The Russian pianist Vyacheslav Gryaznof, also transliterated Gryaznov or Gryzaznoff, is noted for his transcriptions and arrangements in the grand virtuoso tradition. His career developed in his native Russia and has been centered there, with strong components in Japan and in the U.S. rather than the British scene that has welcomed so many Russian musicians. Gryaznof was born in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island off Russia's Pacific coast. He took up the piano as a small child, and his parents, although they were not musicians, became convinced enough of his talent to drop their lives in the Far East and move to Moscow so he could further his musical education there. Gryaznof attended high school at the Central Music School of the Moscow State Conservatory. He moved on to the Moscow Conservatory as an undergraduate, receiving honors in both programs. After graduate study at the Conservatory, he joined the school's piano department as an assistant professor. In 2016 he was invited to join the Artist Diploma program at Yale University, studying with Boris Berman. He has also had annual stints since 2012 as visiting professor of piano at Kurashiki Sakuyo University of Science and Art in Japan. As a teen, Gryaznof won a string of Russian prizes, including, at 15, a pair of first place medals at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Competition in Moscow, which also involved a debut performance at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Gryaznof gave recitals in Denmark and Italy when he was 17, and has toured Europe, the former Soviet states, Africa, Japan, and the U.S., as well as giving numerous recitals and appearing with orchestras across Russia. He is the composer of more than 30 arrangements and transcriptions, including Rhapsody in Black, based on themes from Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. Some of these works appeared on Gryaznof's solo debut album, Russian Transcriptions, which was released on the Steinway & Sons label in 2018. ~ James Manheim