Combining fierce pianism, an unrivalled breadth of repertoire, and a level of interpretative refinement that ascends to the realms of poetry, Vadym Kholodenko rises as an artist the likes of which the world has rarely seen since the great pianists of the Golden Age.
Gold Medallist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Kholodenko’s distinguished pianism and profound artistic gifts have led
to invitations from many of the world’s finest orchestras and concert halls.
Recent and forthcoming concerto highlights include those with leading orchestras of North America (Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra); Europe (Budapest Festival Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, London Philharmonic, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra); and Asia & the Far East (National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra). In recent seasons, he has held the position of Artist-in-Residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas, USA), and the SWR Symphonieorchester (Stuttgart, Germany), and in 2025 made his debut at London’s BBC Proms.
Kholodenko has forged strong musical partnerships with many of the world’s leading conductors, including Karina Canellakis, Myung-Whun
Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Marie Jacquot, Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Gemma New, Sir Antonio Pappano, Dima Slobodeniouk, Thomas Søndergård, Krzyzstof Urbański, and Kazuki Yamada, amongst others.
In recital, Kholodenko appears on the world’s leading stages – from London, Paris, and Vienna, to Boston, Chicago, and New York – where he is praised for his “iron-clad technique, capable of moments of crystalline delicacy” (The Guardian). He is also a thoughtful and committed chamber musician, enjoying rewarding collaborations with an array of such artists as Clara Jumi-Kang, Anastasia Kobekina, Vadim Repin, and the Belcea and Jerusalem string quartets. He has made numerous recordings with violinist Alena Baeva, with whom recent and forthcoming appearances include concerts in the cultural capitals of Florence, London, and Paris.
Possessing an extraordinary facility for the assimilation of music, the sheer scale of Kholodenko’s knowledge and command of the piano literature is unrivalled, and he holds a vast array of active repertoire. His discography to date encompasses solo piano works by a diverse list of composers (J.S. Bach, Balakirev, Beethoven, Chaplygin, Kurbatov, Liszt, Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Rzewski, Schubert, Scriabin, Siloti, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, amongst others). Recordings for the Harmonia Mundi record label include the Grieg Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2, and the complete cycle of Prokofiev’s piano concertos.
Kholodenko’s recordings have been described as “truly outstanding” (Gramophone Magazine), and received such accolades as Editor’s
Choice Award (BBC Music Magazine), and the much-coveted Diapason d’Or de l’année. His latest release – a pairing of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variationsand Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for the Quartz Music label (2022) – met with tremendous critical acclaim, described as “carefully contoured and impactful” (BBC Music Magazine), and “playing that pulls no punches: Kholodenko is in the elite of classical pianists” (Norman Lebrecht, for The Critic).
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko took his first piano lessons at the age of six, and began touring internationally at thirteen years old. He was educated at the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, under the renowned pedagogues Natalia Gridneva, Borys Fedorov, and Vera Gornostaeva. He won First Prize at the Sendai International Piano Competition (2010) and Schubert International Piano Competition (2011), before taking the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2013). He is now a resident in Luxembourg.
See Vadym Kholodenko perform Szymanowski’s Symphony No4 with the RSNO on 16 and 17 April 2027.
