidents of Slovakia, her former homeland. In 2013 she performed at the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Slovak Republic in Washington. D.C. Believing in the power of music as the universal medium of communication, in 2018 Virsik performed two recitals at a musical world peace mission, the Lindenbaum Festival in South Korea. Most recently, in 2021 she performed an evening of music at the Gala dedicated to the 75+1 anniversary of United Nations in New York.
Eva Virsik's latest album 'Piano Encores' recieved a rave review from the Washington Post critic Patrick Rucker in the classical magazine Fanfare. She is also a frequent guest on radio and television networks including contributions to their permanent archives. She was heard on SWR radio in Germany, the Czech radio, and RTVS, the largest network in Slovakia. She performed live on WGBH radio in Boston on “Morning Pro Musica” as the featured guest of their iconic host Robert J. Lurtsema, and her live orchestra performances were televised via PBS and aired on the Maine Public Broadcasting and Connecticut Broadcasting networks.
Eva Virsik has captivated audiences at international festivals such as the "Russian Winter," during a tour
which brought her north of the Arctic Circle, the Festival of Contemporary Music "Berolina Concerts" in
Germany, the Bratislava Music Festival "BHS" in Slovakia, the summer festival in Karlsbad, Czech
Republic, and the Arkady Music Festival in Maine, USA, amongst others. She also collaborated with
chamber groups such as the Portland String Quartet, DaPonte String Quartet, Maine Chamber
Ensemble, and Slovak Chamber Orchestra among others. In May 2021 she inaugurated with a recital the #60 Limited Edition Black Diamond Lang Lang Steinway grand piano at the opening ceremony of a concert hall in Stary Kliz in Slovakia. Her concert dates in 2021/22 include solo and orchestra performances in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and the USA.
A native of Bratislava, Slovakia, Eva Virsik debuted on Slovak Television at the age of four, and at age six she won her first competition. When she was eight, she played her first recital in Bratislava. At a young age, Eva Virsik won five first prizes in competitions. At fifteen, upon winning the Smetana competition, she played her orchestral debut with the West Czech Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Libor Pešek, and was featured at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague and the Reduta Hall in Bratislava. She has also received a silver medal as a laureate of the Maria Callas Piano Competition in Athens, and holds a special Prize of the Czech Music Critics. She was honored by the Slovak-American Cultural Center in New York (2010, New York), and given the Coin of Excellence by General Frank J. Grass (2013, Washington, D.C.). She studied at Moscow State Conservatory with Stanislav Neuhaus and Yakov Zak, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. For many years she has devoted herself also to music pedagogy and has served on faculties at several universities including Frankfurt, Freiburg, Bratislava, New Haven, and Bowdoin College. She also appeared in recitals at many major music institutions throughout the world, including Yale University, and held piano master classes in Europe, USA, and Asia.
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