American Concert Pianist, Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger

Mercury Piano Duo

The Planet Mercury is the hottest and fastest of all the planets and circles the sun in a mere 88 days- the same number of keys on a piano. The Romans named this planet after their "Messenger God". The Mercury Piano Duo, comprised of Susan Merdinger and Irina Feoktistova, conveys the speed and passionate excitement one might expect and so much more in all the music they play- which ranges from virtuosic original works and transcriptions by Rachmaninoff and Bizet, to rhythmically exacting and dynamic contemporary works by Morton Gould, Gershwin and Poulenc to classically brilliant and eloquent works by Mozart and Brahms. 

The Mercury Piano Duo has been performing together since 2010 when the two women discovered they lived just a half-mile apart from each other in a Northern suburb of Chicago. Together they have toured in Italy, in Chicago and the Midwest, and performed on the Pianoforte Salon Series broadcast live on WFMT. Their first CD project is "in the works", but they have many live videos of their performances available on YouTube. In 2017 made their orchestral debut as a duo piano team with the FullScore Chamber Orchestra performing Poulenc's celebrated Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra.

Both women trained as duo pianists with other partners- but discovered a mutual compatibility and "sisterhood" in their newfound friendship and professional partnership.
Both women perform frequently as collaborative pianists and as soloists, and bring a wealth of musical experience to their own music-making as a piano duo, in this highly specialized repertoire. 

Susan and Irina are also one-half of the Four Piano Ensemble, Pianissimo!, founded in 2014 with Svetlana Belsky and Elena Doubovitskaya, also know as the "EStrella Duo. With a "Star" and a "Planet" combine forces, the results are astronomical!