An Armenian American navigates the political and social landscape of the late 1960's Moscow while attending the prestigious Moscow Conservatory and competing to prove herself worthy of becoming a concert pianist among other world class students from France and the USSR itself. 

SYNOPSIS:

Title: Chasing Gilels Genre: Historical Writer: Michael Gutierrez-May

Logline: An Armenian American teenaged piano prodigy is given the opportunity to study at the Moscow Conservatory with famous pianist Emil Gilels and must prove herself worthy to study with other international students at the Conservatory while also surviving challenges of living in the USSR in the late 1960s.

In the late Spring of 1968, following a competitive audition at Boston’s Symphony Hall. an Armenian-American teenager Sara is given the unique opportunity to study piano at the Moscow Conservatory under the tutelage of Emil Gilels, a world-famous pianist in residence at the Conservatory. After Sara learns of this, she faces concerns expressed by her father who is reluctant to let others in their community know about her trip to the USSR due to community ideological opposition to Soviet Politics. Sara also faces concerns from her boyfriend Roger, who is also opposed to everything the Soviet Union stands for. Sara chooses to leave there for study despite this and when she arrives there in August, 1968, she meets four other students who have also been chosen for this special opportunity, two from France and two from Russia itself. Sara must now prove herself worthy of this honor through preparation for recitals alongside these peers. She will also be facing the rigors of life in Russia itself during the Cold War years, which include living in substandard housing, food rationing and constant surveillance by Soviet intelligence agents.

After passing her two competitive recitals in the Winter and Spring, 1969 alongside her peers, Sara proves herself as a concert pianist and gains the approval of Professor Gilels. Sara must now return to the US and patch up a strained relationship with her boyfriend, the now reluctant approval of her father and family and expectations that she will excel in a concert pianist career. Sara ultimately chooses a middle ground completing her tutelage at New England Conservatory, giving periodic recitals while raising a family and supporting her now-husband's career as an architect.

CHASING GILELS