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Anatoly And Valentina

Athens, GA 30605 (map)


Lessons Offered

Piano, Viola, Violin

Where are Lessons Offered

In Teacher Studio

In Student Home


About Me

We are two dedicated teachers, Anatoly for piano and Valentina for violin and viola.

Anatoly: I am currently on the piano faculty of the UGA school of music as the resident pianist. Prior to my UGA appointment, I was assistant professor of piano at the Gnesin Institute of Moscow and maintained a private piano studio.

I love teaching and have taught piano to students of all ages. Some of my students in the US have won numerous awards at local, state and international competitions. I am an active member of the national, state and local MTNA organizations.

A native of Moscow, I graduated from the Gnesin's Musical Academy and completed doctoral studies there under professor Anatoly Vedernikov. I also graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of Tikhon Khrennikov.

I was winner of the 1977 Russian National Piano Competition and, in 1999, was awarded the name "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation." I have performed solo concerts with orchestras, solo recitals, and chamber music in the most prestigious concert halls in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major cities throughout Russia, Germany, France, Italy, China, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Australia and the USA. I have recorded twenty-six CDs of piano solo and chamber music and have performed on Russian Television and Radio. My repertoire includes the major works for piano, piano and orchestra, and piano chamber music of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary periods.
For more information you can visit my webpage : (contact me)

Valentina: I am also a Moscow native. I have Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music from the Gnesin's Music Academy of Moscow and rich experience as a violist/violinist in orchestral performances. I love teaching and have had a private studio since 1982. Since Anatoly works closely with me, my students have an unusual opportunity to play violin/viola with a very experienced accompanist.

I performed for 11 years as the the principal viola for the ARCO Chamber Orchestra (now based at UGA) with performances in the US, Russia, Germany, Romania, Spain, France, Canada, etc. I was also a principal violist for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kaluga (Russia) and associate principal viola with the State Academic Symphony Capella of Russia, with performances in Russia and abroad including Greece, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Taiwan, Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, and Poland. I have recorded 2 CD's with ARCO Chamber Orchestra featuring music by Vivaldi and Mendelssohn (for SONY A - RAM). I have also recorded several CD's with State Academic Symphonic Capella of Russia as well as some recordings for radio and TV in the former USSR.


WE LOOK FORWARD TO MAKING MUSIC WITH YOU!

My Musical Education Background

Anatoly:

DMA, Piano Performance, Gnesin's Music Academy of Moscow

MM, Piano Performance, Gnesin's Music Academy in Moscow

MM, Composition, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory

BM, Piano Performance, Gnesin's Music Academy of Moscow

Valentina:

MM, Violin/Viola Performance, Gnesin's Music Academy in Moscow

BM, Violin/Viola Performance, Gnesin's Music Academy of Moscow

Genres and Subjects Taught

Individual lessons: Classical Piano & classical Violin/Viola lessons
Competition & Audition preparation
Students participate in Recitals, Competitions, National Guild auditions/evaluations.

Sight-reading training
Ear-training

Piano ensemble & accompanying training
Violin/Viola ensembles

Piano/Violin/Viola coaching is available for advanced students/professionals

Lesson Rates

Please, contact us for rate information and to schedule a complimentary interview!

Ages / Skill Levels Taught

8 -yr olds to adults. Late beginner, intermediate, advanced and university/conservatory levels.

My Certifications and Awards

Member of AMTA, GMTA, MTNA

Honored Artist of Russian Federation (1999)

Medal of the Government of Moscow (1997)

Winner of Russian National Piano Competition (1977)


Service Area


Student Reviews




Athens , GA

Both of my boys, aged 9 to 12, study with Anatoly. He is a wonderful pianist and a great teacher whose passion for music is only matched by his passion for teaching. My children have improved tremendously under his tutorage. He's dedicated to making your child a better musician. He chooses pieces to fit specific needs of your child.




Athens, GA

I am a senior at Clarke Central High school. Anatoly is the best piano teacher you can wish for. Under his guidance I have won many awards, but most importantly, I have learned how to love and play music. I am attaching the essay I wrote for my application for college (Harvard). I remember a four-year-old me standing mesmerized, listening to a stranger playing Chopin’s Waltz at a party. Ever since I have been enthralled with the beauty of classical music. I began taking piano lessons at age five and quickly gained some technical facility. I was happy when Anatoly Sheludyakov, a world class Russian pianist, agreed to be my teacher. He did not have any young students, and I was only in third grade. My immaturity, however, almost ended my musical journey. Used to everyone listening with admiration to me, the little boy playing difficult pieces, I felt hurt upon hearing Anatoly’s critiques. Spoiled with praise, I perceived them as an attempt to put down my playing and hard work. “Why did he not like me?” I wondered, and pouted. At the end of the year Anatoly suggested I find another teacher. We did not “click”, he said. But my stubbornness saved me. I refused to stop taking lessons from him, and improved my behavior. Though I struggled for some time with my dislike for critique, I took my teacher’s lessons to heart and began to develop a musical mind. Anatoly built my ability to play music, not just the notes on the page, from the ground up. Over the years, he showed me how to truly love music – how to let it into my soul, and how to pour my soul into it. He taught me about music history and style. At first I often transferred stylistic elements between pieces, which would make one of them sound completely out of character. Once, Anatoly told me not to play Bach in the style of Mendelssohn. Eventually, however, I was able to pick up on qualities in the styles of various composers, and to understand and interpret the emotional content of Beethoven, Chopin, and Haydn, among others. I knew Anatoly liked my playing when after a lesson he said “You understand Beethoven, you played this piece as if you are forty.” Performing a musical piece consists of more than playing in a certain style. Anatoly showed me the necessity of emotion in a performance; he taught me how to present each piece not as a series of passages, but as a story that can only be told properly by someone who can feel it in their mind and heart. “Music is the art of time,” he said, and I have seen this to be true when I play. The story one wants to tell cannot take shape if the timing is off – and by timing I do not mean the tempo, but the intricate pauses and elongations or shortenings of notes by fractions of seconds, which give music its shape, which transform a flat landscape of tones into a work of art. Although my teacher’s role has primarily focused on showing me how to be a true artist and how to interpret music emotionally, he has also imparted some very important life values. He showed me the power of critique, and taught me patience – patience in practicing and polishing a piece to as close to perfection as one can, and in general, patience in dealing with the world around me. Though I cannot say that I always took his advice (he told me I need to concentrate on doing one thing really well, but I still play cello and run), my piano teacher has helped me grow more than anyone – not just as a musician, but as a person. I have gone a long way with Anatoly, and I know I can go even further, even though we have little time left before I go to college. There seems to be no limit to what he can teach me, and I will always carry the intense love for music that he nurtured in me.


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