Mikhail Petukhov

Piano

Mikhail Petukhov was born in Varna Bulgaria. He started taking piano and composition lessons early and first performed his compositions in public at the age of 10. After his family moved to Ukraine, Mikhail Petukhov continued his studies at the Kiev Special Music School. In Kiev he met a well-known Ukrainian composer Boris Lyatoshinsky, who advised and encouraged the young pianist-composer. In 1972 Mikhail Petukhov won the Bronze Medal in the J. S. Bach International Piano Competition in Leipzig, Germany. This led to his acceptance to the Moscow Conservatory of Music where he studied with the eminent pianist/composer Tatiana Nikolaeva.
In 1975 Mikhail Petukhov was a prizewinner in the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels. His success led to a busy performance schedule and gave him an opportunity to perform his own music in concert. While still a student, Petukhov composed many works most notably an opera on a text by Schiller "Messine‘s Bride". His sonata for solo violin won him praise from David Oistrakh.
The most inspirational event in the creative life of Mikhail Petukhov was his personal relationship with Dmitri Shostakovich who was an enthusiastic supporter of the young artist. Later, the well-known Belgian critic Max Vandermaesbrugge wrote in his essay From Shostakovich to Petukhov: "The music of Shostakovich performed by Petukhov may be considered as the latter‘s continuation of Shostakovich‘s creative work when the senior encourages the junior to insistent development of his thought…How delighted the master would have been!"
Although his success at the Queen Elisabeth Competition generated many invitations for performances in the West, the political situation in the former USSR did not allow Mr. Petukhov to travel abroad until 1988. Since then he has performed in Italy, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Greece, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong, Argentina and the United States. He performed under the button of such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Karl Eliasberg, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yuri Simonov, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Michel Tabachnik, Milan Horvat, and others. He appeared as soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Symphony, Bournemouth Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Philharmonic, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Prague Symphony, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Hong-Kong Philharmonic, and many others. Mr. Petukhov‘s chamber and instrumental works were performed in Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Japan, and Chile.