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Critics have been quick to comment on her effortless technique, and the rare ability she has to communicate with her audience in a uniquely powerful way. As the critic in the 'Herald' wrote about her playing : “The power and beauty of such exquisite artistry was the kind of heavenly experience to make you feel better about the world around you” At the start of her career Marina was helped by awards from the Myra Hess Trust and the Craxton Memorial Trust, and has since gone on to give concerts in many countries including France, Austria, Korea, Iceland, Russia, Argentina and Switzerland. Distinguished conductors she has worked with include Min Kim, Alexander Lazarev, Takuo Yuasa, Vakhtang Kakhidze, Hilary Davan Wetton, Tadaki Otaka and David del Pino Klinge. In 2006 she gave her first solo recital at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, and this was followed in 2007 by her hugely successful and critically acclaimed début recital at the Wigmore Hall in London. Marina's early studies took place in Georgia where her principal teachers were Veka Svanidze and Tengiz Amirejibi and it was during this period that she enjoyed her first international competition success in Vilnius, Lithuania. This was followed by 2nd Prize in the inaugural Tbilisi International Piano Competition in 1997, and an invitation to play in Glasgow where her exceptional talent and formidable promise led to the offer of scholarship enabling her to study with Philip Jenkins at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. In 2000 she won 1st Prize in the prestigious LASMO Staffa Competition, and followed this one year later with her successes at the Scottish International competition where she won 2nd Prize, the Laurence Glover Silver Medal, and the prize for the best performance of the specially composed work by John McCabe. Now enjoying a growing international career Marina increasingly attracts the attention of discerning concert goers around the world who have come to recognise the qualities which make her such a special artist. No wonder then that in an article for the 'Independent' in 2007 writer Michael Church compared her playing to that of the great Mitsuko Uchida. |
