BIOGRAPHY

Twin sisters who have played together since age 5, duo pianists Irina and Julia Elkina first captured the attention of American music lovers shortly after leaving their native Russia in 1993. Their prize-winning performance at the Fourth Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition earned them special notice in Time magazine just months after their arrival. The Miami Herald has described them as "wonderfully matched," while the New York Times has lauded their "effortless ensemble."

Graduates of the famed St. Petersburg Conservatory, the Elkina sisters won first prize in the 1992 International Duo Piano Competition Citta di Marsala in Italy. This triumph was soon followed by their success in the Murray Dranoff competition, the largest duo-piano competition in the world, where they shared the top prize and received the special award for the best performance of the commissioned work--Taschyag by Paul Schoenfield.

The Elkina sisters have performed throughout the United States, making their debut as well as playing return engagements in New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Paul, Miami, New Orleans, and other cities. Recent orchestral appearances have included engagements with the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and other ensembles. They have shared the stage with such respected conductors as Bobby McFerrin and Hugh Wolff.

Irina and Julia are frequent guests on National Public Radio. They have performed on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor several times, and on the nationally syndicated St. Paul Sunday music program. Their first CD, The Sisters’ Version: Cinderella and Other Stories for Duo Piano, was produced by The Schubert Club of St. Paul, Minnesota, for the Ten Thousand Lakes label, and was re-released on the D’ Note label.