About us
Mission
Fiscally sponsored by the SocialGood Fund, the nonprofit project Gradus ad Parnassum preserves the highest traditions of classical music by creating platforms where artists deeply rooted in the legacy of the art form pass the baton to the rising voices of a new generation.
The Challenge We Address
In recent decades, the world of opera and classical performance has experienced a profound decline in vocal standards, artistic depth, and educational integrity. Once rooted in centuries of tradition, opera singing has given way to smaller, less developed voices, often chosen for marketability over mastery. The break in transmission of technique once passed from masters of the past, has left many gifted singers without a path to professional recognition.
Instrumental music faces a similar crisis: though technical skills remain, the interpretive depth and individuality seen in past generations are fading. Spectacle increasingly replaces substance, and musical meaning is often lost in favor of visual performance.
We aim to restore this broken chain — reconnecting today’s artists with the rich traditions, rigorous training, and deep musical values that once defined the golden age of performance.
What We Do
People
Temirzhan Yerzhanov
Project Director
Temirzhan Yerzhanov — American pianist and conductor hailing from Kazakhstan — launched his international career by winning the Gold Medal at the International Robert Schumann Piano Competition in Zwickau, Germany. He now continues to perform both as a pianist and as an emerging conductor.
Mr. Yerzhanov has appeared in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall), London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Paris’s Salle Gaveau, Dresden’s Sempergalerie, Grand Halls of the Moscow Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. His performances have been broadcast on Deutsche Radio Berlin, Hong Kong Radio, Radio Russia, and Orpheus Radio. He has recorded for the RCD and Con Brio Recordings labels.
A versatile and collaborative artist, Mr. Yerzhanov has worked with numerous opera singers, instrumentalists, and opera companies. As a conductor, he has led performances with the Kazakh Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Google Orchestra, Capital Philharmonia Brasília, Kazakh National Abai Opera, Astana Opera, Orchestra Gradus ad Parnassum, and the Kyzylorda Orchestra.
In the United States, Mr. Yerzhanov serves as Music Director at Ópera Cultura (San Jose, California), where he conducted La Llorona, Cuentos, the West Coast premiere of Bless Me, Ultima by Héctor Armienta, and Tres Minutos by Nicolás Benavides. As Resident Guest Conductor at the Shymkent Opera, he conducted Cavalleria Rusticana and premiered Rossini’s La Cenerentola.
A graduate and former faculty member of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Mr. Yerzhanov studied piano under Professor Mikhail Voskressensky. Later he studied conducting with Imant Airea. He was named "Best Performer of 2007" by San Francisco Classical Voice. In his native Kazakhstan, he has been awarded the title Yenbek Sinirgen Qairatkeri, the nation’s highest honorary distinction for cultural contribution.
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Klara Frei
Project Co-Director
Pianist and educator Klara Frei has performed across Europe, including in Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, Czechia, and Russia—both as a soloist and as an accomplished chamber musician. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared regularly with the Kyrgyz National Symphony Orchestra, performing major works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, and Chopin.
Born in Kyrgyzstan, Ms. Frei began her piano studies at a specialized music school in her native country. After winning First Prize at the National Competition and being awarded the prestigious USSR Ministry of Culture Scholarship, she pursued advanced studies at the renowned Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She later graduated from the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel in Switzerland.
Her principal teachers included the distinguished Professors Evgeny Malinin, Jean-Jacques Dünki, and Peter Feuchtwanger.
In addition to her work as a performer and educator, Ms. Frei is an experienced music and arts administrator, having worked with the Youth Orchestra Gradus ad Parnassum and IMG Artists.