When encountering young artists for the first time, you often hear stories of multigenerational musical families. It’s not uncommon to learn that a piano prodigy’s first teacher was her grandfather, or that a violinist received his first instrument when he was still in diapers. That was not the case for Illia Ovcharenko, the 22-year-old Ukrainian pianist who’s spent the last several years on an upward ascent. For him, going into the “family business” might have meant following in his mother’s footsteps as a computer engineer, or becoming an athletic trainer like his father.
The trajectory of Ovcharenko’s life and future career, however, changed when he was six years old. “The story is really wonderful,” he says when we talk by video call. “My mother was invited to a concert at our small philharmonic hall in my hometown, Chernihiv. She was invited because my godsister was playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. She brought me along with her. I certainly don’t remember the whole moment of me listening to the concert, but my mother said I was silent the whole time, enjoying it very much. Right after the concert, I told her I wanted to do the same.”
Looking back, Ovcharenko noted some skepticism on his mother’s part following the declaration, considering the caprices of children and their ever-shifting developmental interests. Coming from a non-musical family, they also had to contend with the lack of a piano in the home. She struck a compromise – Ovcharenko would enroll at the local music school as a singing student – but it quickly became evident that his true passion was located at the keyboard.
“She assumed I would quit very soon, but it didn’t work out that way!” Ovcharenko recalls with a slight chuckle. “After singing for two-and-a-half years, I kept saying ‘I want to play the piano, I want to play the piano!’ I was very fortunate to have my first piano teacher, who was somehow hearing me singing, say to my mother, ‘He’s not a singer, he’s a pianist. He really should play the piano.’ Somehow everything turned out that way, and I’m just so thankful to everyone for giving me such support.”
If Ovcharenko got a somewhat late start on his instrument, he quickly made up for lost time. At the age of 12 he gave a debut recital at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, in Kyiv. Even as a pre-teen, Ovcharenko said he always felt inherently comfortable in front of an audience.
“I always felt like I belonged on the stage, and I love the audience,” he said. “Definitely when I was a kid, I loved being on stage rather than practicing at home! I was definitely nervous the first time on stage, but I loved the special atmosphere of the concert hall, being the focus of the audience, the silence. I just enjoyed those moments even when I was nervous. It was like coming home. Every time I could perform, I was just waiting for another opportunity.”
That innate comfort onstage has served Ovcharenko well on the competition circuit. He is currently the reigning laureate of the Honens International Piano Competition, as well as the first-prize winner of the 2022 New York International Piano Competition. Ovcharenko described both competitions as invaluable learning experiences for himself as a young artist.
“The Honens competition is very special,” Ovcharenko says. “Because of the conditions of participation, the repertoire we play, because of the artists that we play with – it’s not like a general international competition that consists of the three stages mostly, with first solo, second solo and concerto. It is more about the picture of a complete artist, as they say. We are even given a 30-minute interview, which is interesting for the jurors to find out more about the competitors and what they feel affiliated with in their music. That is one thing that is definitely different from other competitions.
“They try to see us in a way that reflects the complete piano player,” he continues. Everything that might make up a component of a pianist’s career is included. “We play a chamber music round. We accompany a singer. We play a classical concerto with a string quintet, and we play a grand concerto. We also play two full solo recitals, around 65-70 minutes long, which allows you to expand your repertoire choices and to fully express yourself as a musician.”
Ovcharenko appreciated the festival-like atmosphere of the New York International Piano Competition too, which also found him performing alongside multiple colleagues, sometimes literally.
“I always try to find those competitions that feel unique and that I can feel more affiliated with,” Ovcharenko says. “New York as well had different conditions. You play a round as a piano duo there, and you also play a recital. You play a concerto. In New York, participants are not eliminated after the first round, which is amazing. You can go on and play all the rounds, and the judges can understand more of you when you play everything – rather than just playing 20 minutes of music and getting knocked out because one piece didn’t go so well. You get so many chances, and because of that you feel more confident already.”
In addition to his success on the competition circuit, Ovcharenko is also an artist in the current season of the Classeek Ambassador Programme. The one-year program fosters professional development for emerging musicians, offering performance opportunities and exposure to industry figures. Classeek artists are themselves nominated by influential musicians and music professionals – Ovcharenko was selected by pianist and professor Michel Béroff.
“I really believe in Classeek’s agenda,” Ovcharenko said. “The heart of the program is dedicated to young musicians, to be able to promote and help us in a way that we need. The musical field is a business field, in a way, and it has become more important to be aware of everything that is happening in our industry. Classeek serves as a bridge for young artists to step into an artistic life.
“They have been extremely supportive,” he continued. “Right away from the first moment that the artists were announced, they reached out and we’ve had multiple conversations. I’ve received much advice from music professionals. Whatever question I might have about literally anything, they have an answer and are very happy to provide it. Many of my friends and fellow colleagues have passed through Classeek, so I know the level of musicianship that Classeek offers is top notch. They told me everything about Classeek and how incredible the organization is – how kind they are, how professional they are. It really is a dream to be part of something like this.”
Ovcharenko’s 2025 schedule includes a fair number of performances, both in Europe and the US, as a concerto soloist and recitalist. He’ll return to some old favorites – he’ll play Tchaikovsky again with Canada’s Edmonton Symphony Orchestra – but he also wants to expand on his passion for the composers of his homeland.
“It has become part of my aim to promote Ukrainian classical music, because it is widely unknown,” Ovcharenko says. “It would take hours to discuss why, yet it is so beautiful and powerful, and it deserves to be heard. I will do everything possible from my side to make it more popular. The music itself is very different – every composer is different. The composers I have recently recorded, Lyatoshinsky and Bortkiewicz – we can compare Bortkiewicz to the music of Chopin or Rachmaninov, and he wrote hundreds of works for piano. Lyatoshinsky lives almost the same time, but he’s almost closer to Prokofiev, written with such intelligence and emotionality.
“What I am trying to do in my programs is not to just promote only Ukrainian composers in one recital,” Ovcharenko continues. “I like to put Lyatoshinsky with Prokofiev so that people can see the similarities and the differences, and the power of their music, so that people can understand how wonderful it is. I have recently recorded Silvestrov too, and it’s truly out of this world. It still sounds like the music of the future.”
Illia Ovcharenko’s recital recorded at the Classeek Showroom is available to stream from 11th February.
See more about the Classeek Ambassador Programme.
This article was sponsored by Classeek.
