Ilya Poletaev, piano

Pianist, harpsichordist and fortepianist Ilya Poletaev took first prize at the 2010 International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. A prizewinner at the 2011 George Enescu competition, he won first prize at the 2008 XX Concorso Sala Gallo Piano Competition in Monza, Italy, where he also received the Audience, Bach and Orchestra Prizes. A musician with an inquisitive mind, who explores repertoire from the sixteenth to the present century, Poletaev has performed extensively in Europe, Canada, Russia, and the United States both as a soloist, chamber musician, and continuo player. Engagements include appearances at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Philadelphia Kimmel Center, the Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall, Caramoor Festival, Chamber Music Northwest and many other prestigious venues. Between 2009–2014 he was on the roster of Astral Artists in Philadelphia. Born in Moscow, he moved to Israel and then to Canada, where he studied with pianist Marietta Orlov and harpsichordist Colin Tilney. He earned his M.Mus and DMA degrees in piano from Yale studying with Boris Berman, and he served on Yale’s faculty between 2005 and 2010. In 2011 he was appointed Professor of Piano at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.