Olga Scheps

Pianist Olga Scheps has carved out a distinctive place in the Romantic piano literature by concentrating on the output of Frédéric Chopin alongside Russian composers. She entered the world in Moscow in 1986 as the daughter of Ilja Scheps, himself a pianist and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Köln, who teaches in Aachen. Piano instruction began for her at age 4, and by the time she turned 12 she had already launched her public recital career. At 14 she took the stage in Düsseldorf for Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1 and presented a sequence of appearances in the Best of NRW concert series. Her performances have reached audiences throughout Europe and Asia; her first American appearance came when she played Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra under Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Festival invitations have included regular participation at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr since 2007 as well as engagements at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Heidelberger Frühling, Kissinger Sommer, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Mozartfest Würzburg, Mosel Musikfestival, Rheingau Musik Festival, and Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker. Chamber-music collaborations have paired her with Daniel Hope, Erik Schumann, Adrian Brendel, Alban Gerhardt, Jan Vogler, and Nils Mönkemeyer. After signing with RCA Red Seal she issued her debut recording, Chopin, in 2010 and followed it later that same year with the Russian Album. The Chopin Piano Concertos appeared in 2014, and she has also documented works by Schubert, Satie, and Tchaikovsky.