Masha Pisarenko, Pianist

Education: The Central Music School of Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory; Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, Russian Academy of Music (Gnesin).

Born in the small Siberian town of Angarsk, Pisar

enko began to study piano when she was 5. She was inspired by her grandmother, a history teacher, who bought Pisarenko her first piano and took her to music school. Her mother, an economist, taught her discipline. Her father, an architect, introduced her to arts and culture.

At 12 she entered a Tchaikovsky Youth Competition in Moscow and met musicians from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she eventually studied. She graduated at age 18, before heading to the Russian Academy of Music.

Pisarenko performed solos, concertos and competitions throughout Russia, France, Italy, England and Ukraine before leaving Russia for the United States in search of something new.

Currently a resident of Las Vegas, she is a member of Mechta Trio, a chamber ensemble that has been playing recital halls, community centers, churches, living room gigs, the Liberace Museum — just about anywhere it can find an audience. In addition to Pisarenko, Mechta Trio includes Laraine Kaizer-Viazovtsev, a violinist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Elena Kapustina, a cellist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Its diverse repertoire includes piano trios by Shostakovich, Mendelssohn, Dvorak and Mozart.