Ilya Kazantsev
Piano

A native of Moscow, pianist Ilya Kazantsev began his studies at age seven. At age ten he was accepted into the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow as a student of Professor Valeriy Pyasetsky. Thus far in his young career Ilya has performed throughout Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and extensively throughout the United States. Ilya has performed as a soloist with the Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonid Nikolaev at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, with the Kharkov Youth Symphony and Kharkov Philarmonic Orchestras under the baton of Yuriy Yanko in Kharkov, Ukraine. In the United States, Ilya has performed with the New York Doctor’s Orchestra and the Mannes Extension Orchestra under the baton of Peter Bellino. In addition Ilya has performed at the Rachmaninov, Small, and Great Halls of the Moscow Conservatory, Small Hall at the St. Petersburg Philharmony, Cami Hall, Steinway Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City.

Mr. Kazantsev won First Prize at both the 1998 Nikolai Rubinstein International Competition in Paris and the 2001 International Festival-Competition in Grodno, Belarus, and Sixth Prize at the 2000 International Chopin Competition in Moscow. He was the winner of the 2002 Extention Mannes Orchestra Competition; the Trinity Church Concert series Award, 2005; the Nadia Reisenberg Award Competition, 2006, and received First Prizes at both the 2004 Fidelman Competition in NY and the Five Town Competition in Long Island in 2005.

Ilya has participated in numerous festivals in Russia such as the VIII International Youth Festival “Virtuosi 2000” in Saint Petersburg, 1999, the VI International Festival “Music. Youth. Hope.” in Petrozavodsk, 2000. Ilya has also performed in the Mannes College of Music Festivals, “La Belle Epoque” 2002, “The Birth of Romanticism” 2003, “The Flowering of Romanticism” 2004 and “The Late Romantics” 2005. Ilya has performed in master classes with Siyavush Gadzhiev (Koper), Igor Lazko (Saint Petersburg, Aydovshina, Izola) and Peter Aiher (Moscow). In New York, Ilya had the pleasure of performing for Earl Wild who complemented him on his “marvelous sound.” Also in New York, Ilya has performed in master classes with Richard Goode, Jay Gotlieb, and Marcel Baudet.

Currently, Mr. Kazantsev continues his studies with Dr. Arkady Aronov at the Mannes College of Music and serves as a piano teacher for the college’s Greenwich House of Music School. Mr. Kazantsev is experienced in teaching students of all ages and levels. In addition to having an active private teaching studio, he is also a faculty member of the Piano School of New York City.