A musical journey shaped by memory, teachers, and the search for sound

Nina grew up in Moscow in a home where music was assumed to be part of life. Her mother, a pianist trained at the Kiev Conservatory, played Chopin, opera arias, and operetta music from memory. By the age of five, Nina had entered the Gnessin Music School.

The school she remembered was not grand in a modern institutional sense. It was a modest, devoted place founded by the Gnessin family, where the purpose was simple and serious: to bring up young musicians in an atmosphere of warmth, discipline, and artistic commitment.

Sofia Davidovna Kogan was Nina’s first teacher and remained one of the defining presences of her early musical life. Nina remembered her as an extraordinary pianist and a rare teacher: warm, kind, never forceful, and deeply beloved by her pupils.

Around age eleven, Nina also began playing for Grigory Kogan, whose artistic and personal influence lasted until his death in 1979. At sixteen she entered the Moscow Conservatory and studied for seven years with Heinrich Neuhaus, first in the intimate studio atmosphere of his apartment on Chkalov Street.

While still a student, Nina won an audition to become an opera coach at the Bolshoi Theatre. The work brought her close to singers, conductors, rehearsals, opera, and ballet, including repeated experiences of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with Galina Ulanova.

Her next position was with Moskonzert, the Soviet concert bureau. Touring across the Soviet Union gave her practical experience in chamber music, accompaniment, sight-reading, and the readiness demanded by varied concert programs.

One of the central relationships of Nina’s life was her work with the great singer Zara Dolukhanova. They collaborated for nearly fifteen years and toured widely together.

That experience transformed Nina’s piano teaching. She asked students to understand a melody from the inside, often through singing, before becoming absorbed in texture or technical difficulty. Theme, phrase, and interpretation came first.

Nina moved to the United States in 1975. After an uncertain beginning in New York, Nadia Reisenberg recommended her for a temporary teaching position at Mannes College of Music. When the term ended, the students wanted to stay with her.

That was the beginning of a major teaching life. She later joined the faculties of Mannes and Manhattan School of Music. Her studio grew internationally, with students from many countries and alumni who became competition winners and respected professionals.