Dr. Sonya Lifschitz is an accomplished Ukrainian-Australian performer, pedagogue, researcher, and collaborator of international repute, whose creative practice spans solo and chamber-music performance, curating, producing and presenting new work, directing cross-disciplinary and multi-media collaborations, and actively participating in current cultural debate and arts advocacy.Sonya’s research interests are increasingly growing in the direction of aesthetic diversification in respect to… Show more Dr. Sonya Lifschitz is an accomplished Ukrainian-Australian performer, pedagogue, researcher, and collaborator of international repute, whose creative practice spans solo and chamber-music performance, curating, producing and presenting new work, directing cross-disciplinary and multi-media collaborations, and actively participating in current cultural debate and arts advocacy.Sonya’s research interests are increasingly growing in the direction of aesthetic diversification in respect to performance-making in the current cultural, social and economic climate. Of specific interest is creating collaborative, multi-art-form performances with strong social and artistic outcomes. The central tenet of her university award-nominated PhD dissertation “Creative Collaboration in and as Contemporary Performance Practice”, is that the lines of demarcation between the processes of composition and musical interpretation/performance are significantly more blurred than is traditionally perceived. She argues that the composer/performer dichotomy prevalent in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries’ conceptualisation of Western art music is no longer a viable model through which to creatively engage with art music and the practice of music-making in the twenty-first century. She posits that successful (musical) work-realisation is contingent on a symbiotic relationship between the multiple agencies bearing on the final creative outcome, such as the composer, performer, audience, musical notation, performance practice, instrument, and contemporary technologies. She imparts this knowledge onto her students through the Performance Laboratory courses and Creative Projects courses she teaches at UNSW School of Arts and Media. Show less

Dr. Sonya Lifschitz is an accomplished Ukrainian-Australian performer, pedagogue, researcher, and collaborator of international repute, whose creative practice spans solo and chamber-music performance, curating, producing and presenting new work, directing cross-disciplinary and multi-media collaborations, and actively participating in current cultural debate and arts advocacy.Praised by the New York Times and The Age for her “dynamic” and “powerful” performances, and by the Woodstock… Show more Dr. Sonya Lifschitz is an accomplished Ukrainian-Australian performer, pedagogue, researcher, and collaborator of international repute, whose creative practice spans solo and chamber-music performance, curating, producing and presenting new work, directing cross-disciplinary and multi-media collaborations, and actively participating in current cultural debate and arts advocacy.Praised by the New York Times and The Age for her “dynamic” and “powerful” performances, and by the Woodstock Times for her “miraculous keyboard technique and musicianship”, Ukrainian-born pianist Sonya Lifschitz is internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative, fearless and fiercely creative musical voices. In 2015-2018 seasons, Sonya made a critically-acclaimed solo debut in one of New York’s most prestigious concert series, the BargeMusic, with other highlights including a piano duo tour of the USA with renowned pianist Lisa Moore; solo and chamber music performances at the Banff Centre (Canada), the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Salon: Solo, Local Heroes and Spotlight series, and the Melbourne (MIAF), Adelaide (AF), Canberra (CIMF), Darwin, Port Fairy, Metropolis, MONAFOMA, St. John’s Feast of Music and Australian Piano Duo Festivals. Her recent performance of the world premiere ‘Stalin’s Piano’ by Robert Davidson at the Canberra International Music Festival received a 4.5 stars review in the Limelight Magazine, and a recent performance of Larry Sitsky’s piano trio, Sandakan, commissioned by her contemporary music ensemble Press, Play, received the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Contemporary Masters Award for the best performance of new work. Sonya’s performances are regularly broadcast by ABC Classic FM, ABC Radio National, and 3MBS and she has appeared on radio in interviews with Andrew Ford, Margaret Throsby, Alice Keath, and as a regular presenter on ABC Classic FM. Show less

Member of Piano Faculty; Member of ANU School of Music Flagship Ensemble: piano trio with cellist David Pereira and violinist Tor Fromyhr. School's Outreach, recording and teaching activities.