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Igor Pikayzen, violin
Award-winning Russian-American violinist Igor Pikayzen is confidently establishing himself as one of the most prodigious and in-demand soloists of his generation. Praised on four continents by critics and audiences alike for his “astounding technical ability” and a “majestically lush tone”, Igor Pikayzen “surely is at the forefront of a major musical career” (Moscow Times). Since his concerto debut at the age of 8, with Mozart's Violin Concerto #2 and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Pikayzen has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras spanning Europe, Asia, North and South America. Highlights of the 2021-22 season include solo appearances with Filarmonica de Boca del Rio, Sinfonia Toronto, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony of Georgia, debut recitals at the Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago, the Gina Bachauer series in Salt Lake City, recitals in Denver and Washington D.C. as well as a return to New York’s prestigious Bargemusic series. 2022 also sees the release of two new albums; a recording of fantasies for violin & piano with Tatyana Pikayzen and the Glazunov Violin Concerto on Sony Classical.
Previous solo appearances include the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Radio Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, Sinfonietta Veracruzana, Sinfonica Nacional de Chile, Filharmonica di Bacau, Bialystok Philharmonic, Istanbul State Symphony, Stamford Symphony, Czestochowa Philharmonic, Izmir Symphony, Ridgefield Symphony, Tbilisi Opera Orchestra, Yokohama Sinfonietta, Kielce Philharmonic and countless others under the batons of LiorShambadal, Łukasz Borowicz, Brett Mitchell, GürerAykal, Toshi Shimada, Jorge Mester, Daniel Huppert, Hobart Earle, JerzySalwarovski, Roman Revueltas, Enrique Batiz, Thomas Rösner, Vakhtang Matchavariani, Christopher Lyndon-Gee, Alexander Platt and Emil Tabakov. In the last three seasons alone, he has given debuts and returned to Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Tchaikovsky Hall and Minor Hall in Moscow, Teatro Llago in Frutillar, Congreso Nacional in Santiago, Eslite Performance Hall in Taipei, President Hall in Ankara, Flagey and Le Bozar in Brussels, Gates Performing Arts Center in Denver, L’Auditori in Barcelona, Le Bourget in Montreal, Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City and Cadogan Hall in London, to name just a few.
Grandson of the legendary Soviet violinist Viktor Pikayzen, Igor was born in Moscow, Russia. After receiving his Bachelor's Degree from Juilliard, as well as a Master's Degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, he was the recipient of the coveted Enhanced Chancellor Fellowship while working on his DMA at the CUNY Graduate Center where he was also on the faculty of Brooklyn Conservatory. Pikayzen is the 1st prize winner of the 2015 Edition of the International Violin Competition Luis Sigall in Viña del Mar, Chile as well as the Wronski International Violin Competition in Warsaw, in addition to being a silver medalist at the Szeryng and Kloster-Schöntal international violin competitions. A native of Moscow, Mr. Pikayzen shares his time between New York, Denver and Westport, CT, where he launched an annual summer music festival, Edelio. In 2019 he was announced as the new Professor of Violin at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.