Konstantin Efimov was born in 1958 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the elder of two sons born to Igor Efimov, well-established movie actor, and his wife, Irena.
During a visit to the United States in 1989 with the Soviet-American Cultural Exchange project "Clay Stomp," Kostia had an opportunity to perform for his first American audience at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where he shared the stage with Narada artist David Lanz. That day changed Kostia's life forever. The next morning he received a call from Narada records offering him a recording contract.
From 1989 until 1997, Kostia worked extensively on various Narada projects as a performer, arranger and producer, including David Arkenstone's Grammy-nominated In the Wake of the Wind, and Narada's most celebrated recording, Nutcracker. Kostia's music appeared on more than a dozen of Narada's collections and compilation albums. In 1992, Kostia and David Arkenstone collaborated on the first album ever endorsed by the United States Olympic Committee, Spirit of Olympia. In 1994, Narada released Kostia's first piano solo album Suite St. Petersburg, which he describes as"a piano portrait of my beloved city." 1996 brought another critically acclaimed piano album, Ten Pebbles, where Kostia revisits some of his most cherished memories. Both albums won him respect and recognition of his fellow musicians and the love of fans around the world.
Beginning in 1997, Kostia started a series of recordings with North Sound Music Group dedicated to piano idols of pop music. That year, he released Kostia's Interpretations of Billy Joel followed by Kostia's Interpretations of Elton John in 1998. The success of these projects led to a number of tribute recordings completed with world renowned instrumentalists such as Daryl Stuermer, guitarist from Genesis and Phil Collins Band; Paul McCandless, Windham Hill artist and reed and saxophone player from the band Oregon; and Windham Hill guitarist, Alex De Grassi. In 1999, Kostia composed the soundtrack for the motion picture Czar of Make Believe from Italian director Daniel Alegi, which won an award for Best Short Film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
In 2001, Kostia released Piano Ocean, an album of original music recorded in collaboration with ex-Narada star Spencer Brewer. At the same time, he composed the soundtracks for a Russian motion picture, The Play in the Modern Style, and a short film of Alex Boguslavsky entitled Blue Lamp.
In addition to collaborations with well-established music groups and individual artists, Kostia has had his music performed by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, the internationally famed Veronica String Quartet, and Present Music cellist, Paul Gemainder, to name a few.
Currently, Kostia is at work composing music for his next CD, performing solo piano concerts around the country, and recording and performing with the Daryl Stuermer Band. Future plans? "I am thinking about something I always wanted to do - a series of pieces for chorus, poem for string quartet, and six pictures for piano and orchestra," says Kostia. His journey continues. "Musical Columbus," as he is often called by journalists, is again on the way to discovering new worlds for himself and his fans.
Track List:
1. Invitation
2. For You
3. It's Going to Rain
4. American Fields
5. Russian Song
6. We
7. Interlude
8. Loneliness
9. Yarmarka
10. Snowy River
11. Home Steet Home
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