Maria Lettberg

The child of a professor of Russian literature and a mathematician, Swedish pianist Maria Lettberg was born in Riga, Latvia, and began her musical studies at age 7. By age 9, she debuted in public with a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2. After studying at a Latvian school for musically gifted children, she was enrolled in the Petersburg Conservatory, where she graduated with distinction in the concert examination. Deciding against entering international competitions, which had seemed a natural career path for such a virtuoso, Lettberg instead pursued her musical development in academic programs, studying at the Royal College in Stockholm and the <a href="spotify:artist:7jzR5qj8vFnSu5JHaXgFEr">Sibelius</a> Academy in Helsinki, where she earned her doctorate in piano performance. Lettberg's teachers included Tatjana Zagorovskaja, <a href="spotify:artist:5UQqgiSt6Eh19Zm58qPxPS">Andrej Gavrilov</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2gAmSWx7vn8ZUSFDRdte9X">Paul Badura-Skoda</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2TMN4gxer8gkLcA7zLwBr0">Menahem Pressler</a>, Emanuel Krasovsky, <a href="spotify:artist:3oob8cWQ5FMlfVZRwSSVES">Roland Pöntinen</a>, and Matti Raekallio.

In addition to an active schedule of radio broadcasts, orchestral concerts, and solo recitals, Lettberg has recorded the piano music of Finnish composer <a href="spotify:artist:3KuwIEvPyTULzMRVKj4uw8">Erkki Melartin</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Crystal+Classics%22">Crystal Classics</a>, and a critically praised set of the complete published solo piano works of <a href="spotify:artist:6nZiWg5ZB511S24WmB7TCV">Alexander Scriabin</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capriccio%22">Capriccio</a>. She has also recorded piano music by <a href="spotify:artist:7A29QKpDvdkEuTM6vcY17z">Alfred Schnittke</a>. Among Lettberg's favorite composers to program are <a href="spotify:artist:5wTAi7QkpP6kp8a54lmTOq">Brahms</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2UqjDAXnDxejEyE0CzfUrZ">Schumann</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1385hLNbrnbCJGokfH2ac2">Liszt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7y97mc3bZRFXzT2szRM4L4">Chopin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:17hR0sYHpx7VYTMRfFUOmY">Ravel</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Uff91EOsvd99rtAupatMP">Debussy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:656RXuyw7CE0dtjdPgjJV6">Haydn</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a>. Maria Lettberg has lived in Berlin for a number of years, and she speaks fluent Swedish, German, Russian, and English.