OUR TEACHERS
EKATERINA TERENTYEVA - PIANO
Ekaterina Terentyeva is the owner and head faculty member of the Blüthner School of Music in Hoboken, NJ.
Ekaterina was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she earned her degree in piano performance. Ekaterina has had the opportunity to study with world class teachers in Russia and the US.
While pursuing her musical dreams, Ekaterina achieved another considerable achievement – a Master’s Degree in Accounting, which she received from the St. Petersburg State Agrarian University in 2009.
Ekaterina’s successes in finances and music sparked in her an interest in opening a music school. Her enterprising skills gained the attention of one of the finest piano manufacturing companies in the world – Blüthner Pianos in Leipzig, Germany. After signing a Partnership Contract with renowned firm in 2016, Ekaterina opened Blüthner School of Music in Hoboken which in just two years received an award as the best music school in Hoboken.
Students from Blüthner School of Music have won numerous awards at competitions in New York and New Jersey. Every year, they have opportunities to perform at such venues as Carnegie Weil Hall and National Opera Center in New York.
Ekaterina has also launched the Emerald-Blüthner Concert Series. This monthly series allows faculty members and students of the school to bring the beauty of music to the community and inspire the next generation of young musicians.
Ekaterina resides in Hoboken, where she is a mom of two.
GLEB IVANOV - PIANO
Ever since his auspicious New York debut, pianist Gleb Ivanov has been recognized as an important presence in the music world. The New York Times wrote: Gleb Ivanov “is a cut above the usual, a young super-virtuoso, with musical sensitivity and an appreciation of style to go with the thunder and lightning.” He has been thrilling audiences in recital and orchestra engagements, which this season include concertos highlighting Russian composers – Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3, and Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3.
A sought-after soloist, he has performed a wide range of repertoire with orchestras including the Symphony Orchestras of Missouri, Johnstown, West Michigan, Eastern Connecticut, South Bend, Westmoreland, Southwest Florida, Peoria, Knoxville, Dearborn, Las Cruces, Grand Rapids, Fort Smith, Southern Finger Lakes, Springfield and Napa Valley, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.
View videos of Gleb performing here.
Georgi Nedelinov Lekov - PIANO
Bulgarian pianist Georgi Lekov was born in Montana, Bulgaria. He started his musical education at the age of 4. In 2014 he graduated from Music High School “Lubomir Pipkov” in Sofia, Bulgaria, in the piano classes of Еmiliya Kaneva and Prof. Ludmil Angelov. In 2018 Lekov earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from Mannes College The New School for Music in the piano classes of Prof. Pavlina Dokovska and Dr. Vladimir Valjarevic, receiving the Steinway & Sons Piano Award. Currently, he is pursuing his Master of Music Degree, again, at Mannes College, majoring in Piano and minoring in Impact Entrepreneurship at the New School of Social Research.
Mr. Lekov has won an impressive number of prizes in competitions in his native Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus, Belgium, China and USA.
Georgi Lekov participated in master classes given by Jerome Lowenthal, Richard Goode, Ursula Oppens, Steven Isserlis, Ivry Gitlis, James Giles, Elena Ashkenazi, etc. He has performed as a soloist and chamber in USA, China, Cyprus, Belgium, Turkey and his native Bulgaria. Lekov has played with the most renowned Bulgarian orchestras such as Classic FM Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic, New Symphony Orchestra, etc. As a performer, Georgi Lekov has appeared at the Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory in Beining, Dimotiko Teatro in Larnaca, Chateau du Lac in Brussels, Concert Hall "Bulgaria" in Sofia. In New York, he has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, The Union Club, the Bulgarian Consulate, the German Consulate, and the New School's Tishman Auditorium, among others. Committed to exploration of the contemporary repertoire, Lekov has worked under the direction of various composers and took part in numerous world premieres, including the compositions by Lora Al-Ahmad, Yifan Guo, Trevor Hofelich. Recently, in January 2020, Georgi co-produced his first mini concert series, “Brahms Anthology” alongside his dear colleague and friend Jacob Savransky.
Narek Arutyunian - Clarinet
Clarinetist Narek Arutyunian is an artist who “reaches passionate depths with seemingly effortless technical prowess and beguiling sensitivity” (The Washington Post). As soloist with orchestra, his performances include the Copland Clarinet Concerto with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Artie Shaw’s Concerto for Clarinet with The Boston Pops Orchestra at the Boston Symphony Hall, the Mozart Concerto with the Rockford Symphony in Illinois, Oregon’s Newport Symphony and New York’s St. Thomas Orchestra, appearances with Prague Radio Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra of the China National Opera House at Beijing Concert Hall, the Kaliningrad Philharmonic, the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, and a recording of the Weber Concertino for clarinet with the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra.
As First Prize Winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Arutyunian was presented in debut recitals in New York at Merkin Concert Hall and in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center to rave reviews. He has also been engaged to perform at Carnegie’s Weill Recital and the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and for the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Lied Center of Kansas, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Aaron Copland School of Music/Queens College, Iowa State, Pepperdine, Southern Adventist and Missouri State Universities. In addition to solo recitals, he consistently receives acclaim for his educational outreach programs in New York City public schools and around the country.
Mr. Arutyunian has performed extensively in Australia, Asia and in Europe, including recitals at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Palazzo del Principe in Genoa and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Festival appearances include the Tanglewood Festival; return engagements at the Marlboro Music Festival, Juilliard’s ChamberFest, where he performed Osvaldo Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers, the New York Festival of Song, Krzyzowa Music Festival in Poland, Germany’s Usedomer Musikfestival, Concertino Praga South Bohemia Festival in Czech Republic, Musica Viva’s Huntington Estate and Sydney festivals in Australia, Young Concert Artists Festivals in Tokyo and Beijing. He has also performed as both a clarinetist and Klezmer soloist at the Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish off-Broadway production in New York City.
CÉline Boulben - Violin
Céline Boulben, a native of Paris, France, graduated with a degree in violin performance and pedagogy at the National University of Music in Bucharest, Romania, where she studied with one of the main representative of the Romanian violin school, Stefan Gheorghiu. After moving to New York, Céline Boulben has remained as an active performer in various musical styles. Ms. Boulben has often appeared in performances with orchestras and chamber ensembles in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall. She has also performed in Broadway shows, and recorded for films and various other musical projects.
Her pedagogical activity started in France as a violin and music teacher at the Conservatoire de Musique of Luisant, and Yamaha Music School of Chartres. She is now the violin teacher of Blüthner School of Music in Hoboken (NJ), where several of her students won competitions to play at Carnegie Hall. Céline Boulben has a personal approach for each student, observing their way of learning, and adapting her teaching to their needs. She focuses on the importance of music as a necessary means of communication, creativity, and self-expression as she believes that studying music enriches all aspects of a person’s life.
ALLA MILCHTEIN - piano
Born in Russia, but growing up in Mexico, Alla discovered her love for the collaborative arts at early age. Since then she has enjoyed an international career as a collaborative pianist to emerging stars in the musical world. She maintains an active performing career with vocal and instrumental partners and chamber ensembles.
Currently Alla is staff pianist at Mannes College New School for Music where she works for the College and Prep divisions. Past positions include being part of the accompanying staff at the Rotterdam Conservatory (The Netherlands), the Rudolf Steiner College (The Netherlands), Scuola di Musica di Fiesole (Italy) and the Jalisco State Choir (Mexico).
Alla has performed at festivals throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States, including The Cervantino International Music Festival in Guanajuato (Mexico), Festival de Mazatlán (Mexico), "Kamermuziek Festival tussen Maas & Waal" (The Netherlands), "Het Rusische Muziek" (The Netherlands), Beverly Hills Chamber Music Festival (United States), Lucca Music Festival 2008 (Italy), Aspen Music Festival (United States), and Glimmerglass Festival (United States).
Ms. Milchtein served as a staff pianist at Competitions, including Mannes Concerto Competition, international Voice Competition (Sinaloa, Mexico), Postacchini International Violin Competition (Italy), Vriendenkrans Concours of Concertgebouw (The Netherlands), etc.
As as a coach/répétiteur, Ms. Milchtein has previously worked for Glimmerglass Opera, Aspen Opera, New Opera NYC, Jalisco State Opera (Guadalajara, México), Rotterdamse Opera Productions ,"Blue Bottle” Opera Company (The Netherlands), Vocedidone Opera Studio (The Netherlands) and “Pepita Embil” Zarzuela Company (Guadalajara, México).
Alla Milchtein received both a Bachelor’ s degree in Piano Performance and Master’s degree in Piano Performance and Chamber Music from Rotterdam Conservatory (The Netherlands), where she studied with Mila Baslawskaja.
Ms. Milchtein also pursued her Professional Studies in Collaborative Piano at Mannes College New School for Music (New York) where she studied with Cristina Stanescu. During her studies she was awarded a scholarship and was also a recipient of “excellence in accompanying” award.
Ms. Milchtein was awarded a fellowship from COJECO Blue Print to record a CD of solo piano music of Jewish composers from around the world titled "Musical Journeys through the Jewish Diaspora" which was released in 2015.
Mark Edward Serkin - Cello
American cellist Mark Edward Serkin is a Master of Music graduate from the Mannes School of Music in New York City. He studied with the internationally renowned cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, former cellist of the renowned Kronos Quartet. Mark was principal cellist of the Mannes Orchestra. He has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and various other venues. Mark received his bachelor’s degree with honors in cello performance at Mannes School of Music, class of Barbara Stein Mallow, a celebrated chamber musician and teacher.
Mark has participated in many festivals such as NY Phil Biennial, Kinhaven Music School, Meadowmount School of Music, Manchester Music Festival, Taconic Music, Luzerne Music Center, and the National Orchestra Institute and Festival, where he was recorded for the Naxos label in 2015 and 2016 albums. In April 2017, Mark was a featured artist on the Classic FM Radio in London.
Mark is a cello and chamber music coach for the Face the Music program and cello faculty for Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, both affiliated with Kaufman Music Center in New York City.
Mark has performed in solo and chamber master classes for artists such as Steven Isserlis, Philippe Muller, Sharon Robinson, Timothy Eddy, Robert DeMaine, Jonathan Spitz, Peter Stumpf, Julia Lichten, Gloria dePasquale, Stefan Milenkovich, Kronos Quartet, Horszowski Trio, and the Miró Quartet. His main mentors include Hans Jørgen Jensen and Vladimir Panteleyev (cello performance), Todd Phillips (chamber), Nancy Wilson (baroque chamber).
Yelena Kolpakova - Music Theory
Born in Russia in the family of an air force pilot. Mother played accordion and sang folk song. Since 5 years old, I sang on television and attended music school. I attended Rostov School of Art, majored in theory of music and piano. Upon graduation, I was sent to the regional music school. 1980-1986, Attended Rostov-on-Don Conservatory named after Rachmaninoff (renamed the Musical Pedagogical Institute). Majored in Theory and History of Music. Worked as an accompanist at V. Rastorotsky Then married, in Kiev 1983-1990 Accompanist of the School of Rhythmic gymnastic of Olympic reserve, created custom made compositions for individual gymnasts. 1990-1993 Kiev school of art Piano teacher Moved to US in 1996, worked as a piano and sol-fa teacher, group & individual lessons What are my ambitions and goals? *Child psychology *The influence of music on the development of the child *Theory of Music on the Development of Logic *The relationship of musical and mathematical thinking in children. My Thesis was based upon the above mentioned. *Piano technique and a love for improvisation.”