Cleveland Institute of Music Student Daniil Trifonov Wins Tchaikovsky Piano Competition

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twenty year-old Daniil Trifonov, a Russian second-year undergraduate at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), and student of Sergei Babayan, has won first prize in the 2011 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. He was also selected for an Audience Choice Award. The finals were announced today at 2:15 p.m. ET in Moscow, Russia from the stage of the Moscow Conservatory.

The International Tchaikovsky Competition is held once every four years and is considered one of the major events in the international music community. Previous participants have gained international prominence and become established luminaries on the world’s leading concert stages.

Trifonov had captured 1^st prize in the Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv in April, 2011 and, one year before, 3^rd prize in the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw, Poland. Trifonov is recognized for his highly creative and imaginative music-making and dazzling technique.

During the competition, Trifonov performed Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Chopin and also shared the Mozart prize with Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son.

CIM President Joel Smirnoff states, “The trustees, faculty, staff and students of the Cleveland Institute of Music would like to express our great pride in the spectacular achievements of our student, pianist Mr. Daniil Trifonov, during his two years at CIM. We send him our congratulations and our gratitude for the recognition that he brings to his master teacher, Mr. Sergei Babayan and to CIM.

“In Mr. Trifonov, we are seeing the emergence of a major artistic interpreter of the piano literature. One must marvel at his remarkable performances in the recent Chopin, Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky Competitions and we look forward in coming years to hearing and watching him share his special expressive and virtuosic talents with the greater world. Bravo, Daniil!”

Since its founding in 1920, the Cleveland Institute of Music has offered a world class education to students of all ages and skill levels and provided concerts for the community. A top-tier conservatory, CIM's alumni perform with many of the world's most acclaimed musical organizations and hold prominent teaching positions world-wide. Forty members of The Cleveland Orchestra serve as faculty and 38 alumni currently hold positions with The Orchestra. CIM is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

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