Piano Duo INVIA

Jana Prjaschennikowa and Volker Zwetzschke have been regularly performing as a piano duo (four hands) since 1996. Together they attended master classes with Radoslav Kvapil (Prague), focussing on Czech-Bohemian music, and with the piano duo Begona Uriarte/Karl-Hermann Mrongovius (Munich). From 2001-04 they took up additional studies as a piano duo at the Academy of Music, Detmold, attending the class of Professor Michael Keller. 
 
Having won the 1st prize in the 'Kawai Competition 2000' organised by the Academy of Music, Münster, they have since then benefited from a scholarship granted by Kawai Europe. 2004 they won at the international Grieg competition in Oslo (Norway) as one of the three duos in the final a special prize for their interpretation of the 'Moldau' from Smetana.
 
"Meanwhile they are one of the leading piano duos in Germany" - was the title of the well known newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung after a recital in the 'August Everding Kulturzentrum' in Bottrop in June 2003. Also in other European countries the two young musicians performed with great success: In October 2002 they had the honour to inaugurate the new Great Concert Hall in Tichoretzk (Russia) with a piano duo recital. In march 2004 the duo had a successful performance at the international Music festival in Tschernigow (Ukraine), being invited again for the next season to play concerts solo and with orchestra there and also in Kiev. In June the young pianists played at the international well noted Grieg-Festival in Oslo, where they were invited of the Grieg-Society to play in the concert hall of the Edvard Munch-Museum. Another highlight of this concert season was a common piano recital in September 'together' with Paul Badura-Skoda, one of the most popular and well known Austrian pianists of the 20th century. The year 2005 started with a new years concert in Novokusnetzk (Siberia) which was followed by a tour through the Ukraine with recitals and concerts with orchestra, where INVIA provided together with two other pianists for the first Ukrainian performance of J.S. Bach's concert for four pianos (among others in the 'Colonial Hall' of the National Ukrainian Philharmonia in Kiev, recorded by radio- and television-broadcasts). This extraordinary concert was also performed by them in Germany in April as the start of a cycle where INVIA will play all concerts for several pianos of J.S. Bach until 2007.