Biography
"You listen to him for the first time and you know that he is speaking to you directly, with no loyalties beyond himself, his way of understanding interpretation. There is no intermediate between the strength that guides his fingers on the keyboard and your ability to feel that something unprecedented is happening right there."
-Fernando Merino
Praised for his poise, precision, and compelling musical insight, Rafael Kyrychenko represents the new generation of pianists combining intellectual depth with a captivating stage presence.
Rafael Kyrychenko is an internationally acclaimed pianist, prizewinner of numerous prestigious competitions across Europe, the United States and Japan. He began his studies at the age of five with his mother, Cristina Pliousnina.
He has received international recognition in various countries such as Japan, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Estonia, San Marino, Cyprus and also in the United States. He has also participated in masterclasses and private lessons with world renowned musicians such as Philippe Entremont, Dmitry Bashkirov, Vitaly Samoshko, Markus Groh, Michel Béroff, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Rena Shereshevskaya, Elizabeth Leonskaja, among others.
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During the Paris International Summer Sessions, he had the opportunity to play his debut in the Salle Cortort and the Fountainebleau Palace. Rafael also performed in prestiged halls such as the Sala Suggia da Casa da Música (Porto) and CCB (Lisbon, Portugal); Estonia Concert Hall (Tallinn, Estónia); Genebra Congress Hall (Narva); Charlottenborg Festsal (Copenhagen, Denmark); Flagey Studio 1 (Brussels, Belgium); Hamamatsu Act City (Japan), Palau de la Musica Catalana (Barcelona, Spain), Sala de Congressos and Teatro Baltazar Dias (Funchal, Madeira); DeSantis Chapel de Palm Beach Atlantic University (EUA), among others.
Along with his solo recitals, Rafael has also performed under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Mikhail Jurowski, Philippe Entremont, Andris Poga, Joseph Swensen, Michael Schønwandt, Zoe Zeniodi, Vasily Sinaisky, Andrew Gourlay, Cesário Costa and Rui Massena.
Having finished his studies in the Professional Course in the Madeira School of Arts, his education took him to the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth under the mastership of Maria João Pires from 2014 until 2016. Between 2014 and 2021, he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Prof. Daniel Blumenthal, and between 2019 and 2021 also attended the Imola Piano Academy with Prof. Leonid Margarius. Since 2021, he has moved to Madrid and is currently studying with Profs. Milana Chernyavska, Marta Gulyás, Claudio Martinez-Mehner and Denis Lossev at the Escuela de Música Reina Sofia.