The XI International Piano Festival

19 – 30 December
– the Mariinsky II, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre and Chamber Halls of the Mariinsky II
– 25 concert programmes
– over thirty participants

On the eve of the XI International Piano Festival, at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre there will be a recital by Sergei Babayan (18 December, 19.00). The programme includes works by Franz Liszt, Vladimir Ryabov, Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

The opening of the XI International Piano Festival will take place at the Mariinsky II (19 December, 20.00). Accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev there will be performances by Serbian co-founder of the festival pianist Mira Jevtić, French pianist Jean-Baptiste Fonlupt, recipient of the gold medal at the International Piano Competition in Cincinnati Anastasia Volchok and young pianist Abisal Gergiev.

On the first evening of the new festival series The Composer and the Pianist Jean-Baptiste Fonlupt will be appearing again in recital at the Prokofiev Hall (20 December, 18.00). During the project it will also be possible to hear the young Uzbek pianist Nuron Mukumi with a programme of works by Frédéric Chopin (22 December, 18.00), as well as one of the most outstanding Serbian pianists of his generation – Vladimir Milošević, who will be performing two rondos and sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven (28 December, 18.00).

The project Children for Children has also been developed – for the second season, during the festival at the Prokofiev Hall young pianists will be performing for their contemporaries. This year prize-winners and diploma-recipients of the Grand Piano Competition and participants and prize-winners of the Nutcracker international TV competition will be showing their talents: Tuna Bilgin, Ivan Bessonov, Arseny Gusev, Ilya Papoyan, Yekaterina Grabova and Angel Van (20, 21, 22, 23 and 27 December, 16.00). The concerts at the chamber venues of the Mariinsky II also include appearances by the young pianist Anna Denisova with a programme of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin (Stravinsky Foyer, 23 December, 18.00).

In line with tradition, the festival will include the class of an outstanding piano professor. On this occasion residents of St Petersburg will hear students of Professor Tatiana Zelikman of the Russian Gnessins Academy of Music – at the Concert Hall Konstantin Shamrai, Roman Martynov, Frédéric D'Oria-Nicolas and Alexander Kudryavtsev will be performing all of Alexander Scriabin's piano sonatas (24 December, 18.00).

Performing recitals at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will be prize-winner of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Lucas Debargue (20 December, 20.00), Boris Petrushansky (21 December, 18.00), Pavel Raikerus (27 December, 18.00) and Vladimir Tropp (27 December, 21.00).

At the festival there will be two appearances by virtuoso Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho. A prize-winner at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition and one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation, he will be appearing in recital (Concert Hall, 25 December, 20.00) and together with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev (Concert Hall, 26 December, 19.00).

At the festival there will be three performances by Daniil Trifonov, winner of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition. At the Concert Hall with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev the musician will perform all of Sergei Rachmaninoff's piano concerti: the First and Fourth (22 December, 20.00), Second Concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (23 December, 20.00) and the Third Concerto and Symphonic Dances (25 December, 13.00).

Another vivid festival event will be an appearance by prize-winners of the Sydney International Piano Competition with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev (Concert Hall, 25 December, 16.00). It will also be possible to hear the winners of the competition's first three prizes Andrei Gugnin, Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev and Moye Chen in a programme of piano concerti by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Concert Hall, 21 December, 21.00).

Returning to St Petersburg will be virtuoso pianists from The Netherlands, the brothers Arthus and Lucas Jussen, who made their presence felt at the XXIV Stars of the White Nights music festival. In addition to works by Francis Poulenc, Frédéric Chopin and Nikolai Kapustin, the musicians will perform the ballade El amor y la muerte from the second book of pieces entitled Goyescas by Enrique Granados and music from the ballet Le Sacre du printemps by Igor Stravinsky arranged for piano for four hands (Concert Hall, 28 December, 18.00).

On 30 December the festival comes to a close with an appearance at the Concert Hall by renowned pianists Nicholas Angelich and Sergei Babayan together with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev (20.00).

The International Piano Festival was founded by Valery Gergiev and Mira Jevtić in 2011.

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