Sergei Prokofiev week

Formal opening of the competition took place in Sergei Prokofiev Concert Hall of Donetsk Oblast Philharmonic Society, it preceded the auditions and master classes from the members of the prestigious jury. A landmark even for the participants and members of the jury was a trip to the birth place of the maestro – village of Krasne, 35 kilometers from Donetsk. Sightseers visited the places where the home estate of Prokofievs family was located, the church where the future composer was baptized and that now houses Sergei Prokofiev Museum, where apart from unique exhibits, manuscripts, and photographs, there is also a lovely intimate concert hall. A small concert was organized there by soloists of Donetsk Philharmonic Society and students of Sergei Prokofiev Donetsk Music Academy.

“Sergei Prokofiev was an outstanding innovator in the art of piano music,” noted chairman of the jury Mikhail ALEKSANDROV. “He showed a brand new sound of piano. That’s why we always come back to his creative work!”

The International Competition for Young Pianists in the homeland of Sergei Prokofiev is one of the first major music competitions in the field of academic art established in Ukraine, for 22 years already it maintains its place of honor among the most prestigious piano competitions. Many winners of the first contests held in Donetsk became famous touring pianists, for those young people their victory became the first serious step in their musical career.

In addition to finding new young talents, the organizers of Prokofiev Competition plan to make it a cultural brand of Donetsk and promote international fame of the Donbas as the homeland of the greatest composer of the 20th century. Director General of the contest Albina Oryshchuk said: “I am glad to see that in our time there are caring and socially concerned people, whose attention to the first steps of the competition in professional art will ensure their reliable start and confidence in their future, and will bring Donetsk its earned fame and respect around the world.”

This year the contest of young talents was attended by 35 contestants from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and China. They competed for victory in three age categories: junior group – under the age of 12, medium – under the age of 16, and senior – under the age of 20. For the first time “Jazz Club” Company – official representative of YAMAHA in Ukraine, brought Yamaha piano to Donetsk specifically for the audition of contestants. Chairman of the jury was Mikhail Aleksandrov, director of Frederic Chopin International Competition for Young Pianists in Moscow (Russia).

The solemn sounds of the March from the opera The Love for Three Oranges by Prokofiev symbolically opened the competition. Sergei Prokofiev Symphony Orchestra led by chief conductor Oleksandr Dolynsky performed at the concert in Donetsk Philharmonic Society. Many honorable guests came to the event, including the president’s wife Liudmyla Yanukovych. Winners from the past years presented their compositions, which has already become a nice tradition of the competition. This time, laureates of the first Prokofiev Competition – Artem Yasynsky and Elmar Hasanov (now well-known touring pianists) demonstrated their masterly skills.

In the first round, the contestants played polyphonic compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, classic sonatas and virtuoso etudes, in the second round – plays by composers from the era of romanticism to the present time, and, of course, compositions by Prokofiev.

Winners of the Seventh International Competition for Young Pianists in the native land of Sergei Prokofiev are:

Winner of the first prize in the junior group is Uliana PINAIEVA (Ukraine), second prize was awarded to Stanislav HRYNKEVYCH (Belarus), third prize was shared between three participants: Valeria KOVRYHA (Ukraine), Ekaterina TAKHTAI (Russia), and Mykhailo TOLSTOV (Ukraine).

The winners in the medium group are: Oleksii KANKE (Ukraine) – first prize and title of a laureate, Markian IVASHKEVYCH (Ukraine) – third prize and title of a laureate. The second prize was not awarded in this age group this year.

First prize in the senior age group was awarded to Denis LINNIK (Belarus), second prize went to Anastasia SHARINA (Ukraine), third prize was awarded to Maria KOLOSOVA (Russia).

Diplomas of the competition were awarded to Gilia YE-ZI WU (Canada-China), Polina CHERTORYHINA (Ukraine), Alexandr DUDIN (Russia), Habriela MAHALIAN (Ukraine), Diana AREDO (Ukraine), and Polina UVARKINA (Russia).

Besides, Polina CHERTORYHINA, as the youngest contestant, won the special prize “Hope.” The jury also named winners in the special nomination “For the Best Performance of Prokofiev’s Piece” – Uliana PINAIEVA (junior group), Markian IVASHKEVYCH (medium group), and Anastasia SHARINA (senior group).

The winners of this year’s competition demonstrated their talents in the final concert, performing the pieces from the program of the competition. The audience got a chance to see that the winners were worthy of their honors. Brilliant virtuoso Denis Linnik impressed the audience with Etude de Paganini by Franz Liszt and got a whirlwind of applause. Oleksii Kanke demonstrated excellence and exquisite sense of style performing the famous Turkish March by Wolfgang Mozart in transcription of Arkadii Volodos. Young, touching, and elegant Uliana Pinaieva with ease and confidence performed two complex pieces for her age – Pantomime by Moritz Moszkowski, and Toccata by Yurii Shchurovsky.

Winners of second prizes were almost as good in their skills as the first prize winners: for example, Anastasia Sharina brilliantly proved the title of laureate and the title of “The Best Performer of Prokofiev’s Piece,” convincingly presenting sophisticated and “grown-up” intensive ideas of his First Piano Sonata. And Mykhailo Tolstov, who at first seemed to be a tiny boy, made the grand piano produce rich orchestral sound while performing “Mercutio” from the ballet Romeo and Juliet.

The audience greeted the winners of the Seventh International Competition for Young Pianists in the Native Land of Sergei Prokofiev with a round of applause. Donetsk audience will remember the unforgettable experience of pleasant moments with high art and will look forward to the next, eighth competition.