Polina Bespalko

Semifinal Round I

Polina Bespalko began her performance career at the age of eight, and throughout her years at the Moscow Central Music School she appeared regularly in the most prestigious venues in Russia. After her acceptance to the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, she was requested by the Minister of Culture to participate in numerous musi¬ cal programs in major cities throughout the region. Polina has given solo concerts in Holland, Czech Republic, and a series of performances broadcast on Swedish radio. She made her American debut in 1998 in Cincinnati and has since performed in Dayton, Jackson (Michigan) and at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC. In 2002 Polina gave two performances at the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. She gave multiple concerts in Brasilia, Brazil in 2004 at the National Theater Claudio Santoro. In Sicily she played several performances of Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 3 with the RIAS Youth Orchestra of Berlin in August, 2005. A soloist for the Moscow Philharmonia since 1996, Polina continues to perform several times yearly in the Russian capital and neighboring cities and countries. In 2002, she took part in the Russian debut of Bach’s Concerto for Four Pianos with Nikolai Petrov in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. A winner of the Silver Medal in the 2001 Wideman International Piano Competition in Shreveport, Louisiana, Polina went on to become a medalist in the 2005 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati. This was immediately followed by the Gold Medal in the Rachmaninov Concerto Competition in Catania, Sicily. Polina holds a Masters Degree from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, and an Artist Diploma form the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Ms. Bespalko is currently on the piano faculty of Xavier University in Cincinnati. Asked about hobbies and interests, Polina says “I am a mom. I have a 5 year old daughter—so that is my main ‘hobby’….”