Pehlivanli & Safonova Viola & Piano Duo, Netherlands at Shanghai Oriental Art Center·Performance Hal

"The duo performs master works of the classical viola repertory with utmost dedication. Amazing ensemble playing, delicate articulation, meditative and soft, furious and passionate, this duo truly has it all…"
De Stem, the Netherlands

The unique viola and piano duo by Ms Esra Pehlivanli and Ms Anastasia Safonova was founded in 2002. Since then, the duo has been performing wonderful and inspiring concerts throughout Europe and gaining critical acclaim from the press and audience alike.

Both artists have won prizes at numerous international music competitions. Pehlivanli has been awarded, among other prizes, first prize at the Premio Valentino Bucchi International Viola Competition, Italy, where she obtained a Presidential Medal of Honour. Safonova won first prize at the Gnessin Competition, Russia, Yamaha Music Competition, Benelux, and Yuori Egorov Foundation Competition, the Netherlands.

Pehlivanli, born in Turkey in 1977, studied with the eminent violist Mikhail Kugel and holds master's degrees from the Gent Conservatory in Belgium and the Maastricht Conservatory in the Netherlands, finishing both degrees with the highest distinction. Safonova, born in Russia in 1976, gained her music education at Gnesins Music Academy. She moved to the Netherlands for further studies and completed her master's degree at the Maastricht Conservatory and at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Naum Grubert.

The Duo performs a wide variety of music from Baroque up to the early twentieth century. Most recent concert programs include a fine selection of outstanding masterworks by composers such as Schumann, Brahms, Hindemith, Clarke, Schostakovitch, Schubert, Milhaud, Britten and Rachmaninov. In 2010, the Duo's first recording was released, Power of Women, on the label A.K. Müzik Yap?m Org.