Regina Shamvili, described by the Berlin Morning Post as "one of the five best pianists in the world'' is on a whirlwind visit to Bermuda where she is playing at a private concert and meeting with local musicians.

At a special fundraiser to be held at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Peter Perinchief for the Dunbarton School of Music, the Russian-American pianist and special Steinway artist, will play the famous "Kreisleriana'' by Robert Schumann and the Piano Miniatures of her compatriot Michael Glinka.

"We are very excited and honoured that Ms Shamvili is visiting Bermuda, as she has travelled and performed in countries all over the world. She has given concerts for UNESCO and is regarded as an Ambassador of Good Will by the American Government,'' says Dr. Karol Sue Reddington, who is the artistic director of the Dunbarton School.

Regina Shamvili gave her first public piano performance with orchestra at the age of ten and graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. By the time she left her homeland for America in 1983, she had become a household name across the former Soviet Union.

Since then, she has appeared in more than 80 countries around the world, as well as on CNN and Sky TV. After the fall of communism she was invited by the President of Russia to return home for a special performance which, dramatically, coincided with the historic coup d'etat. She works closely with Mother Teresa in charitable programmes in India and after her special appearance at the Vatican, she was personally received by Pope John Paul II.

Shamvili is especially recognised as an interpreter of Schumann, described by The New York Post as "a superstar ... with impeccable technique ...

musical insight and unerring sense of line'' and, in the words of the Czech Republic's Lidowa Demokarcie, "It was as though Clara Schumann herself had appeared on the stage''. The Telegraph of Holland found her "technically perfect'', while The Japan Times wrote of her "passionate dramatism and concentration''.