BIO Dr. Elbakidze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, into a family of musicians, where she was brought up as a pianist by two previous generations of piano teachers. She has performed and studied piano extensively in Georgia and US, and is the recipient of numerous prizes, awards and scholarships in both countries. Her principal teachers were some of the most distinguished and internationally renowned pianists and pedagogues in the field - Svetlana Korsantia, Alexander Korsantia, and Nancy Weems of University of Houston who has been her mentor and guide for now over a decade.  She has also received guidance from and participated in master classes with Abbey Simon, Alexander Toradze, Horacio Gutierrez, and other prominent and world-known pianists. Throughout her career, she has attained superior skills and proficiency both as a pedagogue and as a performer. Under the guidance of Nancy Weems she has completed her graduate studies earning the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from University of Houston Moore’s School Of Music, dissertation thesis: The Effect of Liszt’s Fingerings on the Interpretation of Selected Passages in Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B Minor. Dr. Elbakidze has been trained as a pianist and educator in both Russian and American piano schools and has been pursuing career as a pedagogue for over fifteen years.  Her pedagogical experience includes teaching students from a wide range of age groups and skill levels, from young children to adults, from beginners to advanced players preparing for competitions and auditions. Throughout her career she has taught master classes, given private piano lessons and performed as a pianist on multiple music festivals for children. She has taught in various music schools in Houston area as well as class piano courses for undergraduate music majors in the University of Houston Moore’s School of Music. Some of her students have won prizes in various piano and music competitions, others have gone on to major in music in college. Currently, in addition to teaching privately, Dr. Elbakidze is a piano teacher in St. Paul’s Fine Arts Academy. She is an active member of National Music Teachers Association, Texas Music Teachers Association, and Forum Music Teachers Association of Houston. Dr. Elbakidze’s accomplishments in the field of piano performance laid a foundation in her development early on. Her performance career began with her first piano recital at the age of six. While a young artist, she won number of prizes in different regional and nationalpiano competitions in Georgia. She started performing as a soloist with the Georgian National Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve, and gave solo recitals which were broadcasted on national television and radio. After moving to the United States to pursue her education further, she continued winning prizes in almost every competition she entered (2nd prize in Texas Music Teachers Association Student Affiliate performance competition; 2nd prize in Tuesday Music Club Piano Competitions in San Antonio; 2nd prize in University of Houston Piano Concerto Competition, and many others). Her performances as a soloist with orchestras included: Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns’s 2nd Piano Concerto, Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto, and others. Lali has accompanied and collaborated with various musicians and groups in Houston Area - among whom are faculty members from University of Houston and members of Houston Symphony Orchestra. She has coached many high school students whom she accompanied in various music competitions. As a pianist she worked in several Houston area churches as a music director, choir director, bell choir director, and a pianist.