Anna Polusmiak, piano
Making her CSO subscription debut, Anna Polusmiak, age 23, began piano studies in Kharkiv, Ukraine at the age of six. She attended the Kharkiv Special Music School for Gifted Children, where she was a student of Professor Sergei Polusmiak, "Honored Artist, Ukraine" and  himself a former pupil of the legendary Russian musician, Regina Horowitz (sister of Vladimir Horowitz). At the age of 11 she performed at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris as the youngest prize winner of the Milosz Magin International Piano Competition.

In 1998, the Polusmiak family moved to the United States. Anna continued her studies with Sergei Polusmiak at Northern Kentucky University where she was a recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including a Corbett Scholarship, the Regents Award and recognition as an Outstanding Senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Anna made her orchestral debut with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12, playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1. Since then she has been a soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at Riverbend, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, Lugansk Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Russian Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia and the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra.

As a solo artist, Anna has performed recitals in France, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Her chamber music collaborations include performances with the Amernet String Quartet, Cincinnati ARC Ensemble and musicians from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Anna has won prizes and awards in numerous international piano competitions including First Prize in the Louisiana International Piano Competition, (2005); First Prize in the Kawai American Recording Contest (2005); First Prize in the Jefferson Symphony Young Artists Competition, Denver, Colorado (2005); Second Prize and a special Symphony Orchestra Prize in the Third International Piano Competition for Young Musicians, Enschede, The  Netherlands (2004); First Prize in the Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings, (2004); First Prize in the Ludmila Knezkova-Hussey International Piano Competition, Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada (2000); First Prize in the International Piano Competition, Lugansk, Ukraine (2000); First Prize in the Eastern Music Festival Concerto Competition (1999); Second Prize in the Nikolai Rubenstein International Piano Competition, Paris, France (1996); and Third Prize and Diploma at the Vladimir Horowitz International Competition For Young Pianists, Kiev, Ukraine (1995).

Anna's upcoming engagements include concerts with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Great Hall in Russia and a return engagement with the Northwest Florida Symphony in its 2006 opening season concert. Anna's first solo CD recording will be released on Classical Records in Moscow, Russia during the summer of 2006.