Van Cliburn Bronze Medalist From Ukraine Set To Perform

FREDERICKSBURG – Ukrainian musician Dmytro Choni, 2022 bronze medalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June, will perform here Sunday, Sept. 18, for the first of eight programs scheduled for the 2022-2023 season by the Fredericksburg Music Club.

Seating for the 3 p.m. concert in the sanctuary of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, 1800 North Llano, will begin at 2:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. The performance is free, although goodwill offerings are welcome.

A Kyiv native, who began playing piano at four years, Choni is only the second Ukrainian pianist to medal in Van Cliburn competition. According to a Dallas Morning News review, “Each time he strode onstage, it was with winning confidence and a big smile. He’s clearly an accomplished, assured – and communicative – pro.”

At the Cliburn competition, Choni performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 that “leapt off the page in a stunning display of musical intelligence and keyboard athleticism” (Classical Voice North America, Musical America), Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 which was “exceptional for its elegance, but even more so for the emotional arc that he created from beginning to end” (Seen and Heard International) and a set of Debussy pieces where he “created the hypnotic, static beauty and revealed the joyful sense of motion and ecstasy” (Onstage NTX).

Music, he told the Ft. Worth Report, is “always kind of a hideaway from what’s going on in the world. Through the music, you can try to project the best possible emotion, the optimism, the hope.”

Choni, who ventured into professional musicianship beginning at age 14, earned a bachelor’s degree from the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine before moving on to Austria in 2015 to study at the Kunstuniverstat Graz.

He has garnered top prizes and awards at, among others, the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition (Spain 2018), the Leeds International Piano Competition (Great Britain 2021) and the Bösendorfer USASU (USA 2019).

Orchestras with which he has collaborated include the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, RTVE Symphony, Seongnam Philharmonic, Ukraine National Symphony, Castilla y León Symphony, Liechtenstein Symphony and Dominican Republic National Symphony Orchestras.

His performances in major halls and festivals include the Kissinger Sommer, Verbier Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein Vienna, Carnegie Hall and Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, while as a chamber musician he has collaborated with the Quartetto di Cremona, Calidore String Quartet, violinists Rudens Turku and Jack Liebeck, clarinetist Sharon Kam, and violist Nils Mönkemeyer.

Highlights from Choni’s 2022–2023 inaugural tour as a Cliburn medalist include Beethovenfest Bonn, the Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival (Poland), Salle Cortot (Paris) and Palau de la Música (Barcelona); concertos with the Hamburger Camerata and Silesian Philharmonic, and a recital tour across the United States.

Choni’s debut album, released by Naxos in 2020, received a “Supersonic Award” from Pizzicato along with acclaim by the international critics, including one reporting that he “could be one of the 21st century’s most outstanding pianists” (David’s Review Corner).

 In addition to freewill offerings given at the door, the Sept. 18 performance is also being made possible through donations from members of the Fredericksburg Music Club.

At the afternoon concert, membership cards for individuals or corporate sponsors wishing to join the Fredericksburg Music Club will also be available at the door.

Meanwhile, more information about the FMC or assistance in joining the organization is also available online at http://fredericksburgmusicclub.com/