Young pianist Illia Ovcharenko, winner of the 2022 Honens International Piano Competition, made a great impression at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in 2023. I remember expressing my hope that he would return.

And he’s coming back Tuesday March 4th in a program mixing virtuoso touchstones such as the Liszt B-minor sonata & Chopin’s Heroic polonaise, with unfamiliar pieces by Ukrainian composers that Illia is championing.

I was glad to have a chance to ask him a few questions.

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BarczaBlog: What is the best or worst thing about what you do?

Illia Ovcharenko: I would say with certainty that the best thing is being able to express myself while performing and being able to communicate through music with the audience.

It is really really hard to find something I would call worst about what I am doing, but travelling sometimes gets too complicated when the luggage is lost or if travel plans go not as planned (which actually happens more often than I wish).

BB: Who do you like to listen to or watch?

Illia Ovcharenko: I do love listening to Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gillels when I seek inspiration as well as just for a pure enjoyment.

BB: What ability or skill do you wish you had, that you don’t have?

Illia Ovcharenko: Speaking about supernatural skills, I would say being able to teleport would be nice! As for natural, I wish I cooked better!

BB: When you’re just relaxing and not working, what is your favourite thing to do?

Illia Ovcharenko: I do enjoy watching TV series, reading and expanding my range of knowledge of symphonic and opera repertoire.

BB: What was your first experience of music?

Illia Ovcharenko: My first experience of music was when my mom took me to a symphonic concert in my homecity in Ukraine – Chernihiv, yet when I was 6 years old.

BB: Do you have any ideas about reforming / modernizing classical music culture
to better align with modern audiences.

Illia Ovcharenko: In my opinion, one of the most important things nowadays is to be able to tell the story with the program you choose to perform during the concert. At the same time, most recently I had an open rehearsal just for children of a very young age, and I must say that speaking from my personal experience when I first heard music, hearing it live for the first time made me want to play the piano.

BB: You were impressive in your Toronto Summer Music appearance in July 2023,
playing four hands piano with Jon Kimura Parker. In my review I said this:
I had to wonder, how much time have they had to play together, how well do they know one another? Piano duos work together for years, seemingly anticipating one another as though reading minds. How when they met relatively recently, could they get the kind of cohesion we heard in the Milhaud and especially in the powerful Rachmaninoff suite? It was a joy watching them, seeing the eye contact and the body language.
You sounded very tight and perfectly co-ordinated together, yet I wonder how much
time you had to prepare?

Illia Ovcharenko: I was very touched by your kind review of that performance! To be honest, we haven’t performed these works together before Toronto Summer Music opening night at Koerner Hall. However, we had a few great rehearsals right before the concert took place. It is indeed a privilege for me as a young artist to be able to perform with such a. master as Jackie.

Rehearsals went smooth and I could feel how easy it was to coordinate with him, the energy was there from the very first moment and we communicated between ourselves swiftly and listened to each other carefully. It was our first performance of Rachmaninoff but we went on and performed it couple of more times later on. Each time was very special for me and I deeply cherish this experience!

BB: You’re 23 years old yet I keep hearing about the maturity of your interpretations. Your March program opens and closes with two of the touchstones of piano literature: the Liszt B minor and Chopin’s Op. 53 Polonaise. How long have you been playing these pieces, and is your youth an asset?

Illia Ovcharenko: I’ve been performing the Liszt Sonata for a while now, as well as the Heroic Polonaise. These are works that continue to evolve with time, and I find something new in them with each performance.

As for youth, there’s always room for growth, and I really hope experience will only deepen my interpretations. That said, I try to approach each piece with sincerity to the music itself at all times.

BB: Do you have any heroes among pianists living or dead?

Illia Ovcharenko: I do have so many that it is quite hard to name all of them! I will mention Vladimir Horowitz since he is my hero since childhood. His charisma is something impossible to recreate and his interpretations are absolutely unique.

One of the most important people in my musical career and being where I am today is my Professor Arie Vardi. He is truly one of a kind. I owe so much to him and I am just feeling lucky our paths crossed!

BB: Your program includes unfamiliar works by two Ukrainian composers. Levko Revutsky lived from 1889 to 1977. Some call him a Soviet composer but I see he is from Ukraine. And I see that among his students was Valentin Silvestrov. Silvestrov is from Kyiv, is still alive at 86 years of age, living in exile. Please talk about them & their style of composition.

Illia Ovcharenko: Levko Revutsky is from my home region of Chernihiv, that is why I feel so much connected to his music. It has a very distinct voice—impressionistic, harmonically complex, and deeply lyrical. His works have rich folk influences as well. As for Silvestrov, his style evolved significantly over time. He moved from modernist experimentation music with focus on simplicity and profound expression. Both composers, in their own way, reflect resilience, in my opinion. On top of that, my aim is being able to share and promote this music, as it truly deserves to be heard.

BB: Some pianists are known (perhaps stereotyped by critics), as interpreters of a particular composer, for instance Schnabel with Beethoven or Artur Rubenstein playing Chopin. Your concert features the two Ukrainian composers. Would you mind if we associate you with them, and think of you as the evangelist spreading the gospel of your two countrymen?

Illia Ovcharenko: I’ve recently recorded works by Sergey Bortkiewicz and Borys Lyatoshinsky as well on my recent CD release “Litany”, and exploring their music has been an incredible experience. Ukrainian music is so rich in talent, with many voices that deserve much more recognition.

I do believe it’s important to remember and celebrate one’s heritage. At the same time, I love exploring new works and composers, and I look forward to sharing a wide range of music that I deeply love.

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Illia Ovcharenko appears Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jane Mallett Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre, part of Music TORONTO. Click here for tickets. Click here for program notes.