MARIA ANDRIASOVA ESPARZA
“Immense knowledge of piano repertoire; ability to establish immediate and fruitful contact with the listeners”.
Oxana Yablonskaya, concert pianist
Professor, The Juilliard School, New York
Former Professor at P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow

Nominated for The International MOZART AWARD
2009
for an original soundtrack to a documentary 
International Biographical Centre
Cambridge, UK
The soundtrack is listed on Top-40-Charts / Sony Masterworks
 
 
"Outstanding Artist!"
New York Magazine
 
 
"A Truly Bankable Star!"
Radio Freedom
 
 
Winner of three consecutive
"Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation" Awards
Lisbon, Portugal
 
 
“An outstanding, influential musician, assured of her place in history.”
Winner of "The 2007 Top 100 Musicians "  Award
Cambridge, UK
 



 
 

 

 
 
Maria Andriasova Esparza
ABOUT MARIA ANDRIASOVA ESPARZA:
 
Nominated for a distinguished 2009 "Mozart Award" from the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK for her original music, Moscow-born, American concert pianist, film composer, and producer Maria Andriasova Esparza (http://www.andriasovaesparza.com) is a winner of three consecutive Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Prizes.  Maria is the daughter of the Russian composer and philosopher Iosif Andriasov.  She received her education at the Moscow Conservatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Juilliard School, and is represented by the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) as a composer.  Maria is also an award-winning artist, and exhibits her works regularly.  In addition, after developing an interest in the world of finance, in 1998, Maria launched a successful financial career working for Robert Soros and George Soros at Soros Fund Management in New York, and now specializes in Private Asset Management.  Maria serves on the Board of Directors of several New York cultural organizations.  Maria lives with her husband, Guillermo Esparza, the celebrated American sculptor, iconographer, and painter, in Manhattan, New York.
 
Maria Andriasova Esparza's website is at http://www.andriasovaesparza.com
 
All press inquiries should be directed to Dame Larissa van Duser at 646-489-1242 or at LarissaVanDuser@aol.com
 
PRESS QUOTES:
 
“Immense knowledge of piano repertoire; ability to establish immediate and fruitful contact with the listeners”.
Oxana Yablonskaya, concert pianist
Professor, The Juilliard School, New York
Former Professor at Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow
 
“Outstanding artist!’
American Landmarks Festival
New York Magazine
 
"Ms. Andriasova delivered the most extraordinary performance of Beethoven Piano Sonata in F major, op. 10 no. 2, that I have ever heard in my life."
Jane Carlson, concert pianist and pedagogue
The Juilliard School, New York
Pupil of Carl Friedberg, the last surviving student of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms
International Piano Archives at University of Maryland, UM Libraries
 
“Ms. Maria Andriasova, a well-known Russian-born pianist, is an artist of substance, a truly bankable star!  A musician with a great deal of experience and a talent to match!  Everybody was raving about Ms. Andriasova’s superb performance.  One can be very moved by her style and musical ability to project her gifted talent as a pianist and performer!”
Michael Matthews for Music Filipiniana Radio Show
On Ms. Andriasova's recital at Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Memorial Museum in New York
 
“Maria Andriasova is a most wonderful musician with a great deal of excitement and artistic perfection!  Thank you for your performance!”
Donald Trump
On the Gala concert dedicated to His Holiness Pope John Paul II’s visit to New York in 1995
 
 
BIOGRAPHY:
 
Winner of the "2007 Top 100 Musicians" award for her life-long service to music from the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK upon a recommendation by the late Mstislav Rostropovich, the prominent New York socialite, fundraiser, concert pianist, and film composer Maria Iosifovna Andriasova (Andreasian) Esparza, was born in Moscow into a family of celebrated musicians, with a direct musical lineage to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and an ancestral lineage to Prince Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov. Maria Andriasova started playing piano and composing at the age of three under the direction of her father, the great Soviet composer and philosopher Iosif Arshakovich Andriasov. Mr. Andriasov graduated from the Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, where he studied composition with Professor Evgeny Golubev. E. Golubev, a pupil of Nikolai Myaskovsky, passed the traditions of the Moscow composition school to Iosif Andriasov (P. I. Tchaikovsky - S. I. Taneev - N. Y. Myaskovsky).  Iosif Andriasov was born in Moscow into an Armenian family.  His father, Arshak Osipovich Andriasov, was an economist, and a high government official.  His mother, Maria Fyodorovna Bedjanova-Andriasova, was a professional artist. Maria Andriasova Esparza's maternal grandfather, Professor Leonid Vasilyevich Kudryashov, was an eminent scientist, Provost and Chairman of the biology department at the Moscow Lomonosov University.  Maria's maternal grandmother, Irina Veniaminovna Lebedeva, was a chemist, and the daughter of Professor Veniamin Aleksandrovich Lebedev, who established the Arkhangelsk University.  At the age of six, Maria was enrolled at the Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory to study piano with two renowned pedagogues: Vera Viktorovna Chertova (the student of Alexander Goldenweiser,  the student of Alexander Ilyich Siloti, who studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Nikolai Zverev, Nikolai Rubinstein, Sergei Taneyev, and Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky), and Valentina Viktorovna Sedova (Lazar) Berman.  At the same time, Maria performed her first compositions at the Union of Composers in Moscow. She also studied at the Russian Academy of Sciences with concentration in mathematics.  Maria made her professional debut at the age of nine as actor and narrator in the legendary Second Symphony by Iosif Andriasov (for which Mr. Andriasov refused the Lenin Prize from the Soviet government and became a notorious political figure), reciting text by the poet laureate Vladimir Lazarev, under the baton of Maestro Gennady Cherkasov with the Big Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Radio and Television  (now known as the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow under Maestro Vladimir Fedoseyev, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor).  The concert was broadcast live over "Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision" Network (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the European republics of the USSR). The Second movement of Iosif Andriasov's Second Symphony tells a story of young Maria (nicknamed  “Marianka”), and of her childhood drawings.  Those drawings, as well as the artwork of Maria's paternal grandmother, the artist Maria Bedjanova Andriasova, are in Maria’s personal collection.  In 1979, Ms. Andriasova moved to New York City with her parents. US Senators Jacob Javits, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Edward Kennedy were instrumental in bringing the family to the USA. Maria continued her piano studies at The Juilliard School with a premier Paul Hindemith interpreter, the eminent pianist and pedagogue Mme. Jane Carlson (the student of Carl Friedberg, who was the last surviving student of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms).  Maria also continued her studies of studio art and drama at The Professional Children’s School, where, at a personal invitation by Mrs. Marion Javits, she was introduced to performing for charitable events. Among numerous charities that Maria has been involved with, are The Jewish Guild for the Blind, The Salvation Army, and The Armenian Prelacy.  Maria earned her bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, being awarded full-scholarship throughout the program in the class of Concert Pianist and Professor Oxana Yablonskaya ( the student of Alexander Goldenweiser). Among her other teachers at Juilliard was Maestro Vincent La Selva (orchestral conducting).  Maria continued her studies of life drawing and painting at the Art Students League in New York in the class of Barbara Adrian (studio of  Reginald Marsh).  At the same time, she also developed an interest in the world of finance.  To further her knowledge of the stock market and investment strategies, Maria started her career working for Robert Soros and George Soros at Soros Fund Management in New York, where she spent a total of five years, and is now a Partner in one of New York's premier financial broker / dealer firms, specializing in Private Wealth Management.  In 2000, Maria received an honorary award from Art Students League in New York for her portraits of Beethoven, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, and the poet Nikolai Kluyev.  As a concert pianist, Maria won The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation prize (Lisbon, Portugal) during three consecutive years (1984, 1985, 1986); she is the recipient of the P.A. Schaffer award, New York; Maro and Anahid Ajemian award; Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women award; Armenian Diocese Association award (Boston, MA); "Outstanding Musician of the 20th Century" award from the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK with a commemorative medal in 1999; and is listed in the International Who’s Who in Music, England since 2000.  She is winner of "The 2007 Top 100 Musicians Award", being recommended by Mstislav Rostropovich, from the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK, and in 2008 was nominated for the distinguished "Amadeus Prize" for her original music.  In May 2009, Ms. Andriasova Esparza was invited to join the Board of Directors of The Highbridge Voices, part of The Highbridge Community Development Corporation (HCDC), a web of services and initiatives that began in 1988 in a massive effort to revitalize the South Bronx community of Highbridge. In 2009 Maria Andriasova was nominated for The International MOZART AWARD for her original soundtrack for a documentary film on Guillermo Esparza by Los-Angeles filmmaker Veronica Aberham for London-based Studio International.
 
Since 2009, Maria Andriasova Esparza is represented by the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) as a composer.
 
Maria is married to Guillermo Jose Esparza, the American sculptor, iconographer, and painter, whose works are in the permanent collections at the Vatican Museum in Rome, the Phanar Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, the US National Archives, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Mr. Esparza, considered a visionary in the world of public art in the US,  was the first recipient of the "Percent-For-Art" public commission from the State of Arizona in 1986, thus opening the door to the next generation of artists competing for public commissions.  His permanent installations of sculpture, monuments, and murals are located throughout the US.  Mr. Esparza's family built churches and cathedrals in Mexico.  His paternal grandfather, Don Manuel Esparza, was a prominent US landowner and  businessman, whose family held Spanish land grants in Mexico since the 17th century.  Mr. Esparza's maternal grandfather, the architect and engineer Don Benito Hernandez y Quiroz, was instrumental in bringing electricity to Guatemala.
 
In 1995, Ms. Andriasova was invited by Donald Trump, as US cultural representative, to perform at the Gala concert dedicated to His Holiness Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States to commemorate the International Year of the Family and to celebrate the friendship between the United States and the Vatican.  At this event she met her future husband, American artist Guillermo Esparza, whose Ecumenical sculptures were commissioned by the US, and presented to His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and to His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Maria and Guillermo Esparza were married by Bishop Michel at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York, under Guillermo Esparza's Mural of the Pantrocrator, Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Maria and Guillermo Esparza live and work in Manhattan. 
 
DISCOGRAPHY:

Known for her immense knowledge of piano repertoire, Maria's discography ranges from classical, to experimental avant-garde, to jazz.  She can be heard performing J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, Scriabin, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mozart, as well as music by numerous contemporary composers, including her father, Iosif Andriasov.  She can also be heard on two new cd's featuring her original music: "Music for the sacred spaces", and "the jazz album". 
 
Maria has been recorded and broadcast live, including performances with the The Big Symphony Orchestra of Radio and Television, Moscow; at  the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra's Davies Symphony Hall; Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, by Asahi TV (Japan), OIRT Network / European Broadcasting Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the European republics of the former USSR); CBS, and The Fox Network in New York. 
 
Maria also composed, performed, and recorded the soundtrack for Bryn Magnus' experimental Off-Off Broadway play "George Sand", with performances in New York, Madison, Wisconsin, and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (Anne Biberman Productions.)
 
FILM / TV APPEARANCES:

"STUDIO - ONLINE", LOS ANGELES - LONDON: documentary film on Maria's husband, artist Guillermo Esparza.  Original soundtrack composed and performed by Maria Andriasova Esparza.  Nomination for the "Mozart Award" from IBC, Cambridge, UK for the original music.  In August 2009, the soundtrack is listed on Top-40-Charts / Sony Masterworks.
"NY1", NEW YORK: Studio-Online premiere of the film about Guillermo Esparza, original soundtrack by Maria Andriasova Esparza, at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral during its 200-year anniversary. 
"ABC NEWS": Studio-Online premiere of the film about Guillermo Esparza, original soundtrack by Maria Andriasova Esparza, at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral during its 200-year anniversary. 
"ASAHI TV", TOKYO, JAPAN: documentary film on Maria's father, composer Iosif Andriasov.  Maria served as an interpreter for Mr. Andriasov in the film.
"FOX NEWS", NEW YORK: documentary film on the Juilliard School.  Maria Andriasova filmed during her practicing and performing at Juilliard.
"CBS NEWS", NEW YORK: documentary film on the Juilliard School. Maria Andriasova filmed during her practicing and performing at Juilliard.
 
PUBLICATIONS:
 
Maria Andriasova Esparza's biography is selected for inclusion in the upcoming Encyclopedia about prominent Armenian women, to be published in 2009 by "Amaras" Publishing House, Yerevan, Armenia.
 
Maria Andriasova Esparza is featured in the upcoming book, "The Juilliard School Alumni: Today", to be published in 2010 by Harris Connect, LLC Publishing House, Chesapeake, Virginia, USA.
 
HERE IS LIST OF SOME OF MARIA'S PAST AND FUTURE EVENTS:

Maria has performed throughout the US, Europe, Middle East, and Asia, including all major concert halls in New York City: The Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium (Maestro Richard Westenburg, conductor) and the Weill Recital Hall; at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts: Alice Tully Hall (Maestro Bruno Ferrandis, conductor), Avery Fisher Hall (Maestro Richard Westenburg, conductor), Michael Paul Hall and The Juilliard Theater; Merkin Hall, Central Synagogue, Steinway Hall, Federal Hall, Nicholas Roerich Museum, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Memorial Museum, Trinity Church, New York Public Library Donnell Auditorium, Columbus Club; at Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas's chamber music series at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco with the members of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory Hall, Symphony Hall of the State Radio in Moscow (Maestro Gennady Cherkasov and Maestro Klavdyi Ptitsa, conductors), the Union of Composers in Moscow, numerous concert halls, art galleries, museums, and cathedrals in the USA, UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, Georgia, and Armenia; on radio and television, including CBS Special on The Juilliard School, PM Magazine for The Fox Network, broadcast over "Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision" (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the European republics of the former USSR), Asahi TV (Japan), Yomiuri (Japan), Russian All-State Radio, and Radio Freedom (Philippines). She has premiered several dozen contemporary compositions, a number of which have been dedicated to her, and has participated in American Landmarks Festival and Dmitry Kabalevsky Festival.  She also co-produced two "In Memoriam" festivals dedicated to the music of her late father, composer Iosif Andriasov, as well as audio and video recordings of the festivals: in Moscow, at the Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory Grand Hall, with Russian Federal Orchestra, soloists of the Bolshoi Theater, Maestro Vakhtang Jordania, conductor (2002) (click here for a review of the production in Russian); and in Yerevan, Armenia, at Aram Khatchaturian Symphony Hall, with Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra under Ohan Duryian, Maestro Karen Durgaryan, conductor, and the Choir of Armen Akob Cultural Centre, Maestro Armen Amirkhanian, conductor (2001).
 
Maria enjoys presenting poetry at her recitals, and regularly performs music set to readings by various poets, including Guillermo Esparza's "The Seaward Angel of Desire" from his "Versos Delfines" series, at venues in New York City and the west coast. Maria’s latest project is writing and performing music for sacred spaces, which accompanies sacred artwork installations of Guillermo Esparza.  The 2009-2010 seasons brings Maria and Guillermo Esparza's joint art / music / video installations at cathedrals, churches, and galleries in the US, Israel, and Germany. 
 
In 2009 Maria composed and performed soundtrack to a documentary film on her husband, Guillermo Esparza, by Los Angeles filmmaker Veronica Aberham for London-based Studio International.  The film was released on June 1st, 2009 and premiered on June 7, 2009 at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral for its 200th year anniversary after the historic Mass delivered by Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan.