Russian pianist Yakov Kasman, D.M.A., the 1997 silver medal winner at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, has joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham as assistant professor of piano and Artist-in-Residence.
The story of Kasman's journey to UAB is an interesting one, but it wasn't easy. Kasman grew up in Orel, Russia, part of an ethnic Jewish family. He was accepted into the Moscow Conservatory in 1986, but after one year was drafted into the Soviet army. He ended up in a Siberian seaport more than 5,000 miles from Moscow, testing anti-aircraft missiles to make sure they were in working order. A series of portentous events led him to a wife and family and finally to a job and home in Alabama.
Kasman has performed concerts in the United States, Asia and Russia and with the Pacific, Syracuse, Memphis, Miami, Alabama and Ft. Worth symphonies, the Athens State Orchestra, the Orchestre de Lille in France, the Singapore Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan and the Moscow Philharmonic. Kasman has 12 studio recordings; his recordings of the complete sonatas of Profokiev was awarded the "Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Academie du Disque" in France in 1996. His recording of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" is recommended by International Piano Quarterly as one of 14 equally ranked best in a survey of recordings from the past 75 years.
Kasman recently played a recital in Paris soloed with an orchestra in Richmond, Ind. He recently finished recording his 10th compact disc with the Paris-based Calliope label and is involved with a project of recording Shostakovich's complete chamber music.
RSS