Yakov Izrailevich Zak ( uk, Яків Ізраїлович Зак), (russian: link=no, Яков Израилевич Зак), ''Jiakov Israilevič Sak'';

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, – Moscow, 28 June 1976) was a Soviet and Russian pianist and pedagogue.

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

(1966). Born in

, Zak studied piano at the Odessa Conservatory with Maria Starkhova, took classes on special

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

with Mykola Vilinsky, and later studied with Heinrich Neuhaus in Moscow, graduating in 1935. Having made his debut in 1935, he rose to prominence Jean-Pierre Thiollet, 88 notes pour piano solo, "Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p. 51. . when he won First Prize and the Mazurka Prize at the

III International Chopin Piano Competition The III International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, III Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 21 February to 13 March 1937 in Warsaw. It was the last competition before the outbreak of World War II, and the ...

in 1937. From 1935 Zak taught at the Moscow Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1947 and being granted a chair in 1965. His pupils include

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 ...

Irina Zaritskaya Irina Zaritskaya (May 2, 1939 - July 30, 2001) was a Ukrainian pianist. Early life and education Zaritskaya started playing the piano at the Children’s Music School in Kiev until 1953, and subsequently continued her studies at the Central Specia ...

, Nikolai Petrov, Evgeny Mogilevsky, Svetlana Navasardyan, Lyubov Timofeyeva, Valery Afanassiev, Ludmila Knezkova-Hussey, Vladimir Bakk, and Youri Egorov.

References

Yakov Zak, biography
#Yakov Zak, Stat'i, Materially, Vospominaniia (Papers, Documents, Memoirs), Moscow, "Sovetskii Kompozitor", 198

# {{DEFAULTSORT:Zak, Yakov 1913 births 1976 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists Musicians from Odesa Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Moscow Conservatory alumni Moscow Conservatory academic personnel People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour International Chopin Piano Competition winners Jewish classical composers Jewish classical pianists Odesa Jews Russian classical pianists Russian male classical composers Russian music educators Soviet classical pianists Soviet male classical composers Soviet music educators Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery