About
His entire performance was raw, deeply felt, and powerful – La Scena Musicale
Pianist Vitaly Starikov has found distinction with “raw, deeply felt, and powerful” (La Scena) performances, with an unassuming onstage presence and a “willingness less to play at the audience than to draw [them] into musical intimacies” (Dallas Morning News). His bold approach won him the silver medal at the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the admiration of fans around the globe. His Cliburn performance of Bartok’s Second Piano Concerto electrified the room, with La Scena noting that “he understood this music, and gave an impactful, lively, and gripping interpretation on all levels: emotionally, architecturally, and in terms of his sound palette.”
Vitaly’s perspective on music is manifested in his repertoire: he presents music that reflects not only tradition, but also contemporary life, striving to offer new perspectives on familiar music and introduce lesser-known works to wider audiences. His inaugural season as a Cliburn laureate included recitals and appearances across the United States, including with the Bravo! Vail Festival, Strings Music Festival, International Keyboard Odyssiad and Festival, UVM Lane Series, Huntsville Chamber Music Guild, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Western Washington University Sanford-Hill Piano Series, along with orchestral engagements at the Sunriver Music Festival (Mozart K. 453/Brett Mitchell), Colorado Springs Philharmonic (Chopin Concerto No. 2/Daniela Candillari) and Pacific Symphony (Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1/Carl St. Clair) among others. Upcoming highlights of his 2026–2027 season include performances at University of Florida Performing Arts, Grand Piano Series, Steinway Society–The Bay Area, and a nine-city tour across the United States with Australia’s premier acrobatic troupe CIRCA for Bach’s complete Art of Fugue.
Internationally, he has appeared in Austria, Australia, Slovakia, Israel, Cyprus, Italy, France, Belgium, and Malaysia, with highlights including Sydney Opera House, Queen Elisabeth Hall, and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. He has performed with the Antwerp and Belgian National Orchestras, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Belarusian State Symphony Orchestra, and St. Petersburg Symphony, and toured with the Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est.
Born into a family of musicians, Vitaly’s journey started when his parents enrolled him to sing in a children’s music group at age 3. He went on to Ural Musical School for Gifted Children in his native Yekaterinburg at 7, made his concerto debut at age 10 with the Ural State Russian Folk Orchestra, and his recital debut three years later, in the small hall of the Ural Special Music School. He studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the venerated Vera Gornostayeva and Eliso Virsaladze, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and went on to the Yale School of Music, completing his artist diploma in 2026 under the tutelage of Boris Berman.
