LILYA ZILBERSTEINwho will give her C. Bechstein piano recital on 9 November 2023, began playing the piano at the age of five. After twelve years of lessons with Ada Traub at the Gnessin Special Music School in Moscow, she continued her studies with Alexander Satz at the Gnessin Institute until her final exams in 1988. In 1985 she won first prize at the competition of the Russian Federal Republic and was also among the prizewinners of the All-Union Competition in Riga.

She emigrated to Germany in 1990. In 1991 Lilya Zilberstein made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, which laid the foundation for repeated collaborations. She has performed with the most prestigious international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the Orchestra of La Scala Milan, the Staatskapelle Dresden and many others. In addition to Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as John Axelrod, Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Alun Francis, Leopold Hager, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Vassily Sinaisky, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jean-Pascal Tortelier, Marcello Viotti and Antoni Wit. In August 1998, she was awarded the prize of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman are among the recipients of this honour.

Lilya Zilberstein has recorded eight CDs for Deutsche Grammophon, including recital programmes as well as the Grieg Piano Concerto (Järvi/Göteburg Symphony Orchestra) and Rachmaninov's 2nd and 3rd Piano Concertos (Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra). She also took part in the first complete CD recording of Frédéric Chopin's oeuvre, which was released by DG in 1999. Several CDs have also been released later, including a recording of the Brahms Sonata for two pianos with Martha Argerich on EMI and Clementi, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov on Hänssler Classic. Lilya Zilberstein is a regular guest in the major concert halls and at the most important festivals throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia, South America and the Middle East. A few years ago, she undertook extensive world tours as Maxim Vengerov's chamber music partner; she returned to her home city of Moscow for the first time in 16 years, where she gave an acclaimed concert. She will celebrate twenty-five years on stage with her duo partner Martha Argerich in 2024.

Highlights of recent years include a residency with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, guest appearances in Salzburg under Dmitrij Kitajenko, Filharmonia Baltica in Gdansk under Michał Dworzyński; Rachmaninov in Teatro Colon under E. Diemecke, Prokofiev with KBS Orchestra in Seoul under Pietari Inkinen, Beethoven with Leonore Orchestra in Pistoia under Finnegan Downie Dear, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.

Zilberstein will fill the Ehrbar Saal with works by Maurice Ravel and Sergei Rachmaninov.