Sergei Polusmiak
Pianist, "Honored Artist of Ukraine"
Sergei Polusmiak was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He graduated from Kharkiv Institute of Arts, where he studied with Regina Horowitz, sister of Vladimir Horowitz. Being a student, Sergei Polusmiak became a Prize Winner of Lysenko International Piano Competition. After receiving the Post Graduate Diploma from Kiev State Conservatory and undergoing professional training at Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he became the youngest Professor of Piano at the Kharkiv Institute of Arts and started his professional career as a pianist and a music educator. For his contributions as a concert pianist, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine. Since 1974 Sergei Polusmiak as a Performing Artist has toured Russia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Mexico and the United States.
In 1998 Sergei moved to America and became the Artist-in-Residence and the recipient of the Tom and Christine Neyer Family Endowed Professorship of Music at Northern Kentucky University. As an influential pianist and educator, Professor Polusmiak has been a jury member of major International Piano Competitions including Competition for Young Pianist in memory of Vladimir Horowitz, Kyiv, Ukraine; Lysenko International Piano Competition, Kyiv, Ukraine; Vladimir Krainev Young Pianist International Piano Competition, Kharkiv, Ukraine; Svyato Muz International Piano Competition, Lugansk, Ukraine; Milosz Magin International Piano Competition, Paris, France; Rameau au Chateau International Piano Competition, Cosne sur Loire, France; Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, Palm Desert,
California, USA; World Piano Competition, Cincinnati, USA and George Gershwin International Piano Competition, Philadelphia, USA.
The students of Sergei Polusmiak have won numerous prizes at international piano competitions and performed with orchestras such as Kharkiv Philharmonic, Ukraine; Lugansk Philharmonic, Ukraine; The St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian; L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Canada; Netherland Symphony Orchestra; Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, USA; Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, USA; Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, USA; Russian Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, USA; Minnesota Sinfonia, USA; Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, USA; Shanghai Philharmonic, China; The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, USA
Sergei Polusmiak has conducted master classes in colleges and universities all over the world. Among those were the Kyiv Music College, Ukraine; Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, USA; College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, USA; Joanna Hodges International Symposium, Vancouver, USA; Musicalia, Toulouse, France; Encuentro International de Pianistas, Argentina; Oriental Arts Center, Shanghai, China and others.
Sergei Polusmiak has been featured artist and adjudicator for Music Teachers National Association, Ohio and Kentucky chapters. He was the founder and artistic director of the Ukrainian-France Summer Music Festival, Kharkiv, Ukraine; the director of the Ukrainian Children's Music Theater of Kharkiv (which performed in 1992 and 1994 with Cincinnati's May Festival Chorus); the director of Russian Summer Piano Institute.
Sergei Polusmiak has recorded 5 compact discs including “Sergei plays Sergei” (piano works by Rachmaninoff and Scriabin); “Hommage a Shostakovich” (music for two pianos, with French pianist Therese Dussaut); “Music for Clarinet and Piano” (with Ukrainian prodigy Alexander Bedenko); “Beautiful Music For Friends” (music by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff); “Therese Dussaut, Sergei Polusmiak, Piano 4 hands” (music by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak).