Illia Ovcharenko

Born in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Illia Ovcharenko’s mother is a computer engineer and his father a coach and athlete. He discovered the piano by himself, in a quiet little corner of his home where he liked to sneak away to play. After attending a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra at age six, Illia told his mother he wanted to be a pianist when he grew up and asked her to enroll him in the local music school. Success quickly followed, and the 12-year-old made his concert pianist debut at the Ukraine National Philharmonic. Later, he moved to Kyiv to enter the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum for gifted children. In his teens, he studied with eminent educator and teacher Arie Vardi at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv. Auvers-sur-Oise Festival founding director Pascal Escande spotted the 17-year-old at the 2018 Campus International Piano Competition. The festival regularly invites him to perform recitals and concertos in Auvers, Paris and the Île-de-France, such as in 2023 when he played Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto with the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France. In 2024, this loyal support in a spirit of residence led to the recording of Litany, his first CD in France, at DiscAuverS, the Auvers-sur-Oise Festival’s label backed by its foundation.

Winner of the 2022 Honens International Piano Competition, Illia Ovcharenko has taken the piano world by storm. Over the past eight years he has also won prizes in more than 20 international competitions: First Prize at the New York International Competition, Second Prize at the 2022 Hilton Head International Competition, First Prize at the Berne International Competition, the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize of the Eppan Piano Academy (Italy) in 2021 and, that same year, prizes at the Busoni International Piano Competition (Bergamo, Italy) and the Singapore International Competition. Embodying the values of the Honens International Piano Competition, which rewards “the Complete Artist”, Illia Ovcharenko is praised by critics worldwide for his technical mastery, his perseverance in the face of adversity, his uniquely intellectual and emotional grasp of the score, and his powerful charisma. In 2022/2023 he enjoyed resounding successes at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and the Dresden International Festival, and undertook an international recital tour of Belgium, France, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Germany and Canada, with concerts alongside the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra in Brussels, the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Highlights of the 2024 season include his debuts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, as well as his return for projects with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. That same season, Illia Ovcharenko made his recital debuts at Koerner Hall in Toronto, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Sendesaal in Hanover, the Robert-Schumann-Saal in Düsseldorf and the Salle Bourgie in Montreal. Still faithful to his professor and mentor Arie Vardi, Illia is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the Hannover Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien.