Salome Chitaia

Biography

A passionate performer, Salome Chitaia has given concerts in many countries across Europe – United Kingdom, Poland, France, Italy, Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia. Her recent notable performances include the Pre-CBSO showcase at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, Novemberfest with Messiaen’s “Visions de l’amen” and Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata as part of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas Marathon at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

In 2019, after her first recital in Paris, she was invited to participate in the festival “Georgian Immigrant Musicians in Tbilisi”, which brings Georgian musicians from all around the world back to their homeland to play chamber music concerts and give master classes in different music schools throughout Georgia. This was followed by an invitation to the Piano Festival at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Along with her solo recitals and chamber music concerts, Salome regularly takes part in the most prestigious festivals in Georgia, including “the Contemporary Music Festival of Tbilisi”, where she played Stockhausen’s “Tierkreis” with the Georgian Hand Shadow Theatre and “From Easter to Ascension”, where she gave the first performance of Josef Bardanashvili’s “Perpetum Mobile” in Georgia. She participated in the “Night Serenades International Music Festival” with renowned Swiss virtuoso violinist Geza Hosszu-Legocky.

In 2017, Salome was selected by the Chopin Society in Warsaw “Stowarzyszenie Smolna” to be their representative and has been giving recitals and chamber music concerts in “Nowy Swiat Muzyki” and the “Chopin Salon” ever since. She has performed about 100 recitals at these venues.

Salome was born in Tbilisi, Georgia and started playing piano at the age of 16. In just 3 years, she was accepted to the Tbilisi State Conservatoire and was ranked no. 1 among the accepted students. During her years at the Conservatoire, she was a holder of the Presidential Scholarship for four consecutive years and was very fortunate to be the last student of the renowned piano professor Nana Khubutia. After graduating with honours, she continued her studies at the Academy of Music in Krakow with Prof. Dr Hab. Andrzej Pikul and Dr. Marian Sobula. Her Master’s thesis - “Advantages and disadvantages of starting piano playing at a late age” – was selected at the International Musicology and Performance Symposium in Tbilisi (2018). She hopes to dive further into this work and be of help to other pianists who have stepped foot into this demanding field at a late age.

Salome spent a year on a Postgraduate Artistic Internship program at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw with Prof. Dr Hab. Jerzy Romaniuk. During her studies in Poland, she became a laureate of a number of international piano competitions including the Mihailo Vukdragovic Piano Competition for young musicians (Sabac, Serbia), the Tengiz Amirejibi International Piano Competition (Borjomi, Georgia) and the Chopin Competition for young pianists (Dnipro, Ukraine).

She has taken master classes with many distinguished professors including Paul Badura-Skoda, Stephen Kovacevich, Stephen Hough, Sergei Babayan, Nikolai Demidenko, Norma Fisher, Boris Petrushansky, Peter Frankl, Wojciech Switala, Andrzej Jasinski, Krzysztof Jablonski, Klaus Hellwig, Natalia Troull, Michael Leuschner, Anna Malikova, Philippe Giusiano and Alexander Korsantia. She frequently participates in “London Master Classes” with Norma Fisher, “Imola Piano Academy” with Boris Petrushansky” and “International Piano Masterclasses” with Andrzej Jasinski.

Salome has recently completed her studies on Advanced Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with Pascal Nemirovski, John Thwaites and Mikhail Kazakevich. She was on full scholarship, was a recipient of the Bradshaw Bursary and received the Anthony Cross Memorial Prize for her achievements upon completion of the course.

Along with playing the piano, Salome enjoys composing, arranging music and creating transcriptions, singing jazz and writing prose.