Ilya Itin (born 3 April 1967 in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

) is a Russian concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

residing in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Early career

Music competition

Itin was the Gold Medalist of the 1996

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, is an international piano competition which takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It ...

where he also captured the Contemporary Music Award and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Audience Award. In Russia, he was awarded the top prize given

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

in the Russian National Rachmaninov Competition, followed by top prizes at the William Kapell Competition. In 1991, he won First Prize, ' and the ''Special Chopin Prize'' at the Casadesus Competition (presently, the

Cleveland International Piano Competition The Cleveland International Piano Competition is an American piano competition that takes place biennially in Cleveland, Ohio. The initial Competition in 1975 and the nine others that followed were sponsored jointly by the Robert Casadesus Society ...

) and was awarded ', ''Best Prokofiev Performance'', ''Best Performance of a Work of Mozart'' and Third Prize at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and Third Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition, 1992.

Current career

Performance

Ilya Itin has toured as a soloist throughout Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. He has performed with numerous world class orchestras including the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the

Tokyo Symphony Orchestra The (TSO) is a Japanese orchestra, administratively based in Kawasaki. The orchestra offers subscription concert series at its home, the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall and at Suntory Hall, the Concert Hall of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, ...

, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Israel Camerata Jerusalem, the China National Symphony, the Bilkent Symphony of Ankara, the Symphony Orchestra of India, the Mexico City Philharmonic, and the London Philharmonic. Itin has collaborated with prominent conductors throughout the world such as

Sir Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Ratt ...

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

, Christoph von Dohnanyi,

Yakov Kreizberg Yakov Kreizberg (; born Yakov Mayevich Bychkov, 24 October 1959 – 15 March 2011) was a Russian-born American conductor. Early years In the Soviet Union Yakov Bychkov was born in Leningrad into a family of Jewish ancestry. His father, May ...

Vassily Sinaisky Vassily Serafimovich Sinaisky (Russian language, Russian: Васи́лий Серафи́мович Сина́йский, born in Abez camp, Komi Republic, April 20, 1947) is a Russian conductor and pianist. Biography Sinaisky studied conducting ...

, Valery Polyansky, and

Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (, ''Mikha'il Vas'ilevič Plet'nëv''; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Life and career Pletnev was born into a musical family in Arkhangelsk, then part of the Soviet Union. His fath ...

. Itin is a regular performer at the Miami International Piano Festival and the Golandsky Institute's International Piano Festival at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. His recitals in the USA and Asia have brought Itin critical acclaim. In the summer of 2010, Itin returned from a five city tour of Asia, where he played his program of all 24 Rachmaninov Preludes to sold out audiences. He opened the 2010-2011 season of the Rochester Philharmonic performing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. His acclaimed concerto recordings include Beethoven's Concerto No. 2 with the Israel Camerata, and Haydn Concerto in D Major with the Arturo Benedetti Michaelangeli Festival Chamber Orchestra. Other recordings include: the newly released live recording of the 24 Rachmaninov Preludes, Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata, No. 7 and No. 8 and Mussorgsky's ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and ...

'', released by Video Artists International (VAI). His chamber music recordings, include DVDs of Beethoven's "Spring" sonata with

Igor Gruppman Igor Gruppman (born July 4, 1956) is a Ukrainian violinist and conductor. He is the Principal Conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, a position he has held since 2003. In May 2009, Igor Gruppman was appointed by Vale ...

, Brahms' Viola Sonata in F minor with Vesna Gruppman, and a recital with legendary violinist

Ida Haendel Ida Haendel, (15 December 1928 - or 1923, the exact year remains uncertain 1 July 2020) was a world renowned Polish-British-Canadian violinist. Haendel was a child prodigy, her career spanning over seven decades. She also became an influentia ...

at the Miami International Piano Festival.

Studies

Itin began his piano studies at age four, working throughout his childhood with Natalia Litvinova at the Sverdlovsk Music Conservatory for Gifted Children. Itin continued his studies with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating with the highest honors in 1990.

Recordings

On March 7, 2010, Itin recorded two live recitals at the Miami International Piano Festival's Master Pianists Series, which have recently been released on the VAI label. This "Russian piano music marathon" contains all 24 Rachmaninov Preludes and Prokofiev's Seventh and Eighth piano sonatas.

Teaching

Itin teaches as a guest instructor at the Juilliard School and Peabody Institute and is a visiting artist/professor at Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo, Japan. He has worked in the Graduate Program at

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, New York, and teaches in the summer at the Golandsky Institute at Princeton University.

References

External links

Official Website

Amazon List of RecordingsWPRB InterviewThe Golandsky InstituteIlya Itin at EventfulRochester Philharmonic Classical Concerts

Israel Camerata JerusalemMiami International Piano Festival Critical Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itin, Ilya Living people 1967 births Prize-winners of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition Moscow Conservatory alumni Cleveland International Piano Competition prize-winners Musicians from Yekaterinburg 21st-century Russian classical pianists