Winner, Astral Artists’ 2009 National Auditions
Pianist Ilya Poletaev is quickly becoming recognized as one of today’s most original and compelling artists. In July 2010, he captured First Prize at the prestigious XVII International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig and, as the winner, will appear in recital at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
A pianist with an inquisitive mind who explores a wide range of repertoire choices ranging from the 16th to the 21st century, Mr. Poletaev leads a multifaceted career as both a classically trained pianist and as a performer on early keyboards. The Philadelphia Inquirer praised his debut in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (in both C.P.E. Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, Wq. 23 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor with Symphony in C), singling out his “lively imagination” and “unfailingly gorgeous tone,” and remarking that “in total it was an interpretation of considerable individuality.” Keith Kibler of The Berkshire Eagle has said of Mr. Poletaev, “An expert harpsichordist, [he] played Bach on the piano as well as any I have heard…All that he played was deeply considered…His intelligence was luminous.”
Mr. Poletaev has appeared with the Toronto and Hartford symphony orchestras as well as with Romania’s Filarmonica “Mihail Jora” di Bacau and Orchestra J-Futura of Trento, Italy. Mr. Poletaev was the First Prize winner of the XX Concorso Sala Gallo Piano Competition in Monza, Italy, where he also received the Audience Prize, the Bach Prize, and the Orchestra Prize. A prizewinner at the 2011 George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest, he also captured First Prize at the 2009 Grieg International Competition, and was a laureate of the 2008 National Stepping Stone Competition in Canada. He joined the Astral Artists roster as a winner of its 2009 National Auditions.
As a harpsichordist, Mr. Poletaev was a top prizewinner at the 2007 Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society harpsichord competition, and has been heard in such venues as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Pierpont Morgan Library, the Helicon Foundation, the Aston Magna Early Music Festival, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and Yale’s Collection of Musical Instruments. As a continuo player, he has performed under Masaaki Suzuki, Andrew Lawrence-King, Steven Stubbs, Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carrington, Graham O’Reilly, and Helmuth Rilling. As a chamber musician, he has performed alongside such distinguished artists as Robert Mann, Donald Weilerstein, Gary Hoffmann, Boris Berman, Paul Hersh, Susan Narucki, and Miah Persson. He has also appeared at the Moab, Caramoor, Sarasota, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Banff, Orford, and Stratford Summer Music festivals.
Mr. Poletaev gave an acclaimed performance at the Caramoor Festival with renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Other recent performances include Medtner’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Peter Oundjian, solo appearances at Germany’s prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the George Enescu International Festival in Romania, a concerto performance at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana, and recitals at Italy’s Festival Lago Maggiore, the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. His two-volume recording of the complete works of George Enescu for violin and piano, with violinist Axel Strauss, will soon be released on the Naxos label.
Mr. Poletaev began studying in Moscow at the age of six and continued his studies in Israel until he moved to Canada at the age of 14. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, where he studied with pianist Marietta Orlov and harpsichordist Colin Tilney, as well as a doctorate and a Master’s degree from Yale, where he studied with Boris Berman. Between 2005 and 2010 he also served on the faculties of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the Yale Department of Music, and the Yale School of Music as a lecturer in Early Music. In the spring of 2011 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Piano at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montréal.
Updated: SEPTEMBER 2011
