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Described as a “poet of piano” by Le Soir (Belgium), Ukrainian-born American pianist Stanislav Khristenko has performed in some of the world’s major concert halls. He has been praised for “emotional intensity”, “charismatic expression”, “pallette of touches”, “solid” and “precise technique” by The New York Times, The Washington Post and Miami Herald , The Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine and El Pais.
Khristenko has appeared as a piano soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Phoenix Symphony, Liege Royal Philharmonic, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Bilbao, Madrid, Tenerife, Puerto Rico, Richmond symphony orchestras, among others. His performance highlights include solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels, as well as performances with orchestras in The Berlin Philharmonie, Seoul Arts Center, Prague Rudolfinum, Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, among others. Khristenko’s performance as a piano soloist with The Lviv National Orchestra of Ukraine in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall has been chosen as one of 15 highlights of the 2022/2023 Carnegie Hall season by The New York Times.
His recordings were released on Steinway & Sons label (“Fantasies”, “Romeo and Juliet”), Naxos (“Soler Sonatas”), Oehms (“Krenek: Piano Works”), and Toccata Classics (“Ernst Krenek Piano Works: Volume One”, “Ernst Krenek Piano Works: Volume Two”). He is a Steinway Spirio Artist with a significant recording presence in the Spirio Library.
Khristenko is a prizewinner of numerous piano competitions including Gold Medal at Cleveland Piano Competition, First Prize at Maria Canals Piano Competition, Second Prizes at Isang Yun and Takamatsu Piano Competitions, and Fourth Prize at Queen Elisabeth Music Competition. In the United States, he also received First Prizes at Bosendorfer, Jose Iturbi, Virginia Waring, and Wideman Competitions, among others. He has been on the jury panel of many international piano competitions.
In his hometown in Ukraine, Khristenko co-founded music festival KharkivMusicFest that presented world’s top classical musicians as well as unique projects including Festival Orchestra, classical music conference, Children’s Orchestra, artist-designed pianos for interactive public display. As a Music Director, he founded Nova Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra of Ukraine that performed works of over 40 composers in its first three seasons.
Khristenko gave his first piano solo recital in Kharkiv Philharmonic Hall at the age of 11. He graduated from Moscow Chopin College and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Vera Gornostaeva. In 2008, he moved to the United States to study with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He also completed Postgraduate Artistic Training in Orchestral Conducting at The Chopin University in Warsaw, Poland and Short Course in Orchestral Conducting at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.
Stanislav Khristenko is a Steinway Artist.