Paul Ostrovsky

Paul Ostrovsky, the founding member of the Moscow Conservatory Trio, was born in Moscow and earned his master’s degree at the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with the pre-eminent Yakov Flier and Emil Gilels.

Highly regarded as a chamber music performer and soloist, Ostrovsky was hailed by the The New York Times as “a bedrock of cultivation and control.” He has appeared on the world’s most prestigious concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), La Scala (Milan), Bunka Kaikan and Santori Hall (Tokyo), and the Sydney Opera House. He also performed at many great international festivals: Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg), Salzburg Festival, Louvre Festival (Paris), St. Moritz Festival, to name a few.

He has collaborated with several famous artists, namely Isaac Stern, Shlomo Mintz, James Galway, and Vladimir Feltsman. After a performance with Isaac Stern, the Los Angeles Times called him a “fiery keyboard partner” and went on to comment “His keyboard skill is of virtuosic ease and scope, he has an instant command and extensive range of tone color, and each phrase is shaped with irresistible rhythmic vitality.” In chamber music, he performed with members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Shanghai String Quartet, Australian Quartet, and St. Petersburg Quartet. He soloed with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Richmond Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony.

Ostrovsky has a long and distinguished teaching career. In addition to his present position at SUNY Purchase, he has been teaching at the Piano Summer Festival at SUNY New Paltz for many years and gives master classes throughout the world. Some of the institutions he taught at are Moscow Conservatory (pre-college division), Catholic University of America (D.C.), and Aspen Music Festival.

The pianist has recorded for Melodiya, and Vox. In addition, his recording for Deutsche Grammophon of the Mendelssohn Sonatas for Violin and Piano (with Shlomo Mintz) won the Grammophon award for chamber music in 1988. His Moscow Conservatory Trio recordings for CMH were highly acclaimed as well.