ABOUT
evelina vorontsova
pianist & piano pedagogue
albums - awards - chamber music - education - orchestras - teaching
career overview
A unique sound
Evelina is one of the finest current interpreters of romantic composers and loves to explore the sound of their compositions. Evelina’s musical repertoire is diverse, spanning from Baroque to contemporary pieces. This vast repertoire combines a total command of the keys, which affects her playing in such a manner that she is often described as being able to paint a wide range of colours on the instrument. Her style is characterised by a romantic approach to interpretation and playing, as demonstrated by her cantabile legato and intense virtuoso technique. Valentin Zhuk and Mikhail Voskresensky described her playing as having a deep singing quality and a unique sound at the piano, and with an understanding of both form and style, with her playing managing ‘to get and keep the attention of the audience’. It is no surprise, then, that audiences often say that they are deeply impressed by the flowing serenity of her music, her finesse in pianissimo and her lyrical prowess. In her own words: ‘For me, being on stage is the most magical moment. ‘This magic, this talent I’ve been given, I wish to pass it on to my audiences, with my whole life experience echoing in the music.’
Albums
Evelina released three well-received solo albums: Evelina Vorontsova (2002), Rachmaninoff (2016) and Winter EP (2023). Three more solo albums are in the pipeline:: Scriabin (independent), Schumann (independent), and Schubert-Liszt (Piano Classics).
The album Rachmaninoff (2016) received 5 out of 5 stars from International Piano, who described it as “awe-inspiring”, and it has been compared to recordings by Berman and Kocsis. A selection of reviews:
- ‘Rachmaninov’s rich, emotional sound world roars and whispers from the Steinway’; ‘in every imaginable tonal colour’ (C. Lelie, Trouw, 2017).
- ‘Heartfelt interpretations of great intensity’ (F. van der Waa, Volkskrant, 2017);
- ‘Superior nobility and sonority’, ‘a jewel necklace’ (Opus Klassiek, 2017).
- ‘Beautifully unsentimental’ (International Piano, 2017); ‘Ungemein klangvoll’, ‘Kontrastierenden Farben’ (Pizzicato, 2017);
- ‘Thunderous fortissimos to whispering pianissimos’, ‘formidable technical virtuosity’ (MusicWeb, 2017).
The album was chosen as Recording of the Month by Stereophile in the US and Recording of the Day by Artamag in France, and has received airplay on various radio stations.
Awards and recognitions
Evelina has won multiple prizes in various competitions. These include the 4th prize and an extra Special Prize for the Best Performance of All Preludes and Etudes at the All-Russian Rachmaninov Competition in Moscow in 1990 (at the age of seventeen), and the 2nd prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht in 1992. In 2006, the second prize for Romantic Concerto was awarded at the Concorso Internazionale per Pianoforte e Orchestra in Cantù. The first prize, the Premio Virtuositè, and the second prize (without the first award) were both given at the Concorso Internazionale di Esecuzione Musicale Premio Città Padova in the same year. Evelina also received the Vriendenkrans from the Concertgebouw Friends in 1998.
Utrecht Conservatory
Evelina is a professor of piano at the Utrecht Conservatorium. She also runs Vorontsova Academy for Russian Piano Method Online worldwide.
Performances with orchestra
Evelina has performed as a soloist with many conductors and orchestras. These include a performance in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with sir Yehudi Menuhin (1995), and a grand tour of Italy with Lev Markiz and the Stuttgart Kammerorchestr performing Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 1 (1996), including a performance at the magnificent Teatro Comunale in Bologna. Evelina performed as a soloist with Het Orkest in Poulenc’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra conducted by Stewart Robertson (1994), with an orchestra conducted by Aleksander Wakulsky and with an orchestra conducted by Jan Stulen in Doelen Rotterdam during the Liszt Competition (1992). Later on, she gave occasional concerts with various orchestras, the most recent of which was Prokofiev’s Third Concerto with the Zwols Symfonie Orkest conducted by the talented Samuel Tamarit Otero (2024).
Chamber music
Evelina loves the energy of chamber music. She has performed with hundreds of musicians and ensembles, including Herman Krebbers, Sidney Harth, Marina Shaguch, Valentin Zhuk, Vera Beths, Natasha Korsakova, Leonid Kerbel, Sergei Ostrovsky, Jeroen den Herder, Igor Ruhadze, Denis Shapovalov, Pavel Berman and Boudewijn Zwart.
Evelina has performed at numerous festivals, particularly in Italy, Russia, at the Menuhin Festival, Portugal and the Netherlands, including the Prinsengracht, HMS, Cellofestival and Stift.
Education
Evelina Vorontsova was born into a family of pianists in Moscow, Russia. Evelina received her first piano lessons at the age of two from her parents, Vladimir Vorontsov and Ilvina Aknazarova, as well as from Rudolf Kehrer, the teacher of her father. Kehrer himself was taught by Isser Slonim and Zelma Tamarkina at the Tashkent Conservatoire in the 1950s. Coincidentally, they were also the teachers of Evelina’s mother a decade later.
At the age of 12, Evelina enrolled to study with the legendary Mikhail Voskresensky and Elena Kuznetsova at the Central School of Music for Talented Children at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow. Their collaboration lasted for 12 years, during which time she completed all of her studies under their tutelage with cum laude honours: the Central Music School (1990), and the undergraduate (gold medal in 1995) and postgraduate (1997) programmes of the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory. As is customary at Russian conservatories, Evelina’s bachelor’s exams led to 4 diplomas: performing musician, music pedagogue, vocal coach and chamber musician.
After performing at the International Liszt Competition in Utrecht, Jan Wijn invited Evelina to continue her studies at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where she obtained another ‘performing musician’ diploma cum laude (1999). Evelina’s studies in Amsterdam were supported by a four-year scholarship from the Yuri Egorov Young Pianist Foundation. She also worked as a teacher’s assistant (1993-1997) and correpetitor (1999) at the conservatory, as an accompanist at the Holland Music Sessions and played many concerts in support of her stay in the Netherlands.
While still studying, Evelina enjoyed several masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Earl Wild, Isaac Stern, John O’Conor and Eugene Indjic.
repertoire
Recitals
& chamber music
Evelina Vorontsova has an exceptionally wide knowledge of the piano repertoire and is a highly accomplished performer. She is a renowned soloist and has performed with many orchestras and chamber musicians. Contact her now to discuss a specific programme. Access her most frequently performed repertoire here.
