Calafat Festival 2026
Liana Gourdjia is an internationally acclaimed violinist and professor trained at the Central Music School of the Moscow State Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Indiana University. She has performed as a soloist with major orchestras and at prestigious festivals, such as Marlboro Music, International Colmar Festival and Lucerne Festival, is a winner of Tibor Varga Sion-Valais Competition and has won numerous international competition 3 prizes. Liana teaches at Musikene – Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco and École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot, sharing her extensive artistic and pedagogical experience. Liana is an active chamber musician and has been performing chamber music with Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky at the prestigious festival Elba Isola Musicale, where Liana is a concertmaster in Residence.
Oksana Solovieva is a Russian-born violinist based in Barcelona and a permanent first violinist of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, where she has performed since 2003. Her international career includes appearances as principal violinist with leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, alongside solo and chamber performances. An experienced pedagogue, she has taught at major conservatories including the Conservatori del Liceu, ESMUC and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, specializing in orchestral auditions, competitions, and advanced technique. She holds a Master of Music from Indiana University and a PhD from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, with research focused on advanced violin pedagogy and interpretation.
David Cherniavsky is a Co-Music Director and founder of the Shkolnikova Academy. He joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2009 and has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician. David trained at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the Juilliard School under famed pedagogue Nelli Shkolnikova and has recorded both solo and ensemble works. As an educator, he also performs and teaches with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra, sharing his expertise with the next generation of violinists
Masha Lankovsky combines an international performing career with passionate teaching, specializing in contemporary music, rare repertoire. She hosts a contemporary music series, Infuse, in Paris giving premieres of young talented composers. She teaches at the Conservatoire de Versailles and Conservatoire d'Asnières and is co-founder of the Nelli Shkolnikova Summer Academy. Masha began her musical studies in Australia and New Zealand where she spent her childhood. Following studies at the Royal Academy of Music, Masha was awarded her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Indiana University, Bloomington and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her primary violin teachers were Boris Roninson and Nelli Shkolnikova. She has written on the subject for The Strad magazine and has completed the English translation and edition of Yankelevich’s writings for Oxford University Press.
