Veda Zuponcic“Absolute Mistress of Romantic Syntax.” The London Times

“Bristling speed … warmth and poetry …” The New York Times

Founding Artistic Director of the Northern Lights Musica Festival, pianist Veda Zuponcic made her formal European debut in 1971 as a recipient of the Martha Baird Rockefeller grant. Critics in London, Vienna, Amsterdam and Berlin noted her powerful and fluent technique, intelligent interpretations, and her natural affinity for Romantic composers.

As a prizewinner in the Alfredo Casella Competition she toured Italy, and since then Miss Zuponcic has performed widely on four continents. Her successful American debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 1973 was followed by recital and orchestral performances throughout the United States. She has also played more than 100 concerts and recitals in Eastern Europe, including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and other prestigious venues in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dubrovnik, Tbilisi, among others.

Miss Zuponcic has been featured soloist with the Russian State Symphonic Orchestra (Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto), Moscow Philharmonic (Beethoven 4th Piano Concerto; Gershwin Piano Concerto); Zagreb Symphony (Prokofieff 3rd Concerto); New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven Triple Concerto with Glenn Dichterow and Samuel Mayes); Seville Symphony Orchestra (Gershwin Piano Concerto and Rhapsody in Blue); Atlanta Pops (Gershwin 2nd Rhapsody); Savannah Symphony Orchestra (Shostakovich 1st Concerto for Piano and Trumpet); Portland Chamber Orchestra (Shostakovich 1st); Tbilisi Symphony (Prokofiev 3rd); , Kharkov Symphony (Prokofiev 3rd; Ravel G major Concerto; Gershwin Piano Concert); Kishinev Orchestra (Ravel G Major Piano Concerto, Prokofiev 3rd, Mozart Bb Concerto, K. 450); Moldovan Chamber Orchestra (Mozart Concerto K 414); Utica (NY) Symphony (Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concerto); Leningrad Chamber Orchestra (Mozart Piano Concerto K. 450); and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Born in Aurora, Minnesota, Miss Zuponcic’s early studies were with Dorothy Crost Bourgin of Virginia. She went on to study at Indiana University with the great pianist and pedagogue Sidney Foster, where she distinguished herself by winning the Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto Competition and the Performers Certificate.

Further studies were with Ilona Kabos in New York and London, and with Abbey Simon and Seymour Bernstein. She has been Professor of Music at Rowan University of New Jersey since 1972, where she has built a reputation as a successful teacher of students of all ages.

In 1992 she was an Exchange Professor at the Moscow State Conservatory, and she is in frequent demand as a clinician, presenting workshops and masterclasses throughout the world, including the Barcelona Liceo, Moscow State Conservatory, Tashkent Conservatory, Temple University, Eastman School of Music, and the Oxford (England) Piano Festival among others.

Her students have been prizewinners in the Philadelphia Orchestra Competition; San Angelo, TX Competition; the Bartok Kabalevsky Competition, Artists International, the Washington D.C. Intl. competition, the Stravinsky Competition, ARTS/NFAA Competition, Kingsville, TX Competition; Josef Hofmann Competition; Princton Piano Competition; and MTNA National Collegiate, Senior and Junior High School Competitions.

She has served on juries numerous national and international competitions, including the Viardo Competition; MTNA Junior and Senior National Competitions; Eastman School of Music Competition; Kharkov Ukraine Young Artists Competition; and Nis, Serbia Young Artists Competition.

She is the Founding Artistic Director of the Northern Lights Music Festival in Aurora, Minnesota. She has recorded two CD’s for Melodiya: The Romantic Piano and Americans from Moscow including works by Carter, Dello Joio, Fine, Copland and Gershwin.