Friday, January 18, 2013 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM Faina Lushtak was born and raised in the Soviet Union. A child prodigy, she began her piano and composition studies at age of six. She graduated from the Stolyarskii Special Music School for Musically Gifted Children and later earned her degrees in piano performance and composition from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Lushtak became a faculty member of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and performed throughout the Soviet Union until emigration to America in 1978. Lushtak’s concert performances have inspired audiences in her native Russia, from Austria to Italy and throughout the United States. She has performed both as a solo recitalist and as guest artist with numerous symphony orchestras under the batons of distinguished conductors. A dedicated teacher, Lushtak is the Downman Professor of Music at the Newcomb Music Department of Tulane University, where she heads the piano division and is music director of Tulane’s Concert Piano Series. Lushtak is on the faculty of the Schlern International Music Festival in Italy and is a Steinway Artist. Cost Free and open to the public Location Cullen Hall Address 4001 Mt. Vernon Contact Ann Candler Harlan at 713-525-3159 or harlanac@stthom.edu Sponsored By Music Department Free and open to the public