Hailed by the press as a "...breathtaking" and "...stunning" pianist, Dmitri Novgorodsky was born into a musical family in Odessa, Ukraine. He began to play the piano at age five and was admitted into a special music school for gifted children in Almaty, Kazakhstan a year later. By the age of 16, he had won the First Prize at the Kazakhstan’s National Piano Competition, and later the Gold Medal of the National Festival of the Arts. Mr. Novgorodsky graduated from the studio of Professor Victor Merzhanov at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with high honors in 1990.
In 1992, he was offered a full scholarship for advanced studies at Yale University School of Music in the United States. Under the tutelage of Professor Boris Berman, he earned the Master of Music, the Master of Musical Arts, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. Currently, Mr. Novgorodsky is the first and the only Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory graduate in Piano Performance to have earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree from Yale. In 1999, he was granted the Extraordinary Abilities in the Arts permanent US residence, "as one of a small percentage of those who have risen to the top in their field of endeavor".
Mr. Novgorodsky has appeared in Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Israel, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Canada, Spain, Turkey, and Taiwan. In the United States, he has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall (New York City); the Kennedy Center; the WLFN Talent Showcase (Philadelphia); the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, WI (in live broadcast solo recitals). Among the highlights have been performances at the Center for Advanced Musical Research in Istanbul (sponsored through the US Department of State Artist Abroad Award); solo recitals at the Kazakhstan's Kurmangazy National Conservatory of Music; collaborative performances at the Deià International Music Festival/Palau March Summer Concert series and a solo recital at the Conservatori Superior de Músicade les Illes Balears with master class for the International Piano Cátedra 'Alicia de Larrocha' in Palma de Mallorca, Spain; appearances as concerto soloist and chamber musician at the Talalyan Brothers Festival in Erevan, Armenia and Forte Music Fest in Almaty, Kazakhstan; solo and piano duo recital at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia with Yuri Didenko; 4-hand piano collaborations with Xak Bjerken at Cornell University's 'Mayfest'; piano duo with Miri Yampolsky; violin/piano with Susan Waterbury; viola/piano with David Rose; cello/piano with Elisabeth Simkin; concerto performances with Kazakhstan State Philarmonic Orchestra, Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Fox Valley Symphony, Temple Symphony, Lawrence Symphony, Fredonia College Symphony Orchestra, Western New York Chamber Orchestra, Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, and Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra (visit the personal website to read more reviews).
One of the four chamber compositions by contemporary authors Mr. Novgorodsky has premiered - "Prophecy from 47 Ursae Majoris" for clarinet and piano by Andrew Paul MacDonald - won the Third International Web Concert Hall Competition, was performed at Carnegie Hall with Yamaha performing artist, Arthur Campbell, and became a part of the CD Premieres, released on the ‘Gasparo’ label. A CD of pieces for oboe and piano by the 20th century Russian-Soviet composers, recorded in collaboration with Professor Mark Fink, was released by the UW Madison Press and has been commercially available in 18 countries. A CD of cello transcriptions for double bass and piano, recorded with Dr. Michael Klinghoffer at the Eden-Tamir Music Center in Jerusalem, Israel, was released on the ‘Shikidri Recordings’ label in Japan and critically acclaimed as a "fascinating release". A recording of Stephen Hartke’s “Sonata for Piano Four-Hands” with Dr. Xak Bjerken is awaiting its release.
In July 2019, Mr. Novgorodsky's judged the Chautauqua Piano Program's Solo Competition and presented a masterclass. In July-August 2019, he taught, coached chamber music, presented a masterclass and performed at the "InterHarmony" International Music Festival as a soloist and collaborator. His solo performance received high acclaim in the German press ("...a terrific musical experience, played freely with intellectual and emotional power"). Dmitri Novgorodsky is on the piano faculty of Music Fest Perugia, the largest festival for young classical musicians in Italy.
During his Fall 2023 sabbatical in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Dr. Novgorodsky participated in music festivals, taught master classes in the Baiseitova and Zhubanov special pre-college institutions for gifted musicians, and performed a solo recital at the Grand Hall of the Kurmangazy National Conservatory.
Dr. Novgorodsky's pedagogical expertise comprises 25 years of university teaching. His students have continued their graduate studies at Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, New York University, New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Northwestern University, University of Colorado Boulder, Boston University, University of Texas at Austin. He has been a piano faculty at Grand Valley State University, University of Wisconsin, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, SUNY Fredonia School of Music.
He joined the Ithaca College School of Music in 2015 and attained the rank of Associate Professor in 2020.