Nikita Mndoyants

A rising figure among the younger generation of Russian pianists, Nikita Mndoyants has been active in both Russia and the West. Also a composer, he has recorded for labels in Russia, the U.S., and France. Mndoyants was born on March 31, 1989. His family was musical, and his father, Alexander Mndoyants, was a famed pedagogue. Mndoyants was something of a child prodigy, entering the Moscow Central Music School in the class of Tamara Koloss in 1995. He pursued the study of composition as well from early childhood, taking classes with Tatiana Tchudova in that field. Even before his tenth birthday, he attracted attention abroad, giving a recital in Helsinki, Finland, at nine; the recital was recorded and was later issued as a CD. He graduated from the Central Music School in 2006 with honors in both piano and composition. Mndoyants went on to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, studying composition with Alexander Tchaikovsky (no relation to Pyotr). His principal piano teacher has been his father. In 2010, Mndoyants made his recording debut on the Melodiya label, appearing with other artists on the album Anthology of Piano Music by Russian & Soviet Composers, Part 1; in 2013, he appeared on Part 2 of that anthology. He is an enthusiastic chamber musician, and in 2015, he appeared with the Zemlinsky Quartet on a Praga collection of music by the Polish-Russian composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Mndoyants won major prizes abroad, including top honors at the 2007 Paderewski International Piano Competition in Poland and the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition in the U.S. Mndoyants has concertized internationally, appearing in such top venues as the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Salle Cortot in Paris. He has played under the batons of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, and Dmitry Sitkovetsky. Mndoyants is in demand at festivals, having appeared at such major events as the Klavier-Ruhr Festival in Germany, the Mariinsky International Piano Festival in Russia, and the Gilmore Keyboard Festival in Michigan in the U.S. He made his solo recording debut on the Steinway & Sons label in 2017, issuing an album of works by Schumann, Beethoven, and Prokofiev. Mndoyants returned in 2024 with an all-Prokofiev album on the Aparte label.
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