Copyright 2008 Keyart Productions

All rights reserved.
EVA VIRSIK, pianist
Photo: Manning Gurney 2007

Hailed by the press as child prodigy, Eva Virsik, a native of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, started
piano lessons at age four with composer and pianist Dušan Martinček, and made her first television
appearance at the same time. She gave her first, one hour public recital at age eight. She was granted
a special status from the Ministry of Culture in Slovakia, to begin study at the Conservatory in
Bratislava at age eleven.  At age fourteen, she won the first prize in the Czechoslovak Youth
Competition,and the first prize in the international "Virtuosi per Musica di Pianoforte” Competition. At
fifteen, she won the first prize at the international Smetana Competition, where she played in the finals
Beethoven Piano Concerto under the baton of Libor Pešek.  Following year, she won the first prize at
the Competition of Slovak Conservatories.  She rose to prominence as one of Czechoslovakia's finest
young pianists, performing at young age with her country’s best orchestras such as Slovak
Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Karlsbad Symphony Orchestra,  Slovak Chamber
Ensemble, Košice Philharmonic, under the batons of their well known conductors such as Ondrej
Lenárd, Ľudovít Rajter, Bystrík Režucha, Vladimír Válek.  Her playing was characterized by a leading
music magazine in Slovakia as “...intense emotional submerge, refined details, one of a kind creative
atmosphere marked by technical confidence and ease, brilliance and poetry...”    

Eva Virsik completed her study at the Moscow State Conservatory in Russia, where she earned
bachelor's, master's and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.  She studied with Vladimir Natanson, Yakov
Zak, and Stanislav Neuhaus, the son of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus. Upon her return to Slovakia,
and with a fresh new winning of the National Performing Artists competition, she was appointed
assistant professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, entering her name as the youngest
in that position in the school's history. Following year she received the silver medal as a laureate in the
Maria Callas International Piano Competition in Athens, Greece, where her perfomances of Schumann,
Prokofiev, and Hatzidakis lead her to fulfill international concert engagements. She lived in Germany,
where she held teaching positions at both, the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg and Frankfurt, while
continuing her concert career.  In the United States, she played her debut with the Portland Symphony
Orchestra (Maine) conducted by Toshiyuki Shimada, and she served as faculty at Bowdoin College,
Portland Conservatory, and the University of New Haven.

Eva Virsik performed numerous recitals and concertos in Prague, Karlsbad, Bratislava, Košice, Berlin,
Hamburg, Stuttgart, Zwickau, Leipzig, Augsburg, Munich, Athens, Lille, Boulogne, Dijon, Murmansk,
Archangel and many other cities throughout Europe, as well as in the United States, notably in New
York and throughout New England. She has performed as a soloist internationally with orchestras such
as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de Lille, Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak
Radio Symphony, Karlsbad Symphony, Košice Philharmonic, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the
Maine Chamber Orchestra and the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra, to name a few.  Last season, Eva
Virsik received standing ovations after her New York debut in Carnegie Hall. This recital was preceded
by many other performances in Connecticut and New York. Eva Virsik has been frequent guest at many
music festivals throughout Europe, recorded for the Opus label, made numerous recordings for the  
Radio Networks and television in Europe (Germany, France, Slovakia, Czech Republik), and in the
United States she has been featured in "Morning pro Musica" on Boston's WGBH Radio Network, Maine
Public Broadcasting, and on Maine Public Television. She is also a guest partner of chamber music
groups which include the Portland String Quartet and the DaPonte String Quartet. She also appeared
with Chinese violinist Sha at the Arcady Music Festival, and in the Boughton Marica Virsik Trio in
Connecticut. Recently, Eva Virsik was discovered by a worldwide leader in digital distribution and she
has signed an exclusive contract for numerous recordings.  Joining their artist catalogue, her music will
be soon reaching across five continents for direct download.

In the critical acclaim, Stuttgarter Nachrichten noted: “fascinating sound, overwhelming impression”;
Maine Times: “extraordinary degree of control, imagination, immense manual power...a splendid
musician”; Portland Press Herald called her “Maine and international treasure”.  During her childhood,
Virsik was active as a composer. Her early twenty-two piano compositions, written between ages five
and ten, were published in 2002 in a book named “I Have Music”.

Eva Virsik resides in the United States. She is represented worldwide by Artists International
Management in New York, USA and Dublin, Ireland. With ear not just for music, she has fluent
command of five languages and some understanding of another seven.
Worldwide Representation:

Artists International Management, Inc.
www.artistsinternational.com


Headquarters in New Jersey, USA
Birgit Schmid-Salm, Executive Director
T. +1 973.538.0302
bsalm@artistsinternational.com


Office in Dublin, Ireland
Jana-Christina Klein, Coordinator Europe
T. +1 353-87-2989957
jklein@artistsinternational.com