Internationally acclaimed Russian pianist Yuri Didenko has performed recitals and with orchestras in the best concert halls of Moscow, including Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory and Moscow International House of Music, cities of the former Soviet Union and abroad: USA, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Greece, Malta, Chile, China, countries of Western Africa, Turkey, Cyprus, South Korea.
The British magazine Pianoforte referred to his performances as “bold, open, powerful, and technically accomplished old-school virtuosity.” The Belgian newspaper La Semained’Anvers wrote of him as a “brilliant pianist” and mentioned his “large and bright sonority” as well as dynamism. His concerts in USA were highly appraised by the press. “Didenko captured the hearts of the audience when he performed several selections by Sergei Rachmaninov”, a critic wrote about one of his recitals.”Immortal works by Schubert, Liszt, and Rachmaninov sounded with an incredible force of conviction, emotional power and brightness under the magic hands of Yuri Didenko, the chairman of the Jury of DimitriosVikelas International competition.
Mr. Didenko studied piano at the Central Music School affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory with Alexander Mndoyants and then at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Merzhanov. Since 1994, he has been on the piano faculty of the Moscow Conservatory.
Mr. Didenko is a prizewinner of numerous competitions in Italy, USA, Belgium; he is the winner of the International Concert Artists Competition in Royal Tunbridge Wells (Great Britain). In 2003, Mr. Didenko received the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture Award “For Special Achievements in Culture”.
Yuri Didenko recorded several compact discs with various romantic and XX century works including Brahms’s Variations on the Theme by Paganini, Liszt’s Six Grandes Etudes de Paganini, Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2, two trios by Rachmaninoff (with Graf Mourja, violin, and Mikhail Utkin, cello) Visions de L’Amen by Messiaen for two pianos (with Maria Parshina). He made numerous recordings on the Russian State Radio.
Mr. Didenko is in demand for master classes in many cities of Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Malta, Germany, Poland, as well as USA, South Korea, and China. He has also served on piano juries of several international piano competitions (as a member and as a chairman of the jury) in Russia, Poland, USA, Greece, Kazakhstan, Ukraine. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Didenko was an active member and secretary of the Rachmaninov Society of Russia. He is also member of the Presidium of the Scriabin Foundation.