Irina Sharapova

Professor of the Department of Concertmaster's Skill at the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, Merited Artist of Russia, laureate of international competitions. Artistic Director of the Festival & Competition "Three Centuries of Classical Romance".

Irina Sharapova graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory majoring in piano and from the graduate school with chamber ensemble as her specialty (under the supervision of Professor Y. A. Shafran). Since 1981, she has been conducting a concertmastership class at the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory.

Irina Sharapova is a regular participant in concerts of the Small Hall of the Philharmonic and the Academic Capella, concert events of the Union of Composers and the Conservatory, Saint Petersburg music festivals (Musical Spring, From Avant-Garde to the Present Day, Sound Paths, etc.). As an accompanist and ensemble member, she has performed in Moscow and other cities of Russia, as well as in Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, and the USA.

She is a regular participant in the Musical Meetings held by composer S. M. Slonimsky whose goal is to revive the work of Saint Petersburg composers of the first half of the 20th century. Her contribution to the promotion of contemporary Saint Petersburg music is significant — she has repeatedly been the first to perform the new chamber works by B. Arapov, S. Slonimsky, G. Belov, S. Belimov, T. Voronina, and others.

She has records in the Petersburg Radio Foundation and on TV. In 1999–2000, together with soloists from the State Opera of Prague and Mariinsky Theatre, she recorded three CDs of the series "Two Centuries of Russian Romance" ("Masterpieces Only", "Tchaikovsky", "Alyabyev, Gurilev, Varlamov"), and a number of other CDs on the Prague radio.

She regularly holds master-classes in various cities of Russia, as well as in the USA, France, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.