Ilya Yakushev

Pianist

Ilya Yakushev began his piano studies at age five in his native St. Petersburg, Russia. He entered the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music in 1996 as a student of William Matygulin. As a result, he received a diploma of certification in teaching.

Mr. Yakushev has numerous awards and honors to his credit. At age 12, he was a prizewinner in the St. Petersburg Young Artists Concerto Competition. In 1997, he received the annual Mayor of St. Petersburg’s “Young Talents” Award. In both 1997 and 1998, he won First Prize at the Donostia Hiria International Piano Competition in San Sebastian, Spain. In September, 1998 in Moscow, he received a national honor: “The Award for Excellence in Performance” from the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. And he was awarded Second Prize in the 2001 Five Towns Music and Art Foundation Piano Competition in Hewlett, NY.

As a solo recitalist, Mr. Yakushev has performed in the United States, Russia, Italy, and Spain. He appeared in recital at the 1998 “Quincenna Musicale” Festival in San Sebastian, Spain, and he was a participant and performer in the international piano festival “Meranofest” 2001, in Merano Italy. While there, he performed in master classes presented by Lev Natochenny and Igor Lazko, and he has participated in other master classes presented by renowned artists such as Elena Shishko, Vladimir Krainev, Jerome Rose, Ruth Laredo, Richard Goode and Earl Wild.

Mr. Yakushev began his studies at Mannes College in 2000, where he has excelled artistically and academically. He has been a frequent participant in Mannes’ prestigious series of year long festivals, performing in Bach 2000, The Schumanns and Their Circle 2001, La Belle Époque 2002, The Birth of Romanticism 2003, and The Flowering of Romanticism 2004. He was winner of the 2002 Mannes Extension Division Concerto Competition, and performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Mannes Community Orchestra.

As a Mannes Concerto Competition winner, Ilya Yakushev performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City in November, 2004, under the baton of Maestro Paul Nadler from the Metropolitan Opera. This performance was broadcast on WQXR 96.3 FM in New York City in February of 2005.

Mr. Yakushev also performed a solo recital at the Glinka Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia, in January of 2005. He subsequently recorded a solo CD at the legendary Melodiya Studios.

Mr. Yakushev also won the Gold Medal and the First Prize in the 2005 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, OH.

Ilya Yakushev received his Bachelor of Music degree at Mannes in 2003, at which time he was honored with the Academic Excellence Award for the highest grade point average of that year’s undergraduate class, and received his Master of Music degree in 2005. He is currently a Professional Studies Diploma degree candidate at Mannes, where he studies piano with Vladimir Feltsman.

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