Grammy Award winning Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov—winner of Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year award—has made a spectacular ascent of the classical music world as a solo artist; a champion of the concerto repertoire; a chamber and vocal collaborator; and a composer. Combining consummate technique with rare sensitivity and depth, his performances are a perpetual source of awe. “He has everything and more … tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that,” marveled pianist Martha Argerich. Trifonov recently added a Grammy Award to his already considerable string of honors, winning Best Instrumental Solo Album of 2018 with Transcendental, a Liszt collection that marked his third title as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist. As the Times of London notes, he is “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.”
Hailed by the Washington Post as “a seasoned phenomenon,” Narek Hakhnazaryan won the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 at the age of 22.