Eva Virsik has appeared internationally as an orchestra soloist and recitalist throughout Europe and the United States, highlighted by her Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2008 and her performances to sold-out houses with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National de Lille, in addition to her success with many distinguished orchestras in Europe and in the USA. Her festival performances include notably the Festival of Contemporary Music in Berlin, the Russian Winter series tour, the Bratislava BHS Music Festival, and in the U.S., the Arcady Music Festival and the Saco River Festival in Maine. She was heard in numerous recitals in major cities and gave special performances in the Robert Schumann House in Zwickau and the Smetana House in Prague. She appeared on European Television networks, and in the United States, her performances were televised on Maine PBS. She was a featured artist in a live-aired recital on WGBH Radio Boston, and she recorded for the archives of the German Radio SWR, Slovak and Czech Radio networks, and the Opus label. In September 2010, she released a new album entitled Piano Encores, which is being distributed worldwide. Earlier this year, Eva Virsik was honored by the Slovak-American Cultural Center in New York City and was praised for her contribution in representing her homeland. Recently, she performed for the President of Slovakia, Ivan Gašparovič, during his official visit in New York. In the current and next seasons, besides performing in the United States, she will visit Europe, highlighted by recitals at the prestigious Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, and will appear as an orchestra soloist in China.
Eva Virsik received a silver medal as a laureate of the Maria Callas international Competition in Athens. She won her first piano competition at age six, subsequently winning first prizes at many international youth competitions, performing at age fifteen in the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague. She made her orchestra debut the same year, with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra and maestro Libor Pešek.
Eva Virsik was born in Bratislava. Hailed by the press as a child prodigy, she started piano lessons and made her first television appearance at age four. From age five she composed music. At eleven she became a student of the Bratislava Conservatory. She went on to study with Stanislav Neuhaus and Yakov Zak at the Moscow State Conservatory in Russia, completing it with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. A collection of her childhood compositions entitled “I Have Music ” was published in 2002.
“...a beguiling Chopin player of immense authority.
Fanfare Magazine, USA
“...intense emotional submerge, refined details, one of a kind creative atmosphere marked by technicalconfidence and ease, brilliance and poetry... ”
Music Life’ Magazine, Slovakia
“...The same finesse of finger technique that makes her Scarlatti so fresh is also evident throughout the ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’ Variations of Mozart, which showcases Virsik’s strong lyrical bent, as well as her keen intelligence and wit. ”
Fanfare Magazine, USA
“in Schumann’s ‘Kreisleriana’…she demonstrated extraordinary degree of control, imagination and immense manual power…Yet it was in the supremely difficult ‘Gaspard de la Nuit’ by Maurice Ravel, where she was able to show her true virtuosity…in spite of the innate difficulty of the work, Virsik was in her element, with alternating phrases of sparkling clarity interspersed with typical Ravel glazed, underwater-water-like passages. It was truly a superb piece of artistry. ”
Maine Times, USA
“once again she showed how flawlessly she can depict the haunting poignancy with her delicate touch…The piece held the audience spellbound with its rippling imagery.
Journal Tribune, USA