Liza Stepanova, piano (Athens, GA), praised by The Washington Post for the “eloquence” and “rock-solid authority”of her playing, has performed as a soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra and Southwest German Philharmonic with conductors James DePreist and Nicholas McGegan in venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Avery Fisher Hall, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, Krannert and Mondavi Performing Arts Centers, and live on WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, and WETA Washington. Stepanova’s first solo piano CD will be released in early 2017 and feature music from Bach to Ligeti that is connected to visual art. Other highlights of the 2016-17 season include performances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and as a guest artist with New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensembles at Merkin Hall. Stepanova is a founding member of the Lysander Piano Trio, winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition. As a succesful art song recitalist, she worked in several masterclasses with the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and has been on the faculty of SongFest at The Colburn School in Los Angeles since 2010, where she also served as the festival’s Associate Artistic Director between 2013-2015. Stepanova studied at the "Hanns Eisler" Hochschule in Berlin, Germany and earned a DMA from The Juilliard School, where she subsequently taught for four years. Previously an Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist in Piano at Smith College, she is currently an assistant professor of piano at the University of Georgia.