Vitaly Margulis, pianist, pedagogue and author of music philosophy studies, was born in 1928 in the Ukraine. He received his first piano lessons from his father, and then continued his studies with Prof. S. Savshinsky at the Special Music School and later at the Leningrad Conservatoire. In 1958–1974 he conducted his own piano class at the Conservatoire at the same time pursuing a triumphant performance career.

In 1974 Vitaly Margulis left Russia and in 1975 became a professor at the Music School in Freiburg, Germany. In 1994, he accepted the post of Professor of Piano at the University of California in Los Angeles. His concerts in New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Berlin, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg, as well as his numerous recordings were a great success with the listeners and were highly acclaimed by the critics.

In teaching Prof. Vitaly Margulis prioritizes the study of works by Bach and Beethoven. His book “Johann Sebastian Bach’s Symbolic Language and The Well Tempered Clavier” focuses on the new ways of understanding the religious symbolism and spirituality of Bach’s music.

In the publication “Formula for Timing Relationship and Beethoven’s Timing Principles” Vitaly Margulis explores new concepts in musical architecture. His book “Bagatelles” which was translated and published in six countries describes principles of piano pedagogy in an aphoristic manner. His book “Paralipomenon,” published in Moscow in 2006, met with enthusiastic delight.

Vitaly Margulis has been very fortunate as a teacher. His students have won more than a hundred prizes at international competitions over the last decades, twenty eight of them being grand prizes. He has also conducted piano workshops and seminars in Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, Holland, France, Japan, Russia, and America.