Pavel Alekseevich Serebriakov

Born Feb. 15 (28), 1909, in Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd); died Aug. 17, 1977, in Leningrad. Soviet pianist, teacher, and public figure. People’s Artist of the USSR (1962). Member of the CPSU since 1939. In 1930, Serebriakov graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied piano under L. V. Nikolaev. He joined the faculty of the conservatory in the same year and became a professor of piano in 1939; from 1938 to 1951 he served as vice-chancellor of the conservatory, a post he resumed in 1961. Serebriakov began concertizing in 1929 and performed in many countries. His playing was marked by virtuosity, grandeur, striking emotionalism, lyricism, and a diversity of tone. In 1933 he won second prize at the First All-Union Competition of Musicians in Moscow. Serebriakov was awarded the Order of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.