Jura Margulis - Piano

Pianist Jura Margulis has been internationally recognized for his compellingly communicative performances, as well as for the range of his tonal palette and his consummate virtuosity. Reviewers have praised the "absolute authority" of his interpretations and the sense of "controlled obsession" he transmits at the keyboard (Fono Forum). The Los Angeles Times praised his "excellent pianism" and called him "highly musical". The Washington Post applauded his "titanic reserves of sheer power" and his "effortless spontaneity."

His orchestral appearances include performances with the Russian National Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

He has won prizes in more than a dozen international competitions, including Busoni in Italy and Guardian in Ireland. He is also a recipient of the esteemed Pro Europa prize awarded by the European Foundation for Culture.

Recent years have brought him to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Dallas, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Little Rock, Tulsa, Carmel, Austin, Phoenix, San Jose, Minneapolis, Memphis, and New Orleans in the US, as well as abroad to Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Tübingen, Freiburg, Bologna, Salzburg, Barcelona, Lugano, Crans-Montana, Sapporo, and Bangkok.

Margulis has recorded seven CDs for Sony, Ars Musici, and Oehms Classics, covering a wide spectrum of repertoire. These recordings have attracted substantial attention, including selection as a "reference recording" by Fono Forum, and inclusion on the "Bestenliste" of the Deutschen Schallplattenkritik .

Margulis is a third generation pianist and teacher and piano pedagogy is an integral part of his artistic vision.

He has lectured on this concept at numerous forums including the World Piano Pedagogy Conference.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Jura Margulis was raised in Germany, where he studied with his father, Dr. Vitaly Margulis, at the Musikhochschule Freiburg. He was also a student at the prestigious Fondazione per il Pianoforte in Cadenabbia at Lake Como in Italy. He moved to the United States to study with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and made the US his home. Margulis is the inaugural holder of the Emily J. McAllister Endowed Professorship in Piano at the J.W. Fulbright College of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.