Social media has opened up a whole new world for artists. Thanks to YouTube, Myspace and the like, everybody now has the opportunity to demonstrate their talents. This was never more apparent than in the career of the Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa. Lisitsa is the most popular classical pianist on YouTube, she has had more hits than any other pianist including Lang Lang. Impressive, especially as she has done it all herself.

Valentina Lisitsa set up her own YouTube channel which has received millions of hits and subscribers. She is one most popular contemporary classical musicians in the world and has changed perceptions on how classical music can be viewed and performed. Last summer, thousands of music fans worldwide witnessed a live broadcast of her practise sessions as she learnt and prepared 4 hours of new music in daily 14 hour sessions. This allowed Valentina to show a different aspect of her artistic persona.

Valentina is quite an inspiration particularly to female pianists like myself; it’s a fantastic achievement, in my opinion, to be able to reach out to so many fans in this way purely via self promotion. Valentina’s independently released DVDs of Chopin’s 24 Etudes held the coveted No 1 spot on the Amazon music video list for months.

Valentina is now in demand around the world, playing in all the major concert halls.  Here’s a selection of her videos:

Publications

Melanie Spanswick has written and published a wide range of courses, anthologies, examination syllabuses, and text books, including Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). This best-selling graded, progressive piano course contains a large selection of repertoire featuring a huge array of styles and genres, with copious practice tips and suggestions for every piece.

For more information, please visit the publications page, here.