Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni, the bronze medalist in this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, comes to Hawaii later this month for a concert tour that seems befitting for the kind of intensity that young classical artists face these days: five concerts in seven days, on all the major islands, after arriving directly from Europe.
He feels like he’s prepared for it, having emerged from the grueling competition in Fort Worth, Texas, in May with a third-place finish.
“It was just a marathon,” Choni said in a phone interview from Vermont, where he was giving a concert. “We had to play four hours of different music. We had six stage appearances in two-and-a-half weeks. It was very tough. I was completely exhausted after the competition. But this is kind of how they ‘try us out.’ One has to be ready for this, and then after that, one can be ready for concertizing, for a concert life.”
His performance took place not only under the pressure of competition but also the tension stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Cliburn competition, unlike some other competitive and cultural events, allowed Russian pianists to participate, saying that art should transcend politics and pointing to the experience of its founder and namesake, Van Cliburn, who during the Cold War formed friendships with Russians through music.
During the competition, Choni, the only Ukrainian in the competition, said that music should serve as a way to unite people. Even now, he said he would prefer “not to go deep” into the subject of the war.
Despite the pressure, Choni impressed the Cliburn audiences with his lyricism at the piano as well as his prodigious technique. “Choni offered playing at once sophisticated and natural, and he’s clearly a major talent to watch,” wrote the Dallas Morning News.
Choni started piano lessons at age 4, mostly because his two older sisters were also taking piano lessons. By around age 14, after playing a Chopin concerto in Kyiv, he decided that music would be his life. “It felt so great playing for people, playing with other people as well. I just consider that from this point, I consciously chose my way as a pianist,” he said.
“The piano was always there. It was always the center of my life, but I was interested in soccer as well for a couple of years,” he said with a laugh.
Choni has since gone on to win acclaim at piano competitions throughout Europe and the U.S. His eponymous debut album, released by Naxos in 2020, features works from several 20th century composers. It received the Supersonic Award by Pizzicato magazine, a Luxembourg-based classical music website.
His program here will reflect his passion for 20th-century music, as well as give a nod to his Ukrainian roots. The first half opens with a suite of short pieces by Sergei Prokofiev, who was born in Ukrainian territory when it was part of the Russian Empire, and then continues with a work by Valentyn Silvestrov, who was born in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union, followed by a sonata by Alexander Scriabin. The second half of the concert will feature Claude Debussy, “one of my favorite composers right now,” and a showstopping sonata from Franz Liszt.
“I tried to make this program contrast,” Choni said. The Prokofiev pieces, he said, have many different characters and is distinct from the Silvestrov sonata, whereas the Scriabin is “very ecstatic, very emotional.”
His performance of the Silvestrov sonata will be his first time ever performing the work, although he included some of Silvestrov’s other works in his Cliburn performances. Just a month ago, he gave an all-Silvestrov concert. “I kind of got to know his music much better personally by playing it,” he said.
He has not met the composer — Silvestrov is based in Berlin, and Choni studies in Austria when not on tour — but during a visit to Kyiv last year he did meet with Silvestrov’s daughters, who gave him some scores. “Some of the scores were hand-written, so it was interesting to see how he writes,” he said. “There was also some of his recordings, so it was interesting to see how he writes and how he plays.”
It’s a program not often heard in the U.S., but he feels its time has come. “The Prokofiev, Debussy and Scriabin were all written about 100 years ago,” he said. “It’s been a long time already, so I think it can be understood by the general audience. … I hope the audience will enjoy these pieces because I love playing them.
Pianist Dmytro Choni in recital
>> Hawaii island: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23, UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center, $10-$25, hawaiiconcertsociety.com; and 7 p.m. Oct. 26, Kahilu Theatre, Waimea, $35-$65, kahilutheatre.org
>> Maui: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, $40-$55. MauiArts.org
>> Honolulu: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28: Orvis Auditorium, $10-30. outreach.hawaii.edu/events
>> Kauai: 5 p.m. Oct. 30, Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Lihue, $15-$40, kauai-concert.org
