Andrey Ponochevny

Biography

Andrey Ponochevny's career has encompassed the globe as a preeminent talent among performing artists today. Cleveland's The Plain Dealer has written that " His performance seized attention from first note to last." Additionally, The Washington Post describes his playing as "with power and finesse that brought the audience to its feet in a long standing ovation."

As the Bronze Medal Winner of the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Ponochevny has proven success in competition. Other awards and prizes he has earned include First Prize at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland as well as at the Tomassoni International Piano Competition in Cologne. His other competition accolades include awards at international competitions in Prague, Warsaw, Dublin, Hong Kong, Riga, Alexandria and New Orleans.

In the concert hall, Ponochevny has garnered equal success, having performed extensively in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has given solo recitals at major venues including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago and Cleveland Institute of Music, Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Philharmonie in Cologne, City Hall in Hong Kong, Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Salle Alfred Cortot in Paris, National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, Stadtcasino in Basel, Grand Opera Hall, Harbin.

Ponochevny's appearances with orchestra include performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Des Moines Symphony, Irving Symphony, Plano Symphony, Belarusian State Chamber Orchestra, East Texas Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Nashua Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Wuhan Philharmonic, Tianjin Symphony, Xinjiang Philharmonic and the Belarusian State Symphony among others.

His concerts have been broadcast on WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, WDR Cologne (Germany), Kultura Minsk (Belarus), SIRTVS Ljubljana (Slovenia), ROROR Bucharest (Romania), AUABC Adelaide (Australia), and DKDR Copenhagen (Denmark).

Ponochevny has performed at many prestigious festivals including the Ruhr Klavier Festival, IKIF in New York City, the International Ludwigsburg Festival, Serie de los Nuevos Virtuosos in Puerto Rico, Bravissimo Festival in Guatemala City, Changchun International Festival in China, PianoTexas in Fort Worth and Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, CO.

Among his numerous awards, he was twice named "Outstanding Artist in China" (2009 and 2011) in addition to having been given the positions of "Honorable Professor" of Jilin College of Arts (China) and "Visiting Professor" at the Beihua University (China). In his hometown of Minsk (Belarus), he was awarded the title "Minskovite of the year" in 2002.

In addition to his concert career, Ponochevny serves on the teaching faculty of University of Dallas.