New York City based Ukrainian-born pianist Inesa Sinkevych announces the release of The Piano Music of Schubert. This CD, available on iTunes and Amazon.com, explores some of Schubert’s lesser-known piano works.

Although Franz Schubert’s output for solo piano was extensive, only a surprisingly small portion of Schubert’s piano output has become familiar to most audiences.  In addition to 11 complete piano sonatas, he produced numerous shorter works -impromptus, musical moments, fantasies, variations, sonata movements, and more than fifty opuses of dance forms, including écossaises, ländler and waltzes. With this recording of works from between 1818-1828, pianist Inesa Sinkevych seeks to shine new light on both better-known works alongside less frequently heard gems.  The CD includes the charming 12 German Dances, D.790; the Hungarian Melody, D.817, a “tamed” Magyar dance; the F Minor Impromptu, D.935, combining Hungarian flavor with the increased expression of the mature Schubert; the Adagio in E Major, D.612, with a simple enchanting melody from the 21-year-old composer; and the A Major Sonata, D. 959, the second of three last sonatas which Schubert composed shortly before his death.

According to pianist Inesa Sinkevych: “I have always felt a special affinity to the simplicity, openness, and beauty of Schubert’s music.  Its profound sincerity and earnestness captivate my heart and mind, and urge me to explore his compositions further and further. My colleagues and audiences alike have remarked that the special connection I feel for Schubert’s music translates in my performances. This repertoire allows me to express myself in profound and complete ways, while I contribute to the continuing revival of Franz Schubert’s piano music.”

A laureate of the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Ukrainian-born pianist Inesa Sinkevych has also won first prizes in the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona and at the Concurso Internacional de Piano Premio “Jaén” in Spain, as well as awards in the Minnesota International Yamaha Piano-e-Competition, the Vianna da Motta and the Porto international competitions in Portugal, the Casagrande International Competition in Italy, the Panama International Competition and the the Cidade del Ferrol and the Spanish Composers competitions in Spain. Inesa Sinkevych has been praised for her “intense, thrilling and sophisticated playing” (General-Anzeiger, Germany) and her “rich cantabile” (Ritmo, Spain). As soloist she has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic, the Minnesota Symphony, the Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic of Spain, the Porto Symphony of Portugal and the Tenerife Symphony of the Canary Islands. She has performed as recitalist, chamber player and orchestral soloist at the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, the Purcell Room in London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Minnesota’s Orchestra Hall, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Hong Kong City Hall and the Great Hall of the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. She has also performed at international summer festivals in France and Spain. Recent performances include appearances at Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Bar Harbor Music Festival, Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago and a tour of China that included performances in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang and Guangzhou. Inesa Sinkevych began her piano studies at the Kharkov Special Music School in her native Ukraine with Victor Makarov and later studied with Alexander Volkov at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. A scholarship from the America–Israel Cultural Foundation enabled her to further her studies with Solomon Mikowsky in the United States, where she received her Master of Music degree at the Chicago College of Performing Arts and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Sinkevych has been a member of the piano faculty at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division since 2008. She has been recently appointed as Associate Teacher of Solomon Mikowsky at the school’s College Division.