Yakov Kasman's debut in America in 1997 as Silver Medallist in the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth was the culmination of several competition triumphs and tours in Europe and the Middle East, including prizes at the 1991 Valentino Bucchi Competition in Rome, the 1991 London World Piano Competition, the 1992 Artur Rubinstein International Competition in Tel Aviv, and the 1995 International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg.

Since his American debut, he has played more than one hundred fifty concerts in the United States, Russia, and Asia, including recitals in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and St. Louis. He has appeared as soloist with more than twenty-five orchestras including the Pacific, Syracuse, Memphis, Miami, Oakland, Alabama and Ft. Worth Symphonies, Athens State Orchestra in Greece, the Orchestre de Lille and Orchestre National de Montpellier in France, the Singapore Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and the Moscow State and Moscow Philharmonia Orchestra.

Yakov Kasman has ten CD recordings on the French Calliope label. His recordings of the Complete Sonatas of Prokofiev was awarded the "Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Academie du Disque" in France in 1996. Other CDs include solo works by Haydn, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninov. His CD of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" is recommended as one of 14 equally ranked best in a survey of recordings over the past 75 years by International Piano Quarterly. His recording of Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1, and Schnittke's Concerto for Piano and Strings, released in 2000, received the "Choc du monde de la musique" award in France, is rated highest for artistry and sound quality by ClassicsToday.com and referred to as "superlative" in the American Record Guide. He has also recorded two CDs on the Harmonia Mundi label, the most recent one, recorded in 2000 with the Pacific Symphony, includes Piano Concerto No. 2 by Lukas Foss.

A graduate and postgraduate of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and previously a Professor of Piano at the Music College of the Conservatory Dr. Kasman is now Assistant Professor of Piano/Artist-in-Residence at UAB. Kasman, well known to Alabama audiences, is scheduled to perform this season as part of the Gloria Narramore Moody Rising Star Series at the Alys Stephens Center and will be a guest artist with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, playing Scriabin's Piano Concerto Op. 20.

Please visit www.yakovkasman.com for more information.