The Special Piano Department was at the origins of the creation of the Belarusian State Conservatory. The creative face of the Department was formed under the influence of outstanding piano schools – Moscow and St.Petersburg. The creative potential of the Department allows us to worthily continue the best traditions of Russian piano art.
A whole galaxy of talented teachers and performing musicians work fruitfully at the Department. Among them: People’s Artist of the Republic of Belarus, State Prize Laureate, Professor Igor Olovnikov – a brilliant interpreter of piano music, author of transcriptions for piano, including those by Belarusian composers.
A significant contribution to the development of the Belarusian performing school was made by Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus, Professor Lyudmila Shelomentseva, Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus, Professor Vladimir Nekhaenko, Professors Leonid Yushkevich, Zoya Kacharskaya, Lilia Ter-Minasyan, Associate Professors Sergei Mikulik, Alla Khimchenko, senior teacher Tatiana Volodko. The Department’s staff includes Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus, Professor Yuri Gildyuk. The Department also employs young talented pianists, laureates of International competitions: PhD in Art History, Associate Professor Natalia Gromova; Associate Professors Marina Rusakova, Elena Vashkevich, Elena Ostashkina-Myslivchik, Aleksandr Muzykantov. Since 1997, the Department has been headed by Professor Valery Shatsky. In 2012, the Department was headed by Associate Professor Vladimir Doulov.
The high professional level of the teaching staff made it possible to prepare a number of talented students for participation in International pianist competitions. Their victories in prestigious International competitions are impressive. Let’s name just a few:
1st Prize of Yuri Blinov at the 1st S.Prokofiev International Competition (1992) in St.Petersburg (class of L.S.Shelomentseva);
1st Prize of Andrei Ponochevny in Cologne (“Cologne-96”) and Washington (V.Kappel Competition, 1998) (student of L.S.Shelomentseva and Yu.N.Gildyuk);
1st prize of Andrei Sikorsky at a Competition in Italy (1991), 1st prize at the International Competition “Minsk-96” (a student of the Moscow State Conservatory, studied at the Academy in the class of Yu.N.Gildyuk),
1st prize of Aleksandr Muzykantov, student of Z.V.Kacharskaya, at the International Competition “Minsk-2000”;
victories of the piano duet consisting of Anna Getmanova and Anastasia Pozdnyakova at International Competitions in France (1997) and Spain (2001) (class of N.I.Tashchilina);
gold medal of Maria Prokofieva (class of V.V.Shatsky) at the European Competition for Young Performers of Luxembourg (2003);
II prize and silver medal of Timur Shcherbakov at the V.V.Horowitz International Competition (Kiev, 2003) (class of L.S.Shelomentseva), I prize at the International Competition “Minsk-2005” (class of Yu.N.Gildyuk).
In the anniversary year of the Academy in 2002, the winners of International competitions were students of the Academy of Music Andrei Ponochevny (P.Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow, Russia), Konstantin Krasnitsky (S.Rachmaninov Competition, Moscow, Russia), Tatiana Maksimenya (F.Chopin Competition, Brest, France), Tatiana Zakharova (B.Smetana Competition, Pilsen, Czech Republic), Vitaly Stakhievich (E.Durle Competition, Antwerp, Belgium), Timur Shcherbakov and Daria Moroz (A.Rubinstein Competition, Bydgoszcz, Poland), etc.
The Department constantly organizes performing competitions. In 2005, for example, Alexei Chernov (Russia) and Timur Shcherbakov (Belarus) received 1st prize at the International Piano Competition “Minsk-2005”; Belarusian pianists Konstantin Krasnitsky, Vasily Netuk, Vitaly Stakhievich, Vlada Shatskaya became Diploma winners. In 2008, the Department for the first time held an Open Piano Competition for the best performance of etudes, the Department took an active part in organizing the IV International Competition for Young Pianists named after I.Tsvetaeva in Grodno in 2008, and in holding the Republican Open Competition of Piano Music Performers in Minsk. Today the Department holds an Open Competition for the best performance of works by Belarusian composers in memory of L.A.Matukovskaya, an Open competition for piano duets, and a Departmental Competition for the best performance of works by F.Chopin in memory of L.S.Shelomentseva.
From November 25 to December 9, 2010, the International Piano Competition “Minsk-2010” was held in Minsk, in which about 60 performers took part. The Laureate of the Competition was Master’s student Vlada Shatskaya, the Diploma winners were Academy student Evgeny Galanov and student of the Republican Gymnasium-College under the Belarusian State Academy of Music Pavel Netuk. The Department, together with the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society, organized an Open Competition of Piano Duets as part of the International Festival “Duettissimo”. From December 2 to December 13, 2014, the International Piano Competition “Minsk-2014” was held at the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society. From December 1 to December 10, after a seven-year break, the “Minsk-2021” Competition was held. The first two rounds of the Competition took place within the walls of the Academy of Music in the Great Hall, the final – in the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society.
Teachers of the Department V.A.Doulov, L.S.Shelomentseva, Z.V.Kacharskaya, V.V.Shatsky, L.P.Yushkevich, Yu.N.Gildyuk, I.V.Olovnikov, A.Ya.Sikorsky, S.A.Mikulik has repeatedly given master classes in Poland, Sweden, France, Germany, Austria, China, the USA, and on the island of Taiwan. Professors of the Department participated in the work of the jury of International Competitions “Minsk-96”, “Minsk-2000”, “Minsk-2005”, “Minsk-2010”, “Minsk-2014”, “Minsk-2021”; V.V.Shatsky was invited to serve on the jury of festivals and piano competitions that took place in Siedlice (Poland, 1998), Bialystok (I Piano Duet Competition, Poland, 1999), Moscow (A.Scriabin Piano Competition, Russia, 2000), Darmstadt (Germany, 2002) and in Bialystok (II Competition of Piano Duets, Poland, 2002); Z.V.Kacharskaya worked on the jury of the International Competition in Chisinau (Moldova, 1999), V.N.Nekhaenko – on the jury of the IV International Competition named after V.Horowitz in Kharkov (Ukraine, 2000), etc.
Currently, the Academy has over 200 students majoring in piano, including more than 50 foreign citizens. Students of the Department actively participate in the musical life of Belarus and perform abroad with great success.
