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A piano performance that's twice as nice

By Anna Stevens '10
February 19, 2008

St. Olaf College faculty member Julia Elkina knows what it's like to share the stage with her mirror image.

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St. Olaf College faculty member Julia Elkina and her identical twin sister, Irina.
Elkina has been playing the piano with her identical twin sister, Irina, since they were five years old. The St. Olaf community will have the opportunity to experience the music 20 fingers can make when the Elkinas perform on Friday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in the Christiansen Hall of Music's Urness Recital Hall. The recital is free and open to the public.

"I feel incredibly lucky to have a sister, actually a twin sister, with whom I can share my passion of music and of playing duo piano music," says Julia Elkina, a piano instructor at St. Olaf.

From success in the largest duo-piano competition in the world, the Murray Dranoff Competition, to appearances on National Public Radio, the Russian sisters have graced many stages. The Elkinas won first prize in the 1992 International Duo Piano Competition Citta di Marsala in Italy and have a CD titled The Sisters' Version: Cinderella and Other Stories for Duo Piano.

"We have a special bond and we share so much: culture, training, gesture and genes. However, it does not mean we always agree with each other or have identical ideas -- not at all," Julia Elkina says.

The Elkinas are dedicating their concert at St. Olaf to the memory of their teacher, Grunya Isaakovna Gankina. Julia Elkina describes the instructor "a person who put her heart and knowledge into creating our duo. We hope it is going to be a very special evening."

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.