An alumna and teaching assistant of Mira Marchenko, Sofya Pisetsky joined the ZBSM as a piano teacher in the spring of 2025. Her ability to establish a close emotional connection with her students and to inspire them to reach new heights makes her teaching truly distinctive.
Sofya’s journey with piano music began even before her birth. Raised in a deeply musical family—her grandmother being the Head of the Piano Department at a local music school—it was only natural that by the age of four she had already discovered her calling. From the age of five, she graced the stage with regular concert performances, setting the foundation for a lifelong dedication to the piano.
At the age of seven, she began performing in a chamber music ensemble, with which she toured throughout her native Russia and won numerous competitions. Just two years later, Sofya made her symphonic debut, performing with an orchestra as the winner of a regional piano competition—a milestone that crowned her early success and marked the beginning of her first concert tour.
Seven years later, at the age of sixteen, Sofya met Mira Marchenko, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading piano pedagogues for young musicians. This encounter became a turning point in her life. Shortly afterward, her parents decided to relocate to Moscow, where she was admitted to the Central Music School of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory to study in Marchenko’s class.
At seventeen, Sofya gave her first piano lessons in Russia. Just two years later, she was already teaching students from the United States.
November 2019 marked another turning point in her life. That month, Sofya accompanied her teacher, Mira Marchenko, to Zurich, where Marchenko was giving a piano masterclass at the Zakhar Bron School of Music. Sofya fell in love with the city and decided that she would one day make it her home.
In the autumn of 2020, Sofya moved to Switzerland to continue her education, where she continued her studies in the piano class of Prof. Konstantin Scherbakov at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).
In 2022, Sofya became part of the Zakhar Bron School of Music as a piano accompanist. Recognizing her talent and dedication, the school entrusted her with a teaching position in early 2025—an appointment she embraced with great enthusiasm.
As a concert pianist, Sofya has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues—including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow—and has shared the stage with renowned musicians such as Andreas Janke (violin), Thomas Grossenbacher (cello), Rudolf Koelman (violin), Vladimir Balshin (cello), and Qiling Chen (flute).
Since 2014, Sofya has been awarded scholarships from five prestigious music foundations in Switzerland and abroad:
Among the numerous prizes Sofya has won at national and international competitions in both piano solo and chamber music are:
Looking ahead, Sofya envisions a career that harmoniously combines her pedagogical work with concert performances and international competitions. At the Zakhar Bron School of Music, she teaches piano to both beginners and advanced students, offering instruction in English, German, and Russian.
Through both her teaching and her artistry on stage, she is committed to sharing her passion for the piano and inspiring the next generation of musicians.