Vadym Kholodenko is a Ukrainian pianist, born on 4 September 1986 in Kyiv. He graduated from the Lysenko Kyiv Special Music School, where he studied with N. Gridneva, and then continued his education at the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in the class of B. Fedorov.
From 2005 to 2010 he studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and from 2010 to 2013 he was a postgraduate student there in the class of professor Vera Gornostayeva, with whom he also worked as an assistant. He received scholarships from the foundations of Vladimir Spivakov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yuri Bashmet, and the Russian Performing Arts foundation, and in 2004 became a laureate of the youth prize "Triumph".
Kholodenko won prizes at many international piano competitions. Among them were third prize at the Vladimir Krainev International Competition for Young Pianists in 1998, second prize at the Vladimir Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists in 1999, third prize at the Prokofiev International Competition for Young Pianists in Saint Petersburg in 2000, third prize and bronze medal at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest in 2001, the Grand Prix at the Maria Callas International Piano Competition in Athens in 2004, third prize at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City in 2006, first prize at the Sendai International Music Competition in 2010, first prize at the Schubert Competition in Dortmund in 2011, third prize at the Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona in 2012, and first prize with gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013.
As a concert pianist, he has appeared widely as a soloist, chamber musician, and performer with symphony orchestras. He has performed on major stages in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and other Russian cities, and has toured in Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Germany, Greece, Italy, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, the United States, Israel, and China. He has participated in festivals such as Musical Olympus and Baltic Seasons and has collaborated since 2004 with the Novaya Rossiya orchestra, while also performing with numerous other orchestras in Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere.
In 2007 Kholodenko and pianist Andrey Gugnin founded the piano duo iDuo. In 2008 the ensemble won second prize in the duo category at the San Marino international piano competition, and in 2010 the duo recorded an album for the Delos label. Kholodenko has also made recordings featuring works by Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Medtner.
His repertoire is broad, ranging from Baroque music to works by contemporary composers, with a particularly important place occupied by the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Kholodenko is the author of piano arrangements of Rachmaninoff romances including "Melody" and "The Rat-Catcher," as well as a transcription of the chorus "Belilitsy, rumyanitsy" from Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra. He is also interested in jazz improvisation and created a transcription on themes by the British rock group Radiohead titled "I will never hear Radiohead in Moscow." Critics and fellow musicians have praised his intellectual refinement, technical command, flexibility, and naturalness of expression.
In his personal life, Kholodenko filed for divorce in November 2015. On 17 March 2016, at his home in Benbrook, Texas, he found his two daughters dead; their mother, Sofya Tsygankova, was accused of the killings. He is now married to the Russian violinist Alena Baeva, and the couple have a daughter.
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