Xenia Pestova: Women Make Music
Pianist, composer and improvisor Xenia Pestova weaves an intricate sonic tapestry in a new work for the Magnetic Resonator Piano together with the renowned Ligeti String Quartet. Designed by Andrew McPherson at Queen Mary University, the innovative MRP suspends electromagnets above the piano strings and allows control of minute details of acoustic resonance and sustained “bowed” sounds that the pianist can shape directly from the keyboard. The new work brings together the distinctive sound worlds of magnetically and mechanically bowed strings in a glittering immersive soundscape.
Described as “outstanding” (Tempo), “stunning” (Wales Arts Review), “ravishing” (Pizzicato) and “remarkably sensuous” (New Zealand Herald), pianist Xenia Pestova’s performances and recordings have earned her a reputation as a leading interpreter of uncompromising repertoire of her generation. Pestova’s commitment and dedication to promoting music by living composers led her to commission dozens of new works and collaborate with major innovators in contemporary music. Her widely acclaimed recordings of core piano duo works of the Twentieth Century by John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen are available on four CDs for Naxos Records. Her evocative solo debut of premiere recordings for the Innova label titled “Shadow Piano” was described as a “terrific album of dark, probing music” by the Chicago Reader. Currently, she is the Director of Performance at the University of Nottingham, and continues to mentor emerging musicians in workshops at conservatories and universities around the UK, Europe, Canada, New Zealand, USA and Brazil.