About
Denis Kozhukhin was launched onto the international scene after winning First Prize in the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Previous awards include 1st Prize at the Vendome Prize in Lisbon in 2009, and 3rd Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006.
Born in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, in 1986 into a family of musicians, Denis Kozhukhin began his piano studies at the age of four with his mother. As a boy, he attended the Balakirev School of Music where he studied under Natalia Fish. From 2000 to 2007, Kozhukhin was a pupil at the Reine Sofia School of Music in Madrid learning with Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez-Mehner.
Upon graduating, he received his diploma personally from the Queen of Spain and was named best student in his year and twice best chamber group with his own Cervantes Trio. After his studies in Madrid, Kozhukhin was invited to study at the Piano Academy at Lake Como where he received tuition from amongst others Fou Ts’ong, Stanislav Yudenitch, Peter Frankl, Boris Berman, Charles Rosen and Andreas Staier. He completed his studies with Kirill Gerstein in Stuttgart.
Kozhukhin has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls including the Verbier Festival, where he won the Prix d’Honneur in 2003, Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Rheingau Music Festival, Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, Santander International Festival, Carnegie Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Rotterdam De Doelen, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Milan, Palau de la Musica Valencia, Théâtre du Châtelet and Auditorium du Louvre Paris.
Highlights of the 11/12 included the complete cycle of Prokofiev Piano Concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra working with Jun Maerkl, Xian Zhang, Lan Shui, Ludovic Morlot and Martyn Brabbins, visits to the St Petersburg Philharmonic with Krivine, Bournemouth Symphony with Alsop, Belgian National with Maerkl, Luxembourg Philharmonic with Sinaisky and Orchestre National de Lille with Casdesus. As a recitalist he appeared at the Verbier Festival, Auditorium du Louvre Paris, De Doelen Rotterdam and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival New York, as well as his debut at the City of London Festival in July 2012.
In the 12/13 season Kozhukhin will perform with the Vienna Symphony with Alsop, Baltimore Symphony with Alsop, Seattle Symphony with Morlot, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony with Sinaisky, Royal Flemish with de Waart, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with Petrenko, BBC Scottish Symphony with Runnicles and Bournemouth Symphony with Karabits. He returns to Japan in Spring 13 when Kozhukhin will perform the complete cycle of Prokofiev sonatas at Musashino Hall. He will also play the Prokofiev War Sonatas in London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in May 13 as part of the Rest is Noise Festival.
Kozhukhin is a committed chamber musician and has worked with amongst others, Leonidas Kavakos, Renaud and Gautier Capucon, Radovan Vlatkovic, Dora Schwarzberg, Alisa Weilerstein, Jacob Koranyi and Alissa Margulis.
He gratefully acknowledges the support of the Solti Foundation from whom he received an award in 2010.