Hailed by the Fanfare magazine for her “imaginative and colorful interpretive approach”, Katerina Zaitseva has performed in the United States, Germany, Luxemburg, France, South Korea, Japan, and Russia including appearances in the Moscow State Conservatory Hall (Moscow, Russia), John F. Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), and Steinway Hall (Dallas, Texas). She was also privileged to play for the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, at the opening of the Meadows Museum of Arts in Dallas. Ms. Zaitseva has been featured as soloist with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Meadows Symphony Orchestra, Corvallis Symphony, Lewisville Lake Symphony, Northeast Arkansas Symphony, and Rapides Symphony Orchestra.
Her recording of Glazunov’s Concerto No. 2 with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra released by the Classical Records in 2007 has garnered international critical acclaim. American Record Guide critic wrote: “Katerina Zaitseva’s playing no doubt captures the vitality and excitement one would have heard from Glazunov’s daughter Elena, who was often the soloist in early performances of this work…This recording is a welcome addition to anyone’s listening library.” Katerina’s latest CD - Trios by Beethoven, Kuhlau and Donizetti with flutist Dennette McDermott and bassoonist Douglas Bakenhus – will be released in Moscow on Classical Records in the summer 2009.
In addition to solo recitals, Katerina Zaitseva performs extensively in piano duo with Nikita Fitenko. Hailed by critics for their “superlative sound, superlative interpretation, and superlative pianism…”, the duo has performed worldwide with most recent appearances at the Piano Duo Series (Tokyo, Japan), Nancyphonies Music Festival (Nancy, France), Berkeley University (California, USA), as well as at Seocho District Hall and Yonsei University (South Korea). Their critically acclaimed CD featuring works for piano four hands by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms was released in 2005. Katerina Zaitseva is currently on the faculty of Jordan Kitt’s Music School in Washington D.C. Prior to that she was a full time faculty and Artist in Residence at Louisiana College for five years.

Internationally acclaimed pianist and Yamaha Artist Nikita Fitenko has performed recitals and with orchestras in the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, and South and North America. He has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as St. Petersburg Capella Symphony, Russian Chamber Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow, St. Petersburg State Conservatory Orchestra, State Hermitage Orchestra, Slovak National Philharmonic, Lewisville Symphony, Rapides Symphony, Northeast Texas Symphony, and Northwestern Symphony Orchestra. His future engagements this year besides the concerts in the US will bring him to Sweden, Germany, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia.
While performing a wide and diverse repertoire, Nikita Fitenko is an acknowledged master of Russian piano music. He recorded three CDs for Altarus Records of works by leading contemporary Russian composers. His initial recording of solo piano works by Georgy Sviridov(1997) and his two-CD set of music by Sergei Slonimsky (2000) have garnered rave reviews from the international music press. Fanfare Music Review wrote, "Fitenko plays magnificently!" Slonimsky himself described Fitenko's interpretation of his piano music as “outstanding, vivid, imaginative, virtuosic, fascinating, and pianistically brilliant.” Mr. Fitenko's latest recording - Scriabin's Piano Concerto with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow was released on Classical Records label in December 2007. Native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Nikita Fitenko graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with a citation for excellence given to only five other graduates in the last fifty years. After receiving the Anton Rubinstein Memorial Award he came to study to the US pursuing his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of North Texas. His principal teachers included Roman Lebedev, Igor Lebedev, and Joseph Banowetz.
Nikita Fitenko is a prizewinner of several competitions including Belarusian International Piano Competition (Minsk, Belarus), Beethoven Piano Competition (Memphis, TN), and Houston Symphony National Young Artist Competition (Houston, TX) among others. Currently, Dr. Fitenko holds a position of Associate Professor of Piano at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Concert pianist Kevin Robert Orr maintains an active performance schedule throughout North America and abroad. His international activities have been particularly focused in China, where Orr is Director of the annual Chinese-American International Piano Institute, an event he co-founded, held at the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu. In the summer of 2004, he was Artist in Residence at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, and November of 2007 presented him in concerts in Seoul, South Korea. Orr’s frequent collaborative work has paired him with such internationally acclaimed artists as Karl Leister (clarinet, Berlin Philharmonic) and James Thompson (trumpet, Montreal Symphony).
Orr ’s 2007 solo CD of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 5 Sonata and Opus 10 Ballades has garnered international critical acclaim. Gramophone (UK) wrote "Within four bars, I recognise that a formidable, seasoned artist is at work...two minutes into the sonata's first movement and I'm hooked by Kevin Robert Orr's huge sound, pliable command of Brahms's thick writing, bracing sense of rhythm, and generous phrasing." Similarly, American Record Guide (USA) remarked, "This is first-rate playing, expressive and assured," and Piano News (Germany) noted: “The dramatis personae of the Allegro maestoso, portrayed through the right and left hands, are firmly and effectively directed in Orr’s intensively expressive interpretation."
A strong advocate of the music of living composers, Orr has premiered and recorded solo and ensemble works by composers Jennifer Margaret Barker, Paul Basler, Houston Dunleavy, Paul Richards, Robert Rollin, and John Weinsweig, The 2005 release of Barker’s CD “Geenyoch” features Orr on the composer’s 2001 solo piano work, Geenyoch Ballant, a performance about which critic Jon Conrad wrote Orr performed "brilliantly." Orr’s performances of both new and standard classical repertoire have been heard on Public Radio throughout the United States.
In addition to the Institute in Chengdu, China, Orr is founder and director of the University of Florida Young Pianists Festival, a week-long event for advanced pre-college pianists held each summer at the University of Florida School of Music. Currently, Dr. Orr is Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Florida, where he maintains a studio of many advanced pupils.

*Guest faculty are made possible through the generous support of the University of Florida Office of Research.