Acclaimed pianist and Artist-in-Residence Alexander Gavrylyuk will perform his first recital of the 2025 season at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater.
Born in Ukraine, Gavrylyuk began his piano studies at age 7 and gave his first concerto performance at age 9. In the years following, he has performed across the world at the most prestigious concert halls and festivals alike.
At 13, he moved to Sydney, Australia, where he lived until 2006. More recently, he’s taken on the role of Artist-in-Residence at the Institution, where he has performed countless pieces for Chautauquans each season for years.
Just more than a year ago, journalist Andy Martin described Gavrylyuk’s performance as an example of “man and instrument totally at one.”
“His face and whole body seemed to be gripped by the emotion of every single note. The audience loved him too and cheered him to the rafters,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Australian classical pianist Roger Woodward has proclaimed Gavrylyuk to be “the most compelling pianist of his generation.” He praised the pianist’s ability to reinterpret traditional masterpieces in exciting ways while also being simultaneously “completely dedicated to his art.”
Tonight’s program features four pieces composed by some of classical music’s biggest names. The recital begins with Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major followed by Chopin’s Fantasy in F minor, op. 49.
Following the first two pieces on the program, Gavrylyuk will bring Liszt’s “Venezia e Napoli” from Années de pèlerinage to the Amp stage.
In 2018, he performed the “Dante” sonata from Années de pèlerinage at the Institution, which guest critic Andrew Druckenbrod praised for his technical skill and physicality of the performance.
According to Druckenbrod, Gavrylyuk “shook the piano with bracing force and astonishing runs” during his performance of “Dante.”
The program will then break for a short intermission followed by the final suite of tonight’s program: Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”Time and time again, Gavrylyuk has stressed the importance of surrendering to the music and letting its power speak for itself.
“The priority for me is to allow for the music to lead me as a performer,” Gavrylyuk said in an interview with The Chautauquan Daily last year. “I surrender, so to speak, to the natural flow and the natural feeling of the music.”
Gavrylyuk opens a dynamic, rich season of classical music at the Institution — 20 performances from the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, in addition to performances from the Music School Festival Orchestra and an expansive schedule of chamber recitals. Chautauquans will have an opportunity to experience the feeling Gavrylyuk describes for themselves and surrender to the natural flow of the music at tonight’s recital.
