label article_title name background birth_date instrument genre image origin birth_name occupation
rca red seal records denis matsuev
 denis matsuev non_vocal_instrumentalist 11 june 1975 piano classical music , jazz denis_matsuev , . jpeg irkutsk , soviet union denis leonidovich matsuev pianist
denis matsuev

denis leonidovich matsuev -lrb- , born june 11 , 1975 -rrb- is a russian classical pianist .
born in irkutsk , russian federation , matsuev is the only child of two musicians , as his mother is a piano teacher and his father is a pianist and composer .
he demonstrated a musical ear at age 3 , when he reproduced on the piano at home a melody that he heard on television .
his father subsequently became his first piano teacher .
until age 15 , matsuev studied music in irkutsk .
in 1990 , he won a prize at the `` new names charitable foundation '' competition in irkutsk and received a stipend , $ 1,000 a month , from the foundation to study music in moscow .
with other young gifted musicians from russia discovered by the foundation , matsuev went on tour in europe and the united states .
in 1991 , matsuev moved with his parents to moscow to continue his musical education .
he studied at the central musical school at the moscow conservatory .
in 1994 , he took part at his first international piano competition in johannesburg , south africa where he was awarded the grand prix .
in the same year he entered the moscow conservatory as a student of aleksey nasedkin .
after 1997 , he studied under sergei dorensky .
matsuev won the 11th international tchaikovsky competition in 1998 at age 23 . ''
at the sochi 2014 winter olympics , matsuev was a torchbearer , and also performed in both the opening and closing ceremonies .
matsuev has publicly supported the actions of russian president vladimir putin in the crimea and ukraine .
in april 2014 unesco designated denis matsuev as a unesco goodwill ambassador .
matsuev is an artistic co-director of the international `` annecy classic festival '' in france with pascal escande .
he is also the organizer and artistic director of two international festivals in russia , `` stars on baikal '' in his native city of irkutsk and an annual music festival `` crescendo '' .
matsuev has also assisted with organisation of other regional festivals in the urals in the cities of perm , orenburg and cheliabinsk .
he is also the current head of the `` new names charitable foundation '' , which launched matsuev 's performing career and continues to support the musical education of gifted children in the russian remote regions .
in october 2008 , alexander borisovich rachmaninoff , the grandson of the composer sergei rachmaninoff , invited denis matsuev to become an artistic director of the `` sergei rachmaninoff foundation '' .
as a part of his collaboration with the `` sergei rachmaninoff foundation '' , denis matsuev performed and recorded little known rachmaninoff works on the composer 's own , a hamburg 'd ' steinway grand piano at the rachmaninoff villa senar in lucerne .
in 2013 -- rachmaninov 's 140th anniversary year -- the foundation presented series of concerts in the most prestigious concert halls throughout russia and europe .
in 2012 denis matsuev became the artistic director of i international `` astana piano passion '' festival and competition as well as the artistic director of international festival and competition `` sberbank debut '' in kiev in 2013 .
matsuev also plays jazz music , and has cited oscar peterson as a key influence on his jazz playing .
matsuev was the first classical pianist to give a jazz concert at great hall of the moscow conservatory .
