Piano Days to begin with Russian Denis Kozhukhin

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Denis Kozhukhin, who has appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious festivals, will open the Akbank Piano Art Days. Biletix Photo.

Akbank Art Center’s Piano Art Days will kick off Nov. 17 with world-renowned pianist Denis Kozhukhin.

Kozhukhin exploded onto the international music scene after winning the first prize in the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. He also won the first prize at the Vendome Prize in Lisbon in 2009 and the third prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006.

Born in 1986 in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, into a family of musicians, Kozhukhin began his piano studies at the age of 4 with his mother. As a boy, he attended the Balakirev School of Music where he studied under Natalia Fish. From 2000 to 2007, Kozhukhin was a pupil at the Reine Sofia School of Music in Madrid where he studied with Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez-Mehner.

At his graduation ceremony, Kozhukhin received his diploma personally from the queen of Spain. He was also named best student in his year while his own Cervantes Trio has twice been named best chamber group. After his studies in Madrid, Kozhukhin was invited to study at the prestigious International Piano Academy Lake Como with faculty members Fou Ts’ong, Stanislav Yudenitch, Peter Frankl, Boris Berman, Charles Rosen and Andreas Staier.

Kozhukhin has appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls, including the Verbier Festival, where he won the Prix d’Honneur in 2003, Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Rheingau Music Festival, Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, Santander International Festival, Carnegie Hall, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Milan, Palau de la Musica Valencia, Theatre du Chatelet and Auditorium du Louvre Paris.

Kozhukhin’s highlights from the 2010/2011 season included four concerts with the Netherlands Philharmonic with Karabits in the Concertgebouw, a televised concert with the Belgian National Orchestra with Boreyko in the Palais de Beaux Arts, Brussels, and an appearance with the Prague Philharmonia with Hrusa.

Having received the LOTTO-Förderpreis prize at the Rheingau Festival for his debut in 2010, he returned this year with Les Siecles and Roth. As a recitalist, he has made hugely successful debut tours of Japan and Brazil and has also appeared in the Herkulessaal Munich, De Doelen Rotterdam, the Montpellier Festival, the Berlin Klavierfieber Festival and the opening of the Oslo Chamber Music Festival