Denis Kozhukhin Piano
Winner of the First Prize in the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels at the age of 23, Denis Kozhukhin has established himself as one of the greatest pianists of his generation.
Kozhukhin’s performances have been praised by critics as “spellbinding”, “imperious”, and “mesmerizing”. Technically flawless, Kozhukhin combines wisely the brilliance and power of his playing with a masterful sense of form, maturity, and a very unique sensitivity.
Highlights of his 2016/17 season included engagements with the Saatskapelle Berlin / D. Barenboim, London Symphony Orchestra / S. Rattle, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / J.van Zweden, Chicago Symphony Orchestra / E. Krivine, Philharmonia Orchestra / Y. Temirkanov, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / A. Poga, Philadelphia Orchestra / S.Denève, Mahler Chamber Orchestra / R. Payare, San Francisco Symphony / A. Orozco-Estrada, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / A. Orozco-Estrada, Czech Philharmonic / J.Weilerstein, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra / J. Weilerstein, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / V. Petrenko, Toronto Symphony Orchestra / K. Järvi and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / K. Yamada.
As a recitalist, recent seasons have included returns to the Concertgebouw’s Master Pianists Series, Vienna Konzerthaus, Cologne Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Verbier Festival, London’s International Piano Series, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Carnegie Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Rotterdam De Doelen, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Boulez Saal.
His debut recording for the label Pentatone, featuring Grieg Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin and Vassily Sinaisky was received with rave reviews, including Gramophone Editor’s Choice and Disc of the month in Fono Forum and Stereophone.
His second album, including solo works by Brahms, was released in January 2017.
In 2017/18 Kozhukhin makes his debut with NHK Symphony / P. Järvi, NDR Radiophilharmonie / X. Zhang, Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra / M. Mariotti, Estonian National Symphony / D. Alexeev, returns with Philharmonia Orchestra under S-M. Rouvali and also under P. Järvi, Chicago Symphony / J. van Zweden, Houston Symphony / A. Orozco-Estrada, Hamburg Symphony / D. Hindoyan, BBC Scottish Symphony / A. Vedernikov, Hungarian National Philharmonic / Z. Hamar, tours with London Philharmonic Orchestra / V. Jurowski and the Cadaqués Symphony / V. Ashkenazy, and appears in recital at the Concertgebouw’s Master Pianists Series, Dvorak Prague Festival, Auditorium du Louvre, Kumho Art Hall, Flagey Piano Series, Schloss Elmau, Wigmore Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus and Boulez Saal among others.
An avid chamber musician, Kozhukhin is frequently invited to international festivals such as Verbier Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Intonations Festival, Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, and has collaborated with such artists as Leonidas Kavakos, Michael Barenboim, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Janine Jansen, Vadim Repin, Julian Rachlin, the Jerusalem Quartet, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Radovan Vlatkovic, Jörg Widmann, Emmanuel Pahud and Alisa Weilerstein, amongst others.
Born in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, in 1986 into a family of musicians, Denis Kozhukhin began his piano studies at the age of five with his mother. As a boy, he attended the Balakirev School of Music where he studied under Natalia Fish. From 2000 to 2007, Kozhukhin studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid with Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez-Mehner.
Kozhukhin completed his studies at the Piano Academy at Lake Como where he received advice from Fou Ts’ong, Stanislav Yudenitch, Peter Frankl, Boris Berman, Charles Rosen and Andreas Staier, and with Kirill Gerstein in Stuttgart.
In recent years he has been mentored by maestro D. Barenboim.