„I wish C. Bechstein and all who continue to carry this great name into the world, all possible success.”

– Dmitri Bashkirov

Dmitri Bashkirov, born in 1931 in Tbilisi, Georgia, studied with Alexander Goldenweiser. In 1955 he was awarded the first prize at the Marguerite Long Piano Competition in Paris. This was followed by performances with major European and American orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta and Wolfgang Sawallisch. He was a representative of the old Russian piano school with many years of experience as professor and head of the piano department at the Reina Sofía Academy of Music in Madrid as well as professorships at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the International Piano Academy on Lake Como. Dmitri Bashkirov was a legendary pianist and teacher with students such as Arcadi Volodos, Jonathan Gilad, his daughter Elena Bashkirova, Boris Bloch and Nicolai Demidenko. He passed away on March 7th, 2021.

On the occasion of a master class in Berlin, Dmitri Bashkirov taught on a C. Bechstein grand piano B 212 and remarked: "I love this piano, I want to take it with me as hand luggage". After the final concert of the master class on a C. Bechstein concert grand D 282 he wrote the following dedication in the artist's book: "Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to introduce talented young pianists. I have also gladly remembered my own concert here on the Bechstein grand a few years ago. I wish C. Bechstein and all who continue to carry this great name into the world, all possible success."