This Kansas City area pianist just won one of the toughest competitions in the world
Destiny is a strong word, says Ilya Shmukler, the 29-year-old student at Park University’s International Center for Music who recently won first place in the Concours Géza Anda. This fearsomely challenging piano competition is held every three years in Zúrich, Switzerland.
Although Shmukler’s journey from Moscow to Parkville to Zúrich is due to his incredibly hard work and remarkable genius, his life has also seemed to be guided by fate. “Everything was accidental,” Shmukler said.
Born in Moscow on Dec. 16, Beethoven’s birthday, he was raised by parents who are not musicians. His father is a psychiatrist, and his mother is an engineer.
“Some of my mom’s friends probably told her, why don’t I play piano,” Shmukler said. “So they bring me to music school, and I passed the entrance exams, and they finally accepted me, and that’s how I started. I studied in the children’s academy for a good 10 years or so. Very basic. It’s not like we had a special music school for so-called geniuses.”
When he was 15, Shmukler went to “college,” which, he said, is much like American high school. Like high school, he was there for four years.
“Then I attended Moscow Conservatory, a legendary place where Sergei Rachmaninoff and other great pianists and composers used to study,” Shmukler said.
It was there that Shmukler had a life-changing encounter with a person who was to become his teacher, mentor and friend: Stanislav Ioudenitch, artistic director of Park’s International Center for Music.
“Professor Stanislav Ioudenitch is very famous in Russia, and he used to give master classes at the Moscow Conservatory in the late 2010s and early 2020s,” Shmukler said. “I attended one of his master classes, and I thought, why not text him on Facebook? I know that was probably crazy idea because who responds you on Facebook?”
Apparently Ioudenitch does. After Shmukler messaged him and sent him video links of his performances, Ioudenitch wrote back.
“He told me he listened to some of my videos, and one day if I’m in the United States, why not you come to Kansas City, and we’ll have a trial lesson,” Shmukler said. “At that time, I was in New York City for a performance, and I had several days off, and I bought tickets and went to Kansas City for this lesson. I came and played for him, and he told me, ‘Welcome to Park.’”
Ioudenitch, himself a Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist, has an uncanny ability to recognize genius in others. As one example, he discovered his protégé Behzod Abduraimov and coached him to win the London International Piano Competition in 2009. And now Ioudenitch saw something special in Shmukler.
“Ilya is an exceptionally talented pianist with a unique blend of imagination and individuality,” Ioudenitch said. “His interpretations are deeply moving, and he possesses an innate ability to connect with his audience. His technical prowess, combined with his emotional depth, sets him apart as a truly exceptional artist.”
Shmukler began his studies at the International Center for Music in 2019, and, like Michelangelo with a beautiful block of Carrara marble, Ioudenitch immediately went to work sculpting a world-class virtuoso. The efforts of master and student first paid off in 2022 when Shmukler was a finalist in the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he also won the award for best performance of a Mozart concerto.
No one at Park rests on their laurels, so Shmukler and Ioudenitch went to work preparing for their next goal, the Géza Anda competition. Named after the famous Swiss pianist, it is noted for being one of the most demanding piano competitions in the world.
“Many competitions you have to prepare three or four hours of repertoire, but in Géza Anda, you have to prepare more than six hours of repertoire,” Shmukler said. “Many pianists say this is impossible. And if you pass to the second round, you have to prepare three one-hour solo recitals, and 24 hours before your performance, you sit down with all jury members, and you discuss which one you will play.”
For the semifinal round, the pianist must learn two Mozart concertos, and the jury members tell them which one they are going to perform.
The jury for the competition is made up of illustrious pianists with incredibly high standards. Shmukler had to play for a panel that included names like Robert Levin and Martha Argerich.
“Of course, you are nervous when you are playing for such people,” Shmukler said. “You just want to share what you have in your heart and in your brain. But they are probably the most responsive audience. I felt somehow that they helped me with my performance. They sent some vibes which helped me to create the atmosphere, the interpretation, the plot. The more superstar the artist is, the more helpful he or she is.”
The jury obviously responded positively to Shmukler because he made it to the final round. Now he had to have two piano concertos prepared. The jury would choose one of them to be performed with the renowned Tonhalle-Orchester Zúrich conducted by the renowned Paavo Järvi. Shmukler prepared Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Grieg’s Piano Concerto. The jury asked that he play the Grieg.
“It’s so epic and so beautiful,” Shmukler said. “We can imagine that we are in Norway with all of those powerful landscapes. It is difficult to recreate the atmosphere of this Nordic, very cold and, at the same time, hot emotional situation. It has to have huge passion and lots of love, but you have to be rather cold. It is really cold in ice water, you burn your fingers, burn your skin. The concerto has to burn cold.”
With the Grieg, Shmukler won the contest, beating a wide field of some of the greatest pianists in the world. With sincere humility, he credits his victory to Ioudenitch.
“This is his win,” Shmukler said. “I am so proud that I am with him. We have such a communication. I love him, and this is more than just words. It is something special. I will never forget what we’ve done. Now it is with me and in my heart. It is more than just thankfulness.”
There are plans afoot for more concerts, including a recital in Kansas City, the town Shmukler calls home. As always, there is no resting on laurels at the International Center for Music.
“It’s a nonstop process,” he said. “We continue and we shouldn’t stop. We shouldn’t forget that such an important competition as Géza Anda is just the beginning. Now everything starts. There are many concerts ahead, so I have to practice and do what I can and try my best. Practice and play well, not bad.”
For more information, icm.park.edu.
Festival Singers — ‘Fountains of Faith: A Concert of Forces!’
Here’s a concert that should blow the roof off Helzberg Hall. “Fountains of Faith: A Concert of Forces!” will feature the William Baker Festival Singers, Fountain City Brass Band and organist Jan Kraybill on July 9.
Presented by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, a Roman Catholic professional musicians association, the concert will include works that show off choir, brass and organ.
The program will include beloved traditional hymns and choral works by Bruckner, Sean Sweeten and Alice Parker. Kraybill will perform various organ interludes, and she’ll be joined by Fountain City Brass for a rousing finale, an arrangement for brass and organ of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony.
8:30 p.m. July 9. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $25. 816- 994-7222 or festivalsingers.org.
Jan Kraybill — Hymn Society
Speaking of Kraybill, congratulations are in order for her recently being named a fellow in the prestigious Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1922, the society promotes congregational singing and the composing and performing of new hymn tunes and texts. Clergy, poets, composers and performers are members.
“Being named a fellow in the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada is a huge honor, and it’s amazing to me that I’m now among the esteemed list of fellows,” Kraybill said. “As a past member of the executive committee, I have been part of discussions about previous potential fellows, people who I greatly admire. So I’m very aware of what a huge honor it is, and I’m very grateful.”
For more information, thehymnsociety.org.
You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.
