BIOGRAPHY
Ekaterina Chebotareva is a Russian pianist and a laureate of over 20 International Music Competitions across five countries. Since 2024, Ekaterina has been an artist-in-residence at Teatro Mazzacorati 1763 in Bologna, dedicating herself to performing a wide variety of programs.
Ekaterina participated in the CD project “Schumann: The Works for Solo Piano” with 2R Studio Produzioni Multimediali, recording and releasing Schumann’s “Humoreske” (2022) on all digital platforms. Her plans for 2025 include recording a new CD featuring Brahms’ 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 76, as part of a project dedicated to the complete piano works of Johannes Brahms.​
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Born in 1997, she began studying piano at the age of three. She won her first competition at five and made her debut with an orchestra at seven, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413.
She studied for 15 years under Elfia Burnasheva, one of the leading professors of the Kazan State Conservatory, under whose guidance she performed on some of Russia’s most prestigious stages. She later moved to Italy, where she continued her professional development under Boris Petrushansky and André Gallo at the International Academy “Incontri col Maestro” of Imola (Italy).
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Ekaterina is a Prizewinner of numerous International Piano Competitions, including “Premio Alberghini” (Bologna, Italy, 2023), where she was awarded First Prize, the “Best Pianist Award,” and a Special Mention from Teatro Comunale di Bologna, leading to an invitation to perform at Teatro Dante Alighieri (Ravenna, Italy). She has also won First Prizes at the “Tadini International Piano Competition” (Lovere, Italy, 2022), “Città di San Donà di Piave” (Venice, Italy), the Sofia Gubaidulina International Piano Competition (Kazan, Russia, 2016), and the Maria Yudina International Piano Competition (St. Petersburg, Russia, 2016). In 2024, she was awarded Second Prize at the Domenico Scarlatti International Piano Competition (Trapani, Italy) after three solo rounds.
Ekaterina’s concert career spans Italy, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Russia, with performances in major venues such as Teatro Dante Alighieri (Ravenna, Italy), Sala Bossi (Bologna Conservatory), Teatro di Verona (Verona, Italy), the Moscow International House of Music, the State Great Concert Hall of Kazan (Russia) and others.
Her repertoire includes over 20 piano concertos with orchestra, including Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2, among many others. She has collaborated with renowned orchestras, including the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after Svetlanov (Moscow, Russia), the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan, and the New Music Orchestra (Kazan, Russia).
Throughout her career, she has worked with esteemed conductors such as Günter Stegmüller (Germany), BogusÅ‚aw Dawidow (Poland), Vasily Valitov, Ann Gulishmbarova, and Alexander Sladkovsky (Russia), delivering performances recognized for their depth, technical brilliance, and artistic integrity.
She remains dedicated to refining her professional skills and exploring new ways to express her artistry by participating in highly specialized courses and masterclasses with renowned professors, including Eliso Virsaladze, Alexey Nasedkin (Russia), Daejin Kim (Korea), Sofya Gulyak (UK), David Lively (France), Michael Lifits (Germany), Benedetto Lupo, Federico Colli e Franco Scala (Italy).
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Since 2023, Ekaterina, in collaboration with Italian guitarist Diego Melfi, has founded the International "Gala Music Festival" in Italy. During the First concert season (2023-24), they organized 20 concerts in three different locations, showcasingI talented musicians from around the world. In its Second concert season (2024-25) the festival aims to present over 60 concerts across Italy, with events in the south (Sicily), north (Trento), center (Bologna), and others cities.
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