Sofya Gulyak

MPerf RCM, ArtDip (RCM)

Piano professor

Russian pianist Sofya Gulyak began her studies at the Kazan State Conservatoire with professor Elfiya Burnasheva, followed by the Piano Academy Incontri col Maestro in Italy with Boris Petrushansky. Sofya graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2011 with an Artist Diploma in Performance, studying with Head of Keyboard Professor Vanessa Latarche.

Sofya has won many prestigious piano competitions. In September 2009, she was awarded first prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition; she is the first woman to achieve this in the history of the competition. She has also been awarded first prizes at the William Kapell International Piano Competition (USA), the Helsinki Maj Lind International Piano Competition, Tivoli Piano Competition (Copenhagen), Gyeongnam International Piano Competition (South Korea) and the Allegro vivo International Piano Competition (SanMarino).

Sofya has performed in many of the world’s concert halls including Sala Verdi (Milan), Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel (Paris), Moscow Conservatoire, Berlin Konzerthaus,Leipzig Gewandhaus, Sala Bossi (Bologna), Finlandia Hall (Helsinki), Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), Leeds Town Hall, Salle Moliere (Lyon), Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles), KingTheatre (Rabat), Kursaal (Bern) and Tivoli Concert Hall (Copenhagen). As a soloist Sofia has performed with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Rio de Janeiro Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Bucharest Philharmonic, Oulu Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Morocco Orchestra, Copenhagen Symphony, Orchestre National de France and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Participation in festivals include Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Chopin Festival Duszniki Zdrój, Festival de l'Orangerie de Sceaux, International Keyboard Institute & Festival (New York), Liszt Festival Villa d’Este (Italy), Nordlys festival (Norway), Ravello Festival and Sorrento Music Festival. Future highlights include appearances with London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rome Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra and the Hallé, and recitals in the Tivoli Concert Hall, Kennedy Center in Washington, Hercules – Saal in Munich and the Harrogate International Festival, Busoni Festival, and International Royal Cracow Piano Festival.

Faculties / departments: Keyboard