Pianist Follows Career from St. Petersburg to Brookline

It's a brisk fall evening in Brookline, and Starbucks is filled with people of all sorts: students studying for exams, young professionals typing away on their Macs and couples on dates. But as people pack their bags and commute to other Boston suburbs, Russian-American pianist Sergey Schepkin is proud to call Brookline his home.

Schepkin jokes that he's glad the Boston suburb refused to become a part of the big city well over a hundred years ago. "You can feel the difference once you step across the border. There are lots of wonderful people here and it's very cultured and open minded," Schepkin adds.

On the outside, Schepkin looks like the average guy sitting in a coffee shop. And his down-to-earth, laid-back personality is apparent within the first few minutes of meeting him when he swiftly snags the only open table in the cafe.

But Schepkin's casual demeanor belies the seriousness of a career musician whose studies began while he was still in elementary school. Growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia, Schepkin began playing piano when he was only 5 years old. While he had no professional musicians in his family, his mother and grandmother were both musical, and his grandmother's best friend was a renowned music teacher.

Before he knew it, Schepkin was accepted to attend school for musically gifted children when he was nearly 7. He then went on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and, after becoming a prized winner in various competitions, decided to make a big move. "I realized it was time to try my luck in the U.S."

And so he did. In 1990, when Schepkin was still just 27, he packed his bags and moved to Brookline, where he at first stayed with his mother's cousin, Eugene Saletan, who was a physics professor at Northeastern University at the time, and his wife Ellen Cole, a senior administrator at the Commonwealth School.

"I've known Eugene nearly my entire life, and he and Ellen quickly became my American parents." 

Schepkin's career blossomed in the U.S. He went on to attend the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studied with the famous Russell Sherman and earned his Artist Diploma in 1992. Schepkin then went on to receive his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1999.

While Schepkin mostly enjoys playing Bach and Russian works, he likes playing a wide variety of styles, including French. But through it all, Canadian pianist Glenn Gould is his number one influence.

"Gould was a wonderful performer who wasn't afraid of being who he was. I find that very inspiring and try to follow in his path," Schepkin said. "The musical texture really lives under his fingers, and what he does is like a very elaborate chess game," Schepkin adds, looking at the chess board built into the table in front of him.

Similarly, Schepkin seeks to approach his pieces in a unique way. "I try not to address the individual piece but view the larger perspective and larger culture. It stands for a symbol of something else which is a life experience and that's how I approach my music."

Schepkin's musical talent has been proven with great acclaim over the years. His awards include the first and Chopin prizes in the 1999 New Orleans International Piano Competition, the 2003 Genius Grant from Maestro Foundation in Santa Monica, California, and his Bach Partitas recordings were nominated for the Indie Award in both 1997 and 1998.  Not to mention the lasting impressions made across the globe, including performances at Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, Japan, where he anticipates his return for a recital in November.

"I go to Japan every year and find the audiences there among the most supportive and enthusiastic about music. You can hear a pin drop when they listen," he said. "It is a wonderful country full of enlightened, friendly, polite and elegant people." 

Throughout all his endeavors—from teaching at Carnegie Mellon for the past seven years to performing in more than half the states in the U.S. and several countries, including Norway, South Korea and New Zealand—Brookline has been his home on and off for the past 20 years.

 "I've never lost contact with Boston particularly because of family and professional contacts. I probably won't move away because it's important for me to be here," Schepkin said. 

This year, he is taking time off from teaching at Carnegie Mellon to concentrate on his performance. This month, he will be performing at the Rivers School Conservatory, a college-preparatory day school in Weston for students in grades 6 to 12. He was contacted last year by RSC Director David Tierney, when he jumped on the opportunity.

Schepkin said he is eager to perform, as it will be his first local performance since June, where he played at Harvard. He's particularly excited for his Master Class Lecture on Oct. 17, where he'll play with three selected students from the Rivers School, creating an open, interactive lesson. 

"I love interacting with people and think that students can inspire the teacher as well as the other way around," Schepkin said. "I like to hear what they have to say as well as offer my perspective and see what the result will be. Sometimes things happen right there in the room."

On Saturday, Oct. 23, Schepkin will grace the public with a recital at the Rivers Conservatory, where he'll perform five pieces (about 90 minutes of music) including Beethoven's "Appassionata," Bach's Partita No. 1 and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

"I'm excited to perform all of it. It's a good mix of German and Russian music and tribute to the city I was born in," Schepkin said. "It's very balanced, represents the program, and I think it'll be great to play."

To read more about Schepkin's background, or to attend his upcoming performance at the Rivers Conservatory in Weston on Oct. 23, visit his website at http://www.schepkin.com/.