Oxana Yablonskaya
Oxana Yablonskaya (; born December 6, 1938, Moscow) is a Russian pianist who has had an active international performance career since the early 1960s. She began her career in the USSR and, although winning several important competitions in the West, was denied permission by the Soviet government to accept any performance engagements outside of the Soviet bloc. Frustrated by her career limitations, she emigrated to the United States in 1977. Described by The New York Times as an "internationally known virtuoso" and "one of the country's most distinguished musical residents", Yablonskaya has toured in concert and recital throughout the world and has made numerous recordings. She taught as a member of the piano faculty at the Juilliard School for more than 30 years, until 2009. Life Born in Moscow to a Jewish family, Yablonskaya was a pupil of pianist Anaida Sumbatyan at the Moscow Central School for the Gifted where she studied from the ages of six through sixteen. She then pursued further studies in her native city with Alexander Goldenweiser upon entering the Moscow Conservatory as well as Goldenweiser's Assistant Dmitry Bashkirov. She was a student of Tatiana Nikolayeva in her Doctorate program. After graduating from the conservatory in