Anastasia Virsaladze née Abdushelishvili, Georgian: ანასტასია ვირსალაძე, (November 11, 1883 – September 5, 1968) was a Georgian concert pianist and music teacher. In 1921, she began to teach at the

Tbilisi Conservatory Tbilisi State Conservatoire ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო კონსერვატორია, ''Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria'') is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi. ...

. Promoted to professor in 1929, she remained there until her retirement in 1966, teaching over 100 pianists. Among her most prominent students were

Dmitri Bashkirov Dmitri Aleksandrovich Bashkirov (russian: Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Башки́ров; November 1, 1931 – March 7, 2021) was a Russian pianist and academic teacher. Trained in his hometown Tbilisi and Moscow, he began an in ...

, Lev Vlassenko and her own granddaughter

Eliso Virsaladze Eliso Virsaladze ( ka, ელისო ვირსალაძე; born September 14, 1942) is a Georgia (country), Georgian pianist. Biography She was born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR. Her father Constantine Virsaladze was a prominent doctor an ...

Biography

Born in

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

on 11 November 1883, Anastasia Virsaladze studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory under

Anna Yesipova Anna Yesipova (born ''Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova'' '' russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова">/nowiki>russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова', — ) was a prominent Russian pianist. Her name is cited variously as ' ...

, graduating in 1909 with distinction. She married Spiridon Virsaladze (1869–1930), a prominent physician in Tbilisi. After engaging in concert performances, in 1921 she began teaching at the

where she was promoted to professor in 1932, heading the piano department for an extended period. She performed in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

in 1926 and was probably the first Georgian pianist to perform in the United States where she met many American composers, frequently playing their works. At the Conservatory, she was active in the Talented Children Group from 1934 to 1938. During her career, she taught over a hundred pianists, including Dmitri Bashkirov, Lev Vlassenko and in particular her granddaughter Eliso Viraladze whom she taught from the age of nine. She later taught her while she was a student at the conservatory. Anastasia Virsaladze was the first Georgian woman to receive a higher education in music. She died in Tbilisi on 5 September 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virsaladze, Anastasia 1883 births 1968 deaths Musicians from Tbilisi Academic staff of Tbilisi State Conservatory People's Artists of Georgia Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Classical pianists from Georgia (country) Educators from Georgia (country) Soviet music educators Soviet pianists Women pianists from Georgia (country) Burials at Didube Pantheon