Pianists

Andrey Ponochevny Pianist

In 1987, at the age of ten, Andrey Ponochevny won First Prize at the International Competition of Music in Riga. He has gone on to win or place in many piano competitions and to perform in recitals and with orchestras throughout the world. Since winning the First Prize at the 24th International William Kapell Piano Competition in Washington, D.C. in 1998 at age 21, Mr. Ponochevny has toured extensively in the United States, performing solo recitals throughout the country, as well as in Europe.

The Bronze Medal Winner of the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, Mr. Ponochevny was honored as the featured pianist at the General Assembly of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) in Washington, D.C. Music Critic Anna Crebo writes: "...Whereas most performers are content to overwhelm their audiences with spectacular exterior glimpses, Ponochevny - through his fiery, imaginative renderings - manages to illuminate their splendid architectonics from within..."

He has been the featured soloist in such major halls as Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago. His concerts have been broadcast on WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, NPR Washington and on WFMT Chicago and the Cleveland Institute of Music. As orchestral soloist, Mr. Ponochevny has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony, the Illinois Symphony, Nashua Symphony, Ludwigsburg Festival Orchestra and the Belarussian State Philharmonic, to name a few.

In recent seasons, Mr. Ponochevny has been featured in Europe at major venues including the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Philharmonie in Cologne, and the Forum in Ludwigsburg, Germany, at the Chopin Society and National Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, L'Institut Polonais and Salle Cortot, Paris, the Philharmonic Hall, Minsk and at the Stadtkasino Basel, and at the National Opera in Minsk, Belarus, where he was named "Minsk Citizen of the Year 2003." The German Chopin Society in Hannover featured Mr. Ponochevny in a highly successful open air concert in Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto (August 2004).

Mr. Ponochevny has also performed at major festivals including Palacio de Festivales, Santander, Spain; International Ludwigsburg Festival, International Ruhr Klavier Festival and the Bonner Herbst, Germany.and Serie de los Nuevos Virtuosos in Puerto Rico.

In addition to his First Prize at the International Competition of Music in Riga, he won Second Prize at the International Radio Competition in Prague (1991) and received special prizes at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Moscow (1992); the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1995), First Prize at the International Tomassoni Piano Competition in Cologne, Germany (1996), First Prize at the 24th International William Kapell Piano Competition in Washington, DC (1998), and Bronze Medal at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow (2002).

Andrey Ponochevny graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Music in 2001 where he got his Master degree. He studied under Ludmila Shelomentseva from 1987 to 1996 and with Yuri Gulduik since 1997. In 2004 he was awarded a scholarship to study at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth where he now resides.