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The American pianist, Joseph Rackers, holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music where he was also awarded the Performer’s Certificate. His primary teachers were Natalya Antonova and Raymond Herbert with additional study or master-classes with Malcolm Bilson, Misha Dichter, Julian Martin, Eugenie Mogilevski and Blanca Uribe.
Praised as “inspiring” (Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany), an “exceptional pianist” possessing “enormous talents” (The State, SC), Joseph Rackers has performed for enthusiastic audiences in major musical centers of the USA, Canada, China, France, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria and Ukraine. His performances around the world include the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series (Chicago), Shanghai and Sichuan Conservatories of Music and Yantai International Music Festival (China), Central Park of Culture in Kiev and Chernigoff Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), Burgos International Music Festival (Spain), Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), Moulin d’Andé Arts Festival (France), Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival (Germany), Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Society of Composers National Conference and Varna International Masterclasses in Piano (Bulgaria), in addition to performances as soloist with orchestras, on concerts series or at universities in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Also known as a chamber musician, Joseph Rackers has performed widely with his wife Marina Lomazov as a member of the Lomazov/Rackers Piano Duo. The duo was awarded Second Prize at the Sixth Ellis Competition for Duo Pianists (2005), the only national duo piano competition in the USA at that time. As advocates of modern repertoire for duo piano, they have given regional or national premieres of numerous works across the USA.
Joseph Rackers has served on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music Community Education Division and Hochstein Music School. At Eastman, he was awarded the school’s annual prize for Excellence in Teaching and his students have been prizewinners in numerous regional, national and international piano competitions. He has given masterclasses throughout the USA, Europe and China and serves on the faculty of the Burgos International Music Festival in Spain. He is in demand as an adjudicator for national and international piano competitions, including the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Rackers is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of South Carolina School of Music.
Joseph Rackers is a Steinway Artist. |
