When Illia Ovcharenko was six years old and living in Chernihiv, Ukraine, his mother took him to a concert where Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto was performed. After this experience, Illia told his mother that he wanted to be a pianist when he grew up. Today, barely a dozen years later, Illia Ovcharenko is one of the most celebrated young pianists in the world and performs on international stages.
He recently won the prestigious Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada - a competition that seeks "complete artists": a personality that demonstrates technical virtuosity, stamina in challenging situations and a profound understanding of musical texts that is both intellectual and emotional. Illia Ovcharenko has also won top honors at the Busoni, Hilton Head, Horowitz and New York Piano competitions.
Music was not an omnipresent element in Illia's family home. His mother is a computer engineer, his father a sportsman and coach. Nevertheless, there was an old piano in the corner of the living room and Illia started playing it as soon as he could reach the keys. He began singing lessons at the age of six, started regular piano lessons at nine and performed on stage with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine for the first time at twelve.
Although his parents were initially unsure whether music was the right path in life for their son, they supported his career. At 13, Illia moved to Kiev to study at a special school for highly talented musicians, and later to Tel Aviv. He currently lives in Hanover, where he is completing his master's degree under the guidance of his long-time mentor Arie Vardi.
For Illia Ovcharenko, the piano is more than just an instrument - it is a true confidant that fills him with joy and gives him comfort in difficult moments. The piano reveals to him and his audience who he really is. His greatest passion is live performance, in which he feels as if two souls - his own and that of the composer - merge together. He feels particularly at home in the romantic repertoire. Away from the concert stage, Illia enjoys sporting activities - Roger Federer is one of his idols - and cultivates the art of origami.
In the future, Illia would like to pass on his love of music through a combination of teaching and international concert tours. He has already performed with renowned orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of La Monnaie in Brussels, the Jerusalem Symphony and the Orchestre National d'Île de France. Highlights of the 2023/24 season include debuts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra and Haifa Symphony as well as return appearances with Calgary Philharmonic and Hilton Head Symphony. Following his recent debut at Carnegie Hall, Illia will perform in the coming season at Koerner Hall in Toronto, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Sendesaal in Hanover, the Robert Schumann Hall in Düsseldorf and the Salle Bourgie in Montréal.
"It fills me with great joy when people hear me play and say that I have brought something new into their lives or that they have been able to forget their worries for a moment," he says. "Playing the piano is often a far better form of communication, because something deeply intimate happens in this process."
