Lukas Geniušas
Piano • Prize-winner at the International Young Pianists’ Competition A Step towards Mastery in St Petersburg (1st prize, 2002)
• Prize-winner at the First Open Central School of Music Competition in Moscow (1st prize, 2003)
• Prize-winner at the IV International Frédéric Chopin Young Pianists’ Competition in Moscow (1st prize, 2003)
• Prize-winner at the International Gina Bachauer Youth Piano Competition in Salt Lake City (2nd prize, 2005, 1st prize, 2010)
• Prize-winner at the Scottish International Piano Competition (2nd prize, 2007)
• Prize-winner at the VII Youth Delphic Games in Novosibirsk (1st prize, 2008)
• Prize-winner at the III International Musica Viva pianists’ competition in San Marino (2nd prize, 2008)
• Prize-winner at the International Musica della Val Tidone piano competition (1st prize, 2009)
• Prize-winner at the XVI International Frédéric Chopin Pianists’ Competition in Warsaw (2nd prize, 2010) Lukas Geniušas was born on 1 July in 1990 in Moscow. He began to study music at the age of five at the preparatory department of Frédéric Chopin Music College in Moscow, from which he graduated with top honours in 2008.
Being born into a family of musicians played a major role in Lukas Geniušas’ swift musical development at a young age. His grandmother, Vera Gornostaeva, a prominent teacher and a professor at the Moscow Conservatoire, became his first mentor. Before the age of twelve Lukas Geniušas began to appear at international competitions and festivals at which he received numerous awards.
Lukas’ most recent and most important victory in his musical development was winning the 2nd prize at the XVI International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in October 2010.
The pianist has appeared with numerous ensembles including the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Duisburg Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian State Orchestra and the St Petersburg Capella among other Russian and European ensembles. He has also collaborated with such conductors as Vladimir Ziva, Andrey Boreyko, Saulus Sondeckis, Dmitry Liss, Jonathan Darlington and James Loughran among others. Lukas Geniušas has toured to France, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, the USA and Germany among other countries.
The young musician’s repertoire is extensive and ranges from the Baroque to works by modern composers. At the age of eighteen he had already performed ten solo recital programmes and eight concerti for piano and orchestra. His repertoire includes such masterpieces as Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, Beethoven’s 29th Hammerklavier sonata, Brahms’ First Sonata, Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.
Lukas is an avid performer of chamber music, taking part in various duets, trios and quintets; he has a great curiosity for new works by modern composers as well as rarely performed repertoire.
Lukas Geniušas has been a grant recipient of the Vladimir Spivakov Foundation and has been a frequent participant at the New Names foundation’s concerts.
In 2005 Lukas Geniušas was awarded the Young Talents Russian State grant and in 2007 he received the Gifted Youth of the 21st Century Moscow City Government Award. In 2008 he entered the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, class of Professor Vera Gornostaeva. “Lukas Geniušas has sensational technical ability and an acute sense of style.”
The New Times, 2008 “With Beethoven’s Hammerklavier sonata Lukas Geniušas demonstrated maturity that is rare for his age, a highest level of piano technique, precision and clarity of performance, a sense of style, energy and deep understanding of the material.”
Music Life, 2008 “Lukas has had big, big success all over, and he’s considered one of the most promising young pianists in Europe.”
Deseret News, 2010 “… this is a prodigious young talent, spiritually mature and in possession of a colossal virtuosic ability.”
Bella Davidovich on Lukas Geniušas’ performance of Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor |
