Piano Performance

An evening of exceptional music awaits as acclaimed piano duo Eduard Alexandru Gavril and Olena Blagulyak take the stage at the ARTS Ross Gallery for a special performance on Saturday, February 22, at 6:00 PM. The duo will perform a four-hand piano program, a style where two musicians play together on the same piano to create a rich, vibrant sound.

Both accomplished pianists, Eduard and Olena are winners of multiple international piano competitions and have established thriving performance careers in the U.S. and Europe. Hailing from different backgrounds —Eduard from Romania and Olena from Ukraine— they met during their master’s studies at Sam Houston State University and quickly decided to join forces as a piano duo. In May 2024, they earned their doctoral degrees in piano performance from the University of Houston.

The evening’s repertoire includes pieces by renowned composers Franz Schubert, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc, and Camille Saint-Saëns. These works will be brought to life by the duo’s remarkable artistry, technical skill, and precision.

Reserve Your Tickets

While the performance is free to attend, seating is limited, and ticket reservations are encouraged. Please click the button below to reserve your tickets. If you have questions, please email artists@artsforruraltexas.org or call (979) 378-2113.

Meet the Pianists

Eduard Alexandru Gavril

Eduard Alexandru Gavril is a Romanian pianist, improviser, composer, and educator. He proves to be a versatile musician by approaching classical repertoire, jazz, and electronic music with constant enthusiasm, both as a performer and as a composer. Eduard is also an active soloist and collaborative artist, with a significant number of events that he was featured in.

Eduard began studying piano at the age of five at the Vocational Art School in his hometown of Tirgu-Mures in Romania. He continued his studies at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca from where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance in 2015. After graduating, Eduard moved to the United States, earning his master’s degree in Collaborative Piano from Sam Houston State University, Texas in 2018. He earned a second master’s degree in Piano Performance from University of California, Irvine in 2020 and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Houston. Starting from an early age, Eduard had the opportunity to study with exceptional musicians such as: Kovacs Zsuzsa, Carmen Mihaescu, Georgeta Anghel, Horea Haplea, Ilonka Rus, Nina Scolnik, Tali Morgulis, and Timothy Hester.

In 2015, Eduard co-founded ClassMates Piano Duo with his childhood friend Sorin Frisan. Featuring both classical and jazz works, the duo is also known for performing their own compositions, arrangements, and spontaneous improvisations. The duo has toured in the US and Romania and was always received with great acclaim by their audiences.

The son of professional musicians, Eduard made his solo debut at the age of twelve performing with the Tirgu-Mures National Orchestra. Eduard’s affinity for piano concertos resulted in him winning all the concerto competitions from the schools he attended: First Prize in the SHSU Concerto Competition in 2016, First Prize in the UCI Concerto Competition in 2019, and both Grand Prize and Audience Prize at University of Houston Concerto Competition in 2020. As a result, Eduard appeared as a soloist with orchestras in subsequent performances, including a concert in the prestigious Barclay Theater in Irvine, California. He is also the winner of top prizes at important competitions in Romania and the United States. In 2016 he earned second prize in the SHSU Art Song Competition. As part of his ClassMates Piano Duo, the group was awarded top prizes at the prestigious United States International Duo Piano Competition in Colorado Springs in 2017 and 2018. Since a very early age, Eduard developed a strong interest for improvisation, performing for numerous events and festivals including the Transylvania International Music and Art Festival, Transylvania International Film Festival, RestArt Jazz Festival, Electric Castle Festival to name a few.

As an educator, Eduard has been sharing his knowledge and experience with students of all ages, backgrounds, and levels. He developed a unique teaching philosophy by combining elements from his own educational background, with mainstream methods and elements from the Taubman and Alexander traditions. Besides his professional involvement with various music academies in Texas and California, he also held an adjunct faculty position at Sam Houston State University until 2018 and is currently an adjunct professor at Lone Star College Montgomery and San Jacinto College in Texas.

In addition to his musical activities, Eduard is also passionate about photography, videography, animations, traveling, and exploring nature.

Olena Blagulyak

Olena Blagulyak, a distinguished Ukrainian pianist, has established a dynamic career in performance and teaching in Houston, TX. She recently earned her Doctoral degree in Piano Performance from the University of Houston, where she studied under the esteemed guidance of Tali Morgulis and Timothy Hester. Olena dedicated her doctoral thesis to the piano works of the underrepresented Russian composer Nikolai Medtner, focusing on his piano cycle Forgotten Melodies Op. 39.

Currently, Olena serves as an adjunct piano faculty member at Lone Star College in Kingwood and enriches the musical landscape as an artist-in-residence at Kingwood Methodist Church. In this role, she contributes her talents as a pianist and organist while serving as a music ambassador and organizer of the KMC Concert Series, fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding of music within the community.

As a performing artist, Olena has showcased her versatility and distinctive musical voice in concerts at the Hobby Center, the Candlelight Concert Series, Kawai Piano Gallery, the Moores Opera House, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and many other concert venues. Her most recent engagement as a soloist with a symphony orchestra was a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Third Piano Concerto under the baton of Franz Anton Krager, featuring the symphony orchestra of the University of Houston in collaboration with the Houston Ballet Academy.

Olena’s creative ethos, which merges musical excellence with a deep sense of social responsibility, is vividly expressed in her role as the co-founder of the Knight-Blagulyak Duo, alongside violist Nina Knight. This collaboration was born out of a shared vision to leverage their musical talents for philanthropic purposes. In their inaugural season in Spring 2022, the duo focused on raising awareness and support for the international refugee crisis, particularly for Ukrainian refugees, a cause close to Olena’s heart due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Their program, No Way Home, featured music by composers who were displaced from their homes, including poignant works by Paul Hindemith, Rebecca Clarke, George Enescu, and Valentyn Silvestrov, reflecting the duo’s humanitarian aspirations.

Olena's musical foundation was established in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the prestigious Lysenko Special Music Boarding School under the mentorship of Sergei Ryabov. Her profound passion for music, instilled by her pianist mother and a guild of influential mentors, has been the cornerstone of her career, guiding her evolution into a respected and accomplished musician. Her orchestral debut in 2001 marked a pivotal moment, featuring a mesmerizing rendition of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Vladimir Horowitz Summer Institute under the baton of Mykola Suk.

Olena graduated as a gold medalist from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kyiv in 2009, earning her master’s degree in Piano Performance. Her extraordinary talent has won her multiple prestigious national and international piano competitions, including first place at the 2003 International Chamber Music Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia; the 2004 II Zatin International Competition in Ukraine; the Ella Phillip Competition in Romania in 2007; and the Sam Houston State University Concerto Competition in 2018, where her rendition of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto was particularly noteworthy.

Beyond competitions, Olena has been a sought-after guest artist at various international music festivals, including Ciudad Jamilena in 2008 and 2009, Málaga Clasica in Spain in 2016, and the Amelia Island Opera Company in Florida in 2024. Her performance career is highlighted by a series of recitals across the United States, Europe, and South America. A notable engagement was her participation in a diplomatic mission organized by the Norwegian Embassy in Guatemala in 2016, where she gave masterclasses at the Guatemala City Conservatory and performed in charity concerts.

In 2010, Olena emigrated to Spain, where she actively engaged in the Spanish music scene, collaborating with notable violinists such as Jesus Reina and Anna Margrethe Haugland Nilsen, and serving as a collaborative pianist at the Ivan Galamian Academy in Málaga.

In 2016, she began a new phase of her musical journey at Sam Houston State University, Texas, where she earned her second master’s degree in Piano Performance by 2018 under the guidance of esteemed Spanish pianist Josu de Solaun. Her time at the university was marked by rapid professional growth, leading to her joining the piano faculty as an instructor and collaborative pianist. She also took on the role of music director and pianist for Sam Houston State’s opera projects, including notable performances of Leonard Bernstein's works in 2017 and Hansel and Gretel in 2018.

Currently based in Houston, Olena enjoys a range of activities that enrich her life. She finds tranquility in nature and yoga, excitement in traveling and exploring new cultures, and values her relaxation time spent reading, listening to music and podcasts, and cherishing moments with her family, friends, and beloved pug, Daria.