Sergei Polusmiak was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He has graduated from Kharkiv Conservatory where he studied with Professor Regina Horowitz, sister of world renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz. After receiving the post-graduate degree from Kyiv Conservatory and undergoing professional training at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow, he became the youngest Professor of piano at the Kharkiv State Conservatory. For his contribution to the arts and education in Ukraine, Sergei was awarded a prestigious exclusive title of the
Since 1974 Sergei Polusmiak has toured Russia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Mexico, Taiwan and the United States with solo and orchestra performances. The acclaim his concerts continue to receive is the reason his schedule is consistently busy with performances at home in the US and internationally.
In 1998 Sergei moved to America and became the Artist-in-Residence and the recipient of the Tom and Christine Neyer Family Endowed Professorship of Music at Northern Kentucky University. As an influential pianist and educator, Professor Polusmiak has been a jury member of major International Piano Competitions including Competition for Young Pianist in memory of Vladimir Horowitz, Kyiv, Ukraine; Lysenko International Piano Competition, Kyiv, Ukraine; Vladimir Krainev Young Pianist International Piano Competition, Kharkiv, Ukraine; Svyato Muz, Lugansk, Ukraine; Milosz Magin International Piano Competition, Paris, France; Rameau au Chateau International Piano Competition, Cosne sur Loire, France; Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, Palm Desert, California; World Piano Competition, Cincinnati, USA and George Gershwin International Piano Competition, Philadelphia, USA.
Sergei’s students have won numerous prizes at international piano competitions and performed with such orchestras as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; St. Petersburg Philharmonic; Moscow Virtuosi; Israel Philharmonic; Shanghai Philharmonic; L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal; Netherland Symphony Orchestra; Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra; Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; Kentucky Symphony Orchestra; Kyiv State Symphony Orchestra; Kharkiv Philharmonic; Lugansk Philharmonic; The Moscow Philharmonic; Russian Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco; Minnesota Sinfonia; Jefferson Symphony Orchestra; The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
Sergei Polusmiak has conducted master classes in colleges and universities all over the world. Among those were the Moscow Music College, Russia; Oriental Arts Center, Shanghai, China; Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, USA; College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, USA; Joanna Hodges International Symposium, Vancouver, USA; “Musicalia”, Toulouse, France; “Encuentro International de Pianistas”, Argentina; and Kyiv Music College, Ukraine others.
Sergei Polusmiak is the founder and artistic director of the Ukrainian-France Summer Music Festival, the founder and director of the Ukrainian Children’s Music Theater of Kharkiv (which had toured US and France several times), the founder and director of Russian Summer Piano Institute. He also founded his own private school – Sergei Polusmiak’s Russian School of Music, to provide professional training for young pianists from around the world.
Sergei has recorded 5 compact discs including “Sergei plays Sergei” (piano works by Rachmaninoff and Scriabin); “Hommage a Shostakovich” (music for two pianos, with French pianist Therese Dussaut); “Music for Clarinet and Piano” (with Ukrainian prodigy Alexander Bedenko); “Beautiful Music For Friends” (music by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninov); “Therese Dussaut, Sergei Polusmiak, Piano 4 hands” (music by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak).
The highlight concerts for the past several years included his performance of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Shanghai Philharmonic under direction of Maestro Cao Peng, one of China’s most distinguished conductors, at the Shanghai Music Hall with live radio broadcast and his solo recital at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre.