Dimitri Illarionov

Education

In 1997, Illarionov graduated with honours from the Academic Music College at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He then studied at the Russian Gnesins's Academy of Music with Professor Alexander Frauchi. In 2002, Illarionov graduated from the Academy cum laude. He also took lessons with the Russian composer and guitarist Nikita Koshkin; masterclasses with such prominent musicians as guitarists Carlo Marchione and Roberto Aussel, lutenist Hopkinson Smith and cellist David Geringas. Between 2002 and 2004, Illarionov was an assistant to Professor Frauchi. Illarionov currently teaches his own class in the Academy.

Competitions

Illarionov is the winner and laureate of numerous international competitions in the USA, Spain, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Russia. These include the Grand Prix in the VI International Promotional Competition "Guitar Talents' Review" (Gdańsk, Poland - 1999) and the title of "The Greatest Hope" in the "Tenth Gdańsk Meeting of Guitarists"; First Prize and Prize of Public in the VIII International Guitar Competition in Coria (Spain - 2004); First Prize in the Russian International Guitar Competition - "Guitar in Russia" in Voronezh (Russia - 2002).

Illarionov was the first guitarist to take Second Prize in the III International Competition of Musical Personalities "Alexander Tansman" (Łódź, Poland - 2000). Piano, violin, cello, guitar and other instruments compete directly with each other in this competition, and Illarionov's success there made him the highest-placed guitarist ever in the Tansman competition. In October 2002, Illarionov won The Twentieth International Guitar Foundation of America Solo Guitar Competition (GFA – Miami, Florida, USA). As part of the prize, he conducted his concert tour (in the USA and Canada) and will record a concert video. Besides guitar competition, Illarionov is a laureate of composing and conducting competitions.

Performances

Illarionov has an active concert life, playing solo recitals and performing as soloist with orchestras. He has played with such orchestras as the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the State Symphony Orchestra "New Russia", the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Irkutsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (Russia), the Moscow Chamber "The Seasons" Orchestra (Russia), the National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova and the Wuppertal Plucked Orchestra (Germany). In addition to numerous appearances in Russia, he has performed in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Poland, Italy, Germany, USA, Canada and Japan. He has played in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Osaka Symphony Hall, and the Hall of Columns of the National Philharmonic Society (Kiev, Ukraine). He appeared at the Festival of Russian Culture (Los Angeles, California, USA, 2004), at the opening ceremony of the 49th International Book Fair (Warsaw, Poland, 2004), and at the guitar in Nürtingen, in 2002.

Works

Illarionov's repertoire is broad and versatile. It ranges across various periods and styles: music of the Renaissance and Baroque (Luis Milan, Alonso Mudarra, John Dowland, J. S. Bach), original music for guitar from the 19th and early 20th centuries (Fernando Sor, Mauro Giuliani, Francisco Tárrega), and music of the 20th and 21st centuries (Frank Martin, Alexandre Tansman, Manuel Ponce, Joaquín Rodrigo, Joaquín Turina, Agustín Barrios, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, William Walton, Sérgio Assad, Roland Dyens, Dusan Bogdanovic, Angelo Gilardino, the unique cycle 24 Preludes and Fugues for Solo Guitar by Igor Rekhin), as well as compositions for guitar with orchestra and chamber music.

Dimitri Illarionov has recorded the CD Premieres with the Moscow Chamber "The Seasons" Orchestra (conductor – Vladislav Bulakhov) for Les Éditions Doberman-Yppan; two solo CDs: by Naxos Records (Laureate Series) and the CD East Side Story (Daminus Records) with music written by modern Eastern European composers. Illarionov's Classical Duo CD (Delos Records) with Russian cellist Boris Andrianov entered the pre-short-list of the 2004 Grammy Awards.