It's backstage at the Shostakovich Philharmonia after the latest concert by pianist Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein and she is the center of attention.
Watching Sedmara dart among devotees and friends, it is obvious why the throng of people surrounding her in the chandeliered salon hold her in such high esteem.
The manner of her progress through the crowd reveals how extraordinarily warm and approachable this concert pianist is -- impeccably polite without the slightest hint of airs and graces.
To many, she is a long lost but not forgotten friend who left Russia in 1974 to begin a new life in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
When asked why she left, she replied frankly, "It was political you know. At that time I wanted to play banned contemporary music by composers such as Slonimsky and Tishenko and was mixing with all sorts of out of favour artists.
"And then my husband was a Jew," she added.
When she left Sedmara Zakarian was at the height of her fame in Russia. She was often the guest soloist with the then Leningrad Philharmonic Society who invited her back recently to recite a program of classical piano music.
Among her other accomplishments she was Laureate of the All Union Contest for Musicians from 1957-74 in Moscow.
She performed recitals with other orchestras within the former Soviet Union including Yerevan, Minsk, Tallin, Riga, Karkhov, Saratov and was also a frequent guest on Leningrad TV and radio.
Now a huge hit in the USA she has settled down as Professor of Piano at the Oberlin Conservatory near Cleveland but tries to return to her homeland at least once a year.
"I still have some family here, both my mother and sister and besides its a chance to perform in Russia and performing in Russia before a Russian audience is a totally different experience to performing anywhere else in the world.
"I have played in many American cities including Chicago, New York, Buffalo and Washington but there is something about a Russian audience which is far more emotional," she added.
Sedmara says she misses the warmth of her people and the richness of her culture terribly and this is why she loves to come home.
Does she have any plans to return to Russia to live and work in today's freer atmosphere?
"Its unlikely I'll return now but one of the nice things about living abroad is coming home and then its almost as if I never said goodbye."