Dimitri Illarionov (born 1979 in Chișinău, Moldova) is a Germany-based Russian

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

ist. He is a winner of the Guitar Foundation of America Competition (2002, Miami, USA) and Francisco Tárrega Guitar Competition (2008, Spain).

Music career

Education

Dimitri studied in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

at the Russian Gnesins's Academy of Music under Alexander Frauchi, and later in Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (Germany) under Andreas von Wangenheim and also took lessons with

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Nikita Koshkin Nikita Arnoldovich Koshkin (; born 28 February 1956) is a classical guitarist-composer born in Moscow USSR. His early influences included Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, as well as rock music. Koshkin first came to prominence with his sui ...

. Illarionov is now Professor at the Gnessins' Russian Academy of Music in Moscow.

Competitions

Illarionov is the winner and laureate of numerous international competitions in the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

. These include the Grand Prix in the VI International Promotional Competition "Guitar Talents' Review" (

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, Poland - 1999) and the title of "The Greatest Hope" in the "Tenth Gdańsk Meeting of Guitarists"; First Prize and Prize of Public in the VIII International Guitar Competition in Coria (Spain - 2004); First Prize in the Russian International Guitar Competition - "Guitar in Russia" in

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

(Russia - 2002), Second Prize in

Michele Pittaluga International Classical Guitar Competition The "Michele Pittaluga" International Classical Guitar Competition is an annual music competition for classical guitarists held in Alessandria, Italy. It was founded in 1968 and has earned an international reputation, entering membership of the Wo ...

(Italy - 2007). Illarionov was the first guitarist to take Second Prize in the III International Competition of Musical Personalities "Alexander Tansman" (

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland - 2000). In October 2002, Illarionov won the Twentieth International

Guitar Foundation of America The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is an American classical guitar nonprofit organization that was founded in 1973 at the National Guitar Convention sponsored by the American String Teachers Association. The foundation offers various ser ...

Solo Guitar Competition (GFA –

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, USA). As part of the prize, he conducted his concert tour (in the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) and will record a concert video.

Performances

Illarionov has an active concert life, playing solo recitals and performing as soloist with orchestras.

Works

Illarionov's repertoire is broad and versatile. It ranges across various periods and styles: music of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

(

Luis Milan Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

Alonso Mudarra Alonso Mudarra (c. 1510 – April 1, 1580) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, and also played the vihuela, a guitar-shaped string instrument. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was the composer ...

John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...

, J. S. Bach), original music for guitar from the 19th and early 20th centuries (

Fernando Sor Fernando Sor (baptised 14 February 1778 – 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the Classical period (music), late Classical era and Romantic music, early Romantic era. Best known for writing solo classical guitar mu ...

Mauro Giuliani Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. Biography Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's cente ...

Francisco Tárrega Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as '' Capricho Árabe'' and '' Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. Biography ...

), and music of the 20th and 21st centuries ( Frank Martin,

Alexandre Tansman Alexander Tansman (, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of neoclassicism, associated with ...

Manuel Ponce Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar (8 December 1882 – 24 April 1948), known in Mexico as Manuel M. Ponce, was a Mexican composer active in the 20th century. His work as a composer, music educator and scholar of Mexican music connected the concert s ...

Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the '' Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical g ...

Joaquín Turina Joaquín Turina Pérez (9 December 188214 January 1949) was a Spanish composer of classical music.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' online (2014)"Joaquín Turina"/ref> Biography Turina was born in Seville. He studied in Seville as well as in Madri ...

Agustín Barrios Agustín Pío Barrios (also known as Agustín Barrios Mangoré and Nitsuga—Agustín spelled backwards—Mangoré; May 5, 1885 – August 7, 1944) was a Paraguayan virtuoso classical guitarist and composer, largely regarded as one of the greates ...

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

Sérgio Assad Sérgio Assad (born 26 December 1952) is a Brazilian guitarist, composer, and arranger who often performs with his brother, Odair, in the guitar duo ''Sérgio and Odair Assad'', commonly referred to as the ''Assad Brothers'' or ''Duo Assad''. Th ...

Roland Dyens Roland Dyens () (19 October 1955 – 29 October 2016) was a French classical guitarist, composer, and arranger. He is considered one of the greatest guitarists of his time. Life and career Dyens was born in Tunisia and lived most of his life in P ...

, Dusan Bogdanovic,

Angelo Gilardino Angelo Gilardino (16 November 1941 – 14 January 2022) was an Italian composer, guitarist, and musicologist. Life and career Gilardino was born in Vercelli, Italy, on 16 November 1941. During his concert career, from 1958 to 1981, he premier ...

, Andrey Zelenskiy, the unique cycle ''24 Preludes and Fugues for Solo Guitar'' by Igor Rekhin), as well as compositions for guitar with orchestra and chamber music. Dimitri Illarionov has recorded the CD ''Premieres'' with the Moscow Chamber "The Seasons" Orchestra (conductor – Vladislav Bulakhov) for Les Éditions Doberman-Yppan; two solo CDs: by

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

(Laureate Series) and the CD ''East Side Story'' (Daminus Records) with music written by modern Eastern European composers. Illarionov's ''Classical Duo'' CD (Delos Records) with Russian cellist Boris Andrianov entered the long-list of the 2004

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Awards. Dimitri has performed with leading ensembles from different countries, including “Venice Soloists”, Camerata S (Korea), the State Orchestra of Russia named after E. F. Svetlanov, Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra, “Moscow Virtuosi”. He has collaborated with famous conductors, including

Vladimir Fedoseev Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev (; born 16 February 1995) is a Russian chess grandmaster playing for Slovenia. He is the reigning European champion in Rapid chess and Chess960. He competed in the Chess World Cup in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023. Ca ...

, Alexander Sladkovsky, Fabio Mastrangelo,

Leo Brouwer Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cubans, Cuban composer, conducting, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Early years Brouwer was born in Havana, Cuba. When he ...

, César Alvarez. He played with many famous performers on various instruments, including Boris Andrianov, Patrick Galois, Igor Fedorov, Andrey Baranov, Leonard Schreiber, Sergey Dogadin,

Edin Karamazov Edin Karamazov (born Edin Džananović in 1965) is a Bosnian musician, lutenist and guitarist. Biography Karamazov studied lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He has worked with such ensembles as Hesperion XX, L'A ...

, Nikolay Sivchuk, the Artis-Quartet and many others. Since 2021, Illarionov is an artistic director of the FRAUCHI International Competition and Festival.

References

External links

Dimitri Illarionov – article on Savarez website

Dmitry Illarionov's website

Dmitry Illarionov's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illarionov, Dimitri German classical guitarists 20th-century Russian guitarists 21st-century Russian guitarists 20th-century Russian classical musicians 21st-century Russian classical musicians Russian classical guitarists Russian classical musicians Russian male guitarists 1979 births Living people 20th-century Russian male musicians 21st-century Russian male musicians Gnessin State Musical College alumni 21st-century Russian people Russian expatriates in Germany