Yakov Kasman is a Russian pianist. Born in Orel, near Moscow, he started playing piano at age five. He studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and following his post-graduate work, he became a professor in the conservatory's Music College. Kasman was the winner of several international prizes, including the 1991 Valentino Bucchi Competition, the 1991 London World Piano Competition, the 1992 Artur Rubinstein International Competion in Tel Aviv, and the 1995 International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg. Kasman made his debut in the United States in 1997 at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, where he won the silver medal. He has given recitals in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Paul, Atlanta, and Birmingham, and has performed as a soloist with more than 50 orchestras in the United States, South America, Europe, Russia, and Asia. He is an accomplished chamber musician, often appearing with such prominent groups as the Manhattan, Parisii, Charleston, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Talich string quartets. A frequent guest at summer festivals, Kasman has also participated as a judge in competitions. He continues to teach and give master classes, and is professor of piano and artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. In 2006 Kasman became an American citizen. Yakov Kasman has made recordings for Calliope and Harmonia Mundi, including sets of the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev and Scriabin, and various works by Haydn, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninov.