Early Years - Anastasiya Magamedova

Chapter 1

The Beginning

I was three years old when I first saw a grand piano on stage at my brother’s guitar recital, and something about the instrument pulled me in completely. I went home and told my parents I wanted to play. They assumed it was a phase, but I didn’t let it go, nor could I stop thinking about it. I did everything I could to prove how serious I was. I’d tag along to my brother’s lessons, sneak into empty classrooms to “practice” whatever sounds I could get out of a piano, and even on walks with my grandmother in the park, I would approach strangers in the park to ask if they could teach me to play piano. Eventually, I met Regina Petrovna Bolshakova, someone who would eventually become my first teacher, who told me I had to wait until I was five. I waited patiently for two whole years. On my fifth birthday, my first question was, “Where is my piano?” That’s when my musical life really began.

Anastasiya Magamedova - BIOGRAPHY — Anastasiya Magamedova – BIOGRAPHY

Chapter 2

The First Lessons

That determination would shape the rest of my life. I began formal lessons at the Tchaikovsky Music School no.1 in my hometown of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan at the age of 7. I studied piano with Larisa Dmitrievna Shamilova, violin with Maria Vasilyevna Basigulina, and solfège with Nina Rashidovna Bobokolonova — three exceptional teachers who gave me not only a strong musical foundation, but a deep respect for discipline, creativity, and love of music.

Anastasiya Magamedova - HOME QUOTES — Anastasiya Magamedova – HOME QUOTES

Chapter 3

A Sudden Silence

Growing up in Dushanbe meant growing up surrounded by incredible culture. Our home was directly across the street from the Ayni Opera and Ballet Theatre, where I attended each performance. When I was ten, my family left Tajikistan and moved to the United States. The move was disorienting and difficult. I suddenly found myself in an entirely new culture, language, and system. For the first six months, I could not play piano at all. Since I spoke English well, I spent my days helping my parents adjust by translating documents, navigating unfamiliar systems, and adjusting to a world that felt impossibly different. We didn’t own a piano, and there was no budget for lessons either. Occasionally, someone in the neighborhood would let me play for a few minutes on their instrument, but that wasn’t much.

It wasn’t until almost two years later that I began lessons again, this time with a teacher at a music school in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her expectations were high; she assumed her students were already competing at an international level and capable of learning large amounts of repertoire quickly. After years without formal training, it felt like being thrown into the ocean and told to swim. I adapted and grew because I wanted to prove myself, but the pace was punishing. Eventually, I developed a serious hand injury that forced me to stop playing completely. Multiple doctors recommended surgery, though they couldn’t guarantee I would ever play again. One physical therapist, however, believed in a different path. She told me we could rebuild carefully, without surgery, through slow and structured rehabilitation.

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But first, I needed to stop playing for several months. It was during those six months of silence, without any playing at all, that something profound shifted within me. It sounds strange, but it was because I couldn’t play that I realized I simply couldn’t live without it. During that long, slow recovery, it became clear that no matter how difficult it seemed, being a pianist was what I truly wanted, even if it felt like a distant fantasy at the time.

That was the beginning of a long, and painful process. After months of no piano, I started practicing again with a timer: 15 minutes a day. Then a couple months later, 30. Then 45. Slowly, I began to feel stronger. I returned to competitions, performing under strict time limits. I won my first international youth competition while still practicing just 45 minutes a day. When I competed in the inaugural Junior Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, my daily practice was still capped at two hours.

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During this time, I began studying with Heather Conner, a teacher whose guidance changed everything. She was kind but firm, supportive but precise. She helped me rebuild not only my hands, but my trust in the instrument and myself. A year before graduating from high school, I also began lessons with Scott Holden. His insights into phrasing, interpretation, and sound continue to shape the way I play and learn music today.

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Even though I had this difficult period, my teenage years were full of music. Alongside solo performances and competitions, I performed with orchestras and played a lot of chamber music with other young musicians, appearing on NPR’s From the Top that was broadcast nationally, as well as radio and TV programs in Utah. After performing on From the Top, I received the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, a scholarship that helped support my continued studies and attend music festivals.