Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo

press release: Sunday, October 9, 2022, the Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo will present a 25-minute concert in the sanctuary at 11:00 a.m.

Stanislava Varshavski and Diana Shapiro began playing together in 1998. Since then, they have gone on to capture the top prize at numerous prestigious national and international competitions, including the most prestigious competition for piano duos – the Murray Dranoff International Competition in Miami. Madison Magazine describes the Duo’s performances as “edge-of-your-seat stuff” and says, “the audience seemed mesmerized as one.”

A winner of the Astral Artists 2012 National Auditions, the ensemble has participated in international festivals and performed solo recitals in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Poland, Russia and the US. Varshavski and Shapiro have also appeared with a number of well-known orchestras, such as the Radio Orchestra in Munich, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Moravian Chamber Orchestra and the "New World" Symphony Orchestra of Miami.

Stanislava and Diana have made numerous recordings for Bavarian Radio, Radio 4 of Hong Kong and Israeli National Radio and TV. The duo's performances have been broadcast live throughout the world. They have held residencies and have presented numerous master classes at universities.

They hold bachelor's and master's degrees from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where they studied under the legendary Israeli duo Alexander Tamir – Bracha Eden. Later on the duo continued their education under famous American pianist Victor Rosenbaum.  Both pianists completed doctoral degrees at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Today both serve on the faculty of Silver Lake College in Manitowoc.