Teachers:
When Olha Chipak and Oleksiy Kushnir first met in 1998 while studying at the Lviv Music Academy in Ukraine, they could not have imagined where their musical partnership would take them. What they certainly knew, however, was that from that point on they would not only pursue a career as solo artists but also devote themselves to an equal degree to performing chamber music. They soon won their first international competition together (“Roma 98”), but the piano duo—like Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter she is from the legendary music metropolis Odessa on the Black Sea, he from the cultural melting pot of Lviv, where the first music conservatory in the Ukraine was founded as early as 1786—sought more than recognition by juries.
Thus their path as a duo took them to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Rostock where they majored in piano duo performance with Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl and in 2006 completed their degree in piano ensemble performance (concert exam – Konzertexamen).
The two have since begun to work at the institution as docents for piano and piano duo.
The duo has won numerous international competitions:
1st prize – Rom-98 (international competition)
2nd prize – TIM (Torneo Internazionale di Musica) (2000)
2nd prize – Chamber music competition in Caltanissetta (2000)
1st prize – “Premio Seiler“ in Palermo (2002)
2nd prize – “Palma d’Oro“ in Finale Ligure (2002)
1st prize – Piano duo competition in Bialystok (Poland) (2002)
1st prize – “Piano duo in 20th century“ (Premio Valentino Bucchi) (2003)
2nd prize – Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in Miami (2003)
1st prize – San Marino Piano competition (2006)
Winners of the International Web Concert Hall Competition (2012)
Success at these competitions led to concert performances at important venues in many European countries, the U.S., and China as well as guest performances at festivals such as the Festival “Virtuosi”(Ukraine), the Piano Festival in Trieste (Italy), the “Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”. The artistry of the duo is documented in recordings for NDR (North German Radio), BR-Classic (Bayern Radio) and television and radio recordings in the Ukraine, Poland and San Marino.
