Liza Stepanova

Praised by The New York Times for her “thoughtful musicality” and “fleet-fingered panache,” Liza Stepanova has performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Weill and Zankel recital halls at Carnegie Hall; Alice Tully, Merkin, David Geffen, and Steinway halls in New York City, and at the Kennedy Center. She has appeared as a soloist with conductors James DePreist and Nicholas McGegan and live on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and WETA Washington. Her solo and chamber music recordings are also regularly featured on Performance Today, including multiple times as a headliner.

Highlights of the last year include performance and teaching residencies at the Bowdoin, Brevard, and Songfest festivals, multiple solo recitals and chamber music tours with the award-winning Lysander Piano Trio in Canada and on prominent series across the US. A prolific recording artist, Stepanova’s recent solo album “E Pluribus Unum” received universal praise with reviews in Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and International Piano. The record, which features several world-premiere recordings of music by American composers with an immigrant background, also led to a "New Artist of the Month” distinction and extended profile in Musical America Worldwide. 

Now in her tenth year of teaching at the University of Georgia, Stepanova has established herself as a sought-after pedagogue. Her students have excelled in a broad range of activities, including competition wins, festival performances, research and conference presentations, and employment. Stepanova enjoys mentoring students in out-of-the-box creative projects and creating opportunities. At UGA, Stepanova is a co-founder and current director of the Chamber Music Athens festival which brings together renowned artists and the UGA community. Recent festival guests included pianists Orli Shaham and Amy Yang, the Borromeo, Parker, and Jupiter string quartets, violinists Joseph Lin and Soovin Kim, and more.

Stepanova holds degrees from the “Hanns Eisler” Academy in Berlin, Germany and a DMA from The Juilliard School as a recipient of the Richard French Award. She has taught at Juilliard and Smith College and is currently an associate professor at the University of Georgia.