Génia (stylized as GéNIA; born in

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

) is a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based virtuoso concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and composer. Génia was born in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

into the Horowitz family of musicians and scientists. Her repertoire ranges from classical music to contemporary works and her own compositions.

Education

Génia started her studies at the age of four with her great-grandmother, the

and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Regina Horowitz (sister of pianist

Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (November 5, 1989) was a Russian and American pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, he was known for his virtuoso technique, timbre, and the public excitement engendered by his playing. Life ...

and wife of the Soviet economist

Evsei Liberman Evsei Grigorievich Liberman (, , ; 2 October 1897, – 11 November 1981) was a Soviet economist who lived in Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR. He is noted as the architect of the Soviet economic reform of 1965, also known as "Libermanism". Biography Li ...

). Génia continued her studies with pianist and teacher Sergei Yushkevitch at the Kharkov Institute of Arts. In 1999, Génia graduated from

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

earning the Premier Prix. She went on to graduate from

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

in 2000, studying with Professor Joan Havill and Douglas Finch where she was runner-up in the TCM Associate Soloist Competition and awarded the Founders Prize for Excellence. In the same year she was awarded the Silver Medal Award from the

Worshipful Company of Musicians The Worshipful Company of Musicians is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Its history dates back to at least 1350. Originally a specialist guild for musicians, its role became an anachronism in the 18th century, when the centre of ...

and the

Dame Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 ...

Award.

Career

She was selected as an artist for the Park Lane Young Artist Series, making her London debut in 1998 where she was described by The Times as "an outstanding musician". She later went on to tour the UK, Europe, and the United States performing with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine and Cyprus State Orchestra and playing at the

Windsor Festival {{unreferenced, date=August 2011 The Windsor Festival was founded in 1969 with Yehudi Menuhin and Ian Hunter as artistic directors and Laurence West as executive chairman. The original idea for the festival was put forward by Hunter to the Dean of ...

. Génia has toured the UK, Europe, and the United States. Her London appearances include

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

South Bank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell Ro ...

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

Olympia London Olympia Events, formerly known as Olympia London and sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, L ...

and Cargo. She appeared as a soloist on the soundtracks for the films ''Bookcruncher'' and ''Paradise Grove''. Her recordings and interviews have also featured in various broadcasts on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

1, 3, 4, 5 and BBC 4

Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. She has received critical acclaim for her live performances and contemporary classical releases for

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

and

Nonclassical Nonclassical is a British independent record label and night club founded in 2004 by Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of Sergei Prokofiev. History Nonclassical has released fourteen albums, each following a concept of recording new contemporary cl ...

. Génia also undertakes educational work and holds workshops and master-classes, lectures and individual tuition. She has taught at

Dartington International Summer School Dartington International Summer School was a British summer school and festival of music held on the medieval estate of Dartington Hall, Devon, England, and the first summer school of music in the United Kingdom. It was a department of the Dart ...

and COMA Summer Schools,

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

and

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. It enrolls around 6,600 students in more than 80 undergraduate programs, 35 graduate programs, and accelerated programs for working adults. It is al ...

and CAPMT (USA). In 2007, Génia created Piano-Yoga, a multi-dimensional method of piano playing, performing and teaching which provides a holistic approach towards playing the piano. Her book on Piano-Yoga was published in 2009. She also her own Piano-Yoga studio from central London as well as giving lessons and hosting courses and retreats worldwide. In 2012, Génia had a series of 6 Piano-Yoga lessons broadcast live on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

94.9 on

Jo Good Jo Good (born 28 November 1978) is a British broadcaster. Career A radio 'anorak' since her early teens, Jo joined the radio industry straight out of school, aged 17. At this point she moved from Alnwick, Northumberland, to Manchester. Working ...

's show. Since then she has been a regular guest on Jo Good's show. In 2013 she hosted a series of Piano-Yoga certificate courses at

King's Place Kings Place is a building in London's King's Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the form ...

in London. In 2014, Génia released two volumes of her own piano compositions: 'Dreams of Today, Thoughts of Tomorrow' which has been played on BBC Radio and at venues such at The Hurlingham Club London, Theatre de la Photographie et L'Image Nice and Kings Place London. Génia's compositions are regularly played on Classic FM. GeNIA has a long term relationship with

Caffè Nero Caffè Nero is a coffeehouse company headquartered in London, England, established in 1997 by Gerry Ford. Caffè Nero runs over 1,000 coffee houses in eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the UAE, Oman and ...

, since being nominated as a featured classical artist and her music plays regularly in all their branches worldwide, reaching 20,000 people a day. She was also the first classical pianist to perform at Heathrow Terminal 2 in conjunction with

In December 2014. In 2017, Génia made her debut as a voice over artists as well as appearing as a pianist in the short film '22:22' directed by Charlotte Ginsburg. In 2019 GéNIA released 2 albums. One on her own label, GéNIA MUSIC, titled ‘Babylon’ followed by 'Memory Waves', released under Chapel Music and recorded for Universal Production Music UK. GéNIA’s music has appeared in the highly acclaimed BBC America TV Show Killing Eve, well-known British ITV series Cold Feet and recently in ITV series Sticks and Stones. Since 2021 GéNIA started recording and producing her music, learning recording and production skills, based on her personal experience as a recording artist. During this period she recorded and produced 2 singles, Mon Amour (Home Version) and Vicious Circle, followed by the release of her album 'Voyages français' in 2022, which debuted GéNIA as a producer. In 2022 GéNIA founded the charity 'Support Kharkiv Foundation'. The charity was set up to support the Ukrainian city of

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, its surrounding regions and its citizens, as the city has undergone destruction on a huge scale during the Russian invasion. In September 2022 GéNIA organised a fundraising gala concert in London at The Other Palace, where Ukrainian musicians were joined by actors

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work in numerous stage, television and film productions, he has received several awards including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, and ...

and

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emm ...

. The proceeds from the concert were sent to the Support Kharkiv Foundation to help children from Kharkiv and its surrounding regions.

Music

In September 2010, Génia featured on "Piano Book No.1" - a suite of piano pieces composed by

Gabriel Prokofiev Gabriel Prokofiev (born 6 January 1975) is a Russian-British composer, producer, DJ, and founder of the Nonclassical record label and nightclub. He has been nominated for two Ivor Novello Awards and his works have been performed internationall ...

released by

and distributed by

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

in America. 'Suite For Piano And Electronics', Génia/ John Richards, was released in 2007 on the Nonclassical label. It featured re-mixes by dance producers The EarlyMan, Max de Wardener,

kREEPA John Stephen Richards (born 1966 in Bideford, Devon, England) is a British musician and composer working in the field of electronic music. Since 1999, he has predominantly explored performing with self-made instruments and creating interactive e ...

, Gabriel Prokofiev, Derailer, Trevor Goodchilde, Germ and

Vex'd Vex'd were an English dubstep duo signed to Planet Mu Records, consisting of Jamie Teasdale and Roly Porter. They often played at early DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, militar ...

. In 1999 she released 'Transformations' with the Russian violinist Roman Mints. In 2000 she released 'GéNIA: Unveiled' interpreting the works of 4 Russian women composers spanning 4 generations:

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Modernism (music), modernist Holy minimalism, sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous Chamber music, chamber, Orchestra, orch ...

Galina Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya ( ) (17 June 1919 – 22 December 2006), was a Russian composer of classical music. Known as 'the lady with the hammer', her music has been described as demanding "everything from the performer", uncompromising in h ...

Elena Firsova Elena Olegovna Firsova (; also ''Yelena'' or ''Jelena Firssowa''; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian composer living in the UK. Life Firsova was born in Leningrad into the family of physicists Oleg Firsov and Viktoria Lichko. She studied music ...

, and Lena Langer. In 2014 she released two volumes of her own compositions named 'Dreams of Today, Thoughts of Tomorrow'. In 2019 she released 'Babylon', an album of her own compositions. In 2019 she released 'Memory Waves' an album of solo piano music released under Chapel Music and recorded for Universal Production Music UK. In 2022 she released 'Voyages français' an album of her own compositions inspired by her frequent journeys to France.

Collaborations

Génia commissions works particularly developing the repertoire for piano and electronics, and collaborated with an eclectic range of artists and composers including

Patrick Nunn Patrick Nunn (born 21 July 1969 in Tunbridge Wells, England), is a British composer and educator. Biography Nunn read music at Dartington College of Arts studying under Frank Denyer between 1988 and 1991 taking additional tuition with Louis An ...

Nik Bärtsch Nik Bärtsch (born 3 August 1971) is a Swiss pianist, composer, bandleader, record producerNastos, Michael GAllmusic: Nik Bärtsch Biography, accessed May 25, 2018 and author from Zürich. Career Bärtsch studied piano and Percussion instrume ...

John Richards (musician) John Stephen Richards (born 1966 in Bideford, Devon, England) is a British musician and composer working in the field of electronic music. Since 1999, he has predominantly explored performing with self-made instruments and creating interactive e ...

Karen Tanaka Karen Tanaka (born April 7, 1961) is a Japanese composer. Biography Karen Tanaka was born in Tokyo where she started piano and composition lessons as a child. After studying composition with Akira Miyoshi and piano with Nobuko Amada at Toho Ga ...

. In 2003, Génia was involved in ''Contemporary Infrasonic'' at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

,Sonic boom , guardian.co.uk
/ref> an experimental project into the effect of

infrasound Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low frequency sound or incorrectly subsonic (subsonic being a descriptor for "less than the speed of sound"), describes sound waves with a Audio frequency, frequency below the lower limit of human audibility ...

(ultra-low-frequency at or below the bottom of the frequency range audible to the human ear) using a grand piano. In 2018 GéNIA collaborated with the group VOID, who recorded an electronic version of her piece Aphrodite, which was released on her label. In 2022 GéNIA collaborated with the Italian composer, Paolo Cognetti by releasing his piano solo arrangement of the famous Italian folk song 'Bella Ciao'. All the proceeds from this song, the artists are sending to 'Support Kharkiv Foundation' to help the children of Kharkiv and its regions. In 2022 GéNIA collaborated with electronic musician Bradley Russeau premiering at The Other Palace in London, their joint composition dedicated to Kharkiv and its citizens.

Discography

*''Piano Book No.1'', GeNIA/Gabriel Prokofiev, released on CD, Nonclassical (America), 2009 *''Suite For Piano And Electronics'', GéNIA/John Richards, released on CD, Nonclassical, 2007 *''Suite For Piano And Electronics'', GéNIA/John Richards, released on Vinyl, Nonclassical, 2007 *''GéNIA: Unveiled - Music from Russia's Women Composers'', Black Box, 2000 *''Transformations - 20th Century works for violin and piano'', Roman Mints - violin, GéNIA - Piano, Black Box, 1999 *''Dreams of Today, Thoughts of Tomorrow Volume I, ''GéNIA, released on CD and digitally 2014 (composed and performed by GéNIA) *''Dreams of Today, Thoughts of Tomorrow Volume II,'' GéNIA, released on CD and digitally 2014 (composed and performed by GéNIA) *''Remixes and Originals,'' Various Artists featuring GéNIA, released on Vinyl and digitally, Nonclassical, 2014 *''The Art of Remix,'' Various Artists featuring GéNIA, released on Vinyl and digitally, Nonclassical, 2015 *''Nonclassical 001-020,'' Various Artists featuring GéNIA, released digitally, Nonclassical, 2016 *''Someone Like You (Piano Version),'' originally by

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

, released on CD and digitally 2016 (arranged and performed by GéNIA) *''Babylon, Single,'' GéNIA, released digitally 2017 (composed and performed by GéNIA) *Aphrodite (Redux), Single, GéNIA released digitally 2018 (remixed by VOID) *Aphrodite, Single, piano solo, GéNIA, released digitally 2018 (composed and performed by GéNIA) *Aphrodite (Remix), GéNIA, released digitally 2018 (remixed by Nigel Heath) *Babylon (Piano Solo Album), GéNIA, released digitally 2019 (composed and performed by GéNIA) *Memory Waves (Piano Solo Album), GéNIA, released digitally 2019 (composed and performed by GéNIA) *Mon Amour (Home Version) (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Vicious Circle (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Claude (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Jean (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *St Paul (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *St Michelle (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Lever du Soleil (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Whisper (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Valse à la française (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2021 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Where Am I? (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2022 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Landscapes of the Mind (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2022 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Voyages français (Album), GéNIA, released on CD and digitally 2022 (composed, performed and produced by GéNIA) *Bella Ciao (Single), GéNIA & Paolo Cognetti, released digitally 2022 (performed and produced by GéNIA) *Viva La Vida (Single), GéNIA, released digitally 2022 (performed and produced by GéNIA) *Falling Stars (Album), GéNIA, released digitally 2024 (performed and produced by GéNIA) *Clouds (Album), GéNIA, released digitally 2024 (performed and produced by GéNIA) *Contemplation' (Album) GéNIA, released digitally 2024 (performed and produced by GéNIA) * Night Sky (Album) GéNIA, released digitally 2024 (performed and produced by GéNIA)

Multimedia

Audio: A collection of interviews with Genia.Audio: BBC artist profile page

References

External links

Génia's official websitePiano_YogaNonclassicalSupport Kharkiv Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genia Living people Ukrainian classical pianists 21st-century classical pianists Year of birth missing (living people) Women classical pianists 21st-century Ukrainian women pianists 21st-century Ukrainian pianists