"For me, Bechstein is a highly emotionally appealing instrument. It is even sensitive enough to reproduce the smallest emotion. The Bechstein instruments fascinate me with their elegant, softly flowing sounds and they always inspire me to new ideas and successes."
Daria Parkhomenko
Daria Parkhomenko was born in Rostov-on-Don in Russia and began playing the piano at the age of 4. Her mentor in Rostov was Prof Sergei Osipenko from the Rostov State Rachmaninov Conservatoire, with whom Daria studied for 12 years. She is currently continuing her studies with Prof. Stepan Simonian at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. As part of her musical education, Daria Parkhomenko has taken part in various masterclasses with famous musicians such as Alfred Brendel, Philippe Entremont, Severin von Eckardstein, Eliso Virsaladze, Balazs Szokolay, Pavel Nersessian, Henry Sigfridsson, Michel Beroff, Grigory Gruzman, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Anna Vinnitskaja, Lev Natochenny, Matthias Kirschnereit, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Hans-Peter Stenzl & Volker Stenzl, Hamish Milne, and Janina Fialkowska.
She won various prizes at numerous national and international piano competitions, including the Sendai Piano Competition 2019 in Japan (3rd prize and audience prize), the Čiurlionis Piano Competition 2015 in Lithuania (2nd prize), the Сlavicologne Piano Competition 2019 in Germany (2nd prize) and the Piano Competition "In musica" 2018 in Rome (2nd prize). Further, she received the 1st prize at the Pietro Iadeluca Piano Competition 2017 in Carsoli, succeeded at the “Nuova Coppa Pianisti” Competition 2016 in Osimo (2nd prize), at Tallinn Piano Competition 2016 in Estonia (3rd prize), and at the ICOM Piano Competition “Hamburg Composers” 2016 in Hamburg (1st prize), among others.
Her successes brought Daria Parkhomenko to the famous international stages in Europe, Asia and the United States, where she has performed both as a soloist and as an artist for chamber music. She has performed at well-known music festivals such as the International Festival ‘The faces of modern pianism’ in St. Petersburg, the George Enescu Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Tidal Concerts. Concert halls where the pianist has made her debut include the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Sendesaal Bremen, the Tainan Municipal Concert Hall, the Hong Kong City Concert Hall, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Teatro Palladium in Rome, the National Philharmonic in Vilnius, the Estonia Concert Hall and many more. She made her way to live-performances on Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Radio NDR, TVR, Radio Romania, LRT Klasika and Delfi.
Daria Parkhomenko is an enthusiastic chamber musician in addition to her solo activities. In 2016, she founded the trio HON together with violinist Jiae Park and cellist Jakob Kuchenbuch. In 2017, they won the second prize at the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin, after which they toured Germany and abroad with various programmes. Since 2019, Daria has been performing in the ballet production ‘Glasmenagerie’ by John Neumeier at the Hamburg State Opera.
The young pianist released her debut album of piano works by Romanian composer George Enescu in October 2022 to great acclaim. The debut album received great acclaim and excellent international reviews and was nominated for the Opus Klassik and the German Record Critics' Award in 2023.
Photos © Michael Reinicke
