Elizaweta Stepanowa, a young, critically acclaimed pianist from Berlin, will appear Sept. 19 in a recital co-sponsored by the AmerKlavier™ Studio at DePaul University’s School of Music and the Goethe-Institut Chicago. The program, featuring works by Brahms, Debussy, Stravinsky, Bach and Beethoven, will begin at 3 p.m. in the DePaul Recital Hall, 804 W. Belden Ave.

AmerKlavier™ is an exceptional program of advanced piano study and concert/colloquium series founded by Eteri Andjaparidze, a distinguished pianist and DePaul music professor, shortly after she joined DePaul’s music faculty in 2001. The current AmerKlavier™ Studio consists of 15 talented DePaul piano students, shepherded by Andjaparidze, who explore a variety of topics involving the global vision on the art of piano playing.

The Sept. 19 Stepanowa recital is the first of three Amerklavier™-sponsored events being offered this fall. A joint recital featuring Andjaparidze and guest artist Alexander Slobodyanik will be performed Oct. 10, and a “Piano Theatre” presentation of piano transcriptions of opera music will be presented by Andjaparidze and her students Oct. 27.

Stepanowa, an accomplished pianist although only in her 20s, was born in Minsk, Belarus. She began studying piano at age four and debuted at the Philharmonic Hall in Minsk at age 11. In 1994, her family moved to Berlin, where Stepanowa pursued her musical education at the C. Ph. E. Bach School of Music for gifted children, and subsequently, at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music.

Stepanowa performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Germany and was a prizewinner in numerous piano competitions during the 1990s. In 1996, following her parents, she became a permanent resident of the United States, settling in Chicago, while continuing her musical studies in Germany.

The AmerKlavier™ series continues in October with the following free recitals:

Oct. 10: “AmerKlavier™ Salutes Great Teachers,” at 3 p.m., in the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. This program commemorates Moscow Conservatoire Professor Heinrich Neuhaus (1888-1964), the legendary pianist and pedagogue. Neuhaus created one of the most influential branches in the European piano school by bringing into the music world giants of the art of piano playing, including Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. Direct descendants of the Neuhaus pianistic lineage, internationally acclaimed artists, distinguished teachers and long time colleagues Andjaparidze and Slobodyanik join in a gala tribute honoring their great teachers and celebrating grand piano traditions of the past. The program includes works by Mozart, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt.

A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Slobodyanik has won prizes at the Tchaikovsky and Chopin international piano competitions. He is known to audiences around the world as one of the great pianists from the former Soviet Union. He has enjoyed a prodigious international career – spanning more than three decades – in solo recitals and performances with leading orchestras and in the great concert halls of Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

Oct. 27: “AmerKlavier™ Night at The Opera,” 8 p.m., DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. Andjaparidze and her AmerKlavier™ Studio perform piano transcriptions of opera scores by Verdi, Wagner, Gounod, Bizet, Mussorgsky and others, arranged by the great composer-pianists Liszt, Busoni and Rachmaninoff. This program embarks on the AmerKlavier™ “Piano Theatre” project that spans the 2004-05 concert season to showcase the piano as the most universal of all musical instruments, embracing a wide-range of musical theatre.

Andjaparidze, a Grammy-nominated Steinway Artist, founded AmerKlavier™ program and the United Sound of America™ music festival shortly after joining DePaul’s faculty. She is recognized internationally as an artist of tremendous versatility, whose vast repertoire embraces all styles and genres of piano playing. Winner of the Montreal and Tchaikovsky international piano competitions, and honored in her native Republic of Georgia by the title “People’s Artist of Georgia,” she has appeared worldwide on the most prestigious concert series and international festivals. She also has performed solo recitals and as a guest soloist with major orchestras under the baton of leading conductors, as well as in collaboration with prominent singers, instrumentalists and chamber ensembles.

For more information, call the DePaul School of Music at (773) 325-7260.