JURIES 2027
In 2009, Sofya Gulyak was awarded First Prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Leeds International Piano Competition, the first woman in the competition’s history to receive this distinction. Since then, she has performed extensively throughout the world to great critical acclaim, praised for her “tremendous precision and exceptional colouration” and described as a “Rach star” by The Washington Post.
Sofya Gulyak’s distinguished competition career includes First Prizes at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in the US, the Maj Lind International Piano Competition in Helsinki, the Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen, South Korea’s Isang Yun International Piano Competition, and the San Marino Piano Competition. She also earned top prizes at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy and the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris.
Sofya Gulyak has given numerous recitals and concerto performances at major international venues, including Teatro alla Scala and Sala Verdi in Milan; the Herkulessaal in Munich; Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, and Salle Pleyel in Paris; Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall in London; Konzerthaus Berlin; Gewandhaus Leipzig; Palais de la Musique in Strasbourg; Hong Kong City Hall; Shanghai Grand Theatre; Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall; Osaka Symphony Hall; the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest; Theatro Municipal and Cidade das Artes in Rio de Janeiro; King Theatre in Rabat; and the Kennedy Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in the US; as well as Montréal’s Bourgie Hall. Her festival appearances include the Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, Harrogate Festival, Strasbourg International Festival, International Keyboard Festival in New York, Joy of Music Festival in Hong Kong, and Shanghai International Piano Festival, to name only a few.
As a soloist, she has performed with leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona, Orchestra Filarmonica di Bologna, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra, and Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra. She has collaborated with numerous distinguished conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sakari Oramo, Sir Mark Elder, David Hill, Donald Runnicles, Vasily Petrenko, Giancarlo Guerrero, Carlo Rizzi, Alexander Lazarev, Michele Mariotti, Dalia Stasevska, Eiji Oue, Jesús Medina, Christian Zimmermann, and Peter Rubardt, among others.
Her recordings have received widespread critical acclaim, with Diapason awarding her Russian music album five stars and praising her “singing sound alongside dazzling and powerful execution.” The Guardian called her “a fearless pianist, never afraid to scale the most technically demanding heights of the repertoire and equally proud to wear her heart on her sleeve,” while the American Record Guide described her recording of Brahms’ Handel Variations as “among the top contenders on record,” drawing comparisons with the young Martha Argerich.
As a chamber musician, Sofya Gulyak has collaborated with the Wihan Quartet, Chilingirian Quartet, Arianna Quartet, Quartetto di Venezia, soloists of the English Chamber Orchestra, as well as violinists Olivier Charlier and Marianne Piketty, violist Tatjana Masurenko, baritone Loa Falkman, and cellists Quirine Viersen and Yuki Ito, with whom she recorded an album of music by Rachmaninoff for Champs Hill Records.
An active pedagogue, Sofya Gulyak has been invited to give masterclasses in top institutions across Europe, Asia, and North America, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. For more than a decade, Gulyak served as a Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music in London. Since 2023, she has been an Associate Piano Professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Born in Kazan, Russia, Sofya Gulyak studied at the Special Music College under Nailya Khakimova and at the Kazan State Conservatory under Professor Elfiya Burnasheva. She continued her studies at the Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro” in Imola, Italy, with Boris Petrushansky, and later at the Royal College of Music in London with Vanessa Latarche.
The International Jury of the Concours musical international de Montréal is housed at the Ritz-Carlton – Montréal
