Elisabeth Pridonoff

Elisabeth A. Pridonoff

Emeritus Professor of Piano

Professional Summary

Prior to her tenure at CCM (1980-2015), Elisabeth Pridonoff studied piano with Adele Marcus, Sasha Gorodnitzski, Hans Heinz, Anna Kaskas and Guido Agosti; chamber music with Leonard Rose, Ivan Galamian, Menahem Pressler; and vocal accompanying with Martin Isepp. She has been the first-place winner of national and international competitions including the Midland-Odessa, Shreveport, El Paso and Oklahoma City Symphony.

As a soloist, Pridnoff has performed with the Nashville Symphony, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the Shreveport Symphony, the El Paso Symphony, the Cincinnati Chamber, the Boise Philharmonic, the Illinois Philharmonic, and Graz Festival. Furthermore, she has given performances and master classes all over the world. In the United States, this includes New York and Boston (Baltic Series), Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Kennedy Center, Baltimore, Toronto Town Hall, and other locations; internationally, this includes the Moscow Conservatory, Siena, Rome (by invitation from the U.S. Ambassador), Munich, London, Monterrey (Mexico) at the Sociedad Artistica Technologicao and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey, and other locations in Canada, Italy, Spain, Belgium, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.

Pridnoff's other appearances include NPR’s The Sunday Show and with Bill McGlaughlin of St. Paul Sunday. Festival appearances include Chautauqua, San Luis Obispo Mozart, Arcady, Western Arts, Lyric Arts, Shreveport, and Graz. Adjudicator for national and international piano competitions.

Her current and former students hold faculty positions internationally and have won or placed in competitions such as the Second International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Kiev, Ukraine (First), Missouri Southern International (first, third and finalist): Ninth Biennial American Pianists Association National Piano Fellowship Audition (Fellowship Award); Shreveport Wideman (first, second); Midland-Odessa (first); Young Keyboard Artists Association (two seconds); Ibla (Italy) Grand Prize International Piano Competition (third); and the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition (second).

Her international career also includes performances as part of the Pridonoff Duo (appointed Duo-in-Residence at CCM in 1986) with husband Eugene Pridonoff (also a CCM faculty member). They have given performances in New York at Tully and Merkin Halls and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C, among other locations. The duo were interviewed for a cover story (with cover photo) in Clavier Magazine.

Pridnoff is the co-Artistic Director of the CCM Prague International Piano Institute and Brevard Music Festival. She is also a Steinway Artist.

Education

Artist Diploma: Musicale Academia Chigiana Siena, Italy,

BM: Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN,

MM: The Juilliard School New York, NY,