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The Russian-born German pianist, Dina Ugorskaja, was born into a Jewish family. Her father and at the same time her first teacher was the famous pianist Anatol Ugorski, her mother - musicologist and artist Maja Elik. She began playing piano, singing, and composing at an early age and gave her first public performance at the Leningrad Philharmonic when she was 7 years old. She was a student at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory from 1980 to 1990, where she studied piano and composition, and she performed as a soloist in piano concertos, and played chamber music and solo recitals. When she was 15, Ugorskaja's first string quartet was premiered at the Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg. In 1990, Ugorskaja’s family settled in Germany, having fled the Soviet Union following a series of anti-Semitic threats. She studied with Professor Galina Ivanzova at Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin before going on to study under Professor Nerine Barrett at the Conservatory in Detmold, where she obtained her solo diploma with honours in 2001. Among her other sources of inspiration and support were such musicians as Ruvim Ostrovski, Edith Picht-Axenfeld, András Schiff and Hans-Dietrich Klaus.
Hailed as a “philosopher at the piano,” Dina Ugorskaja was an internationally recognized concert pianist, celebrated for her thoughtful and sensitive manner. She enjoyed a distinguished performance career. Concert highlights included recitals at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Hercules Hall in Munich, the Verdi Hall in Milan, as well as Radio France. Among her other engagements were the festivals of Schwetzingen, Hitzacker, Dijon, Rottweiler, Kassel, the Feldkirch Schubertiad and Spannungen in Heimbach. Ugorskaja collaborated with a number of prominent conductors, including Ravil Martynov, Vladimir Jurowski, Vladislav Czarnecki, Norichika Limori and Peter Gülke. As a passionate and dedicated chamber musician, she performed with Tanja Tetzlaff , Asja Valcic and Anastasia Kobekina (cello), Michael Gurevich and Natalia Prishchepenko (violin), Anna Lewis (viola), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Hans-Dietrich Klaus (Clarinet), Auryn Quartet, and many others.
Among Dina Ugorskaja’s notable recordings are the J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart double concertos, which she recorded with her father, the pianist Anatol Ugorski, accompanied by the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim. Further orchestra recordings include Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 with Peter Gülke and the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra released by the Dabringhaus und Grimm label. 2019 marked the 10th anniversary of jer collaboration with the CAvi Music label. Her releases (also a joint production with the Bavarian Radio) include the George Frideric Handel's Suites, late Robert Schumann piano works, the last six L.v. Beethoven Sonatas, as well as J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846-869; BWV 870-893). Her recordings have been nominated for the ISMA and the German Schallplattenkritik. Her last solo recording of Schubert has been released in Autumn 2019.
Dina Ugorskaja taught the Conservatory in Detmold from 2002 to 2007. In 2016, she assumed a teaching position on the piano faculty at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. In September 2019, she passed away after a long battle with cancer. |
