Elizaveta Kliuchereva was born in the year 1999 in the city of Moscow. She is a graduate of the Central Music School at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where she completed her studies in the piano class taught by Maksim Zheleznov. She obtained her degree from the Moscow Conservatory, where she studied in the class led by Professor Vladimir Ovchinnikov, a People’s Artist of Russia. Since the year 2022, she has been working as an assistant trainee in the same teacher’s class. In the year 2015, she was awarded the Grand Prix at the International Piano Competition held in the city of Villahermosa (Mexico), and in that same year she also received the Second Prize as well as the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition, which took place in the city of Novosibirsk. In the year 2016, she was awarded the First Prize at the 50th International “Concertino Praga” Competition and the Second Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Youth Competition in Beijing. In the year 2018, she was the winner of the 12th International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in Narva (Estonia) and the International Piano Competition in Lyon (France). In the year 2023, she was awarded the First Prize at the International Piano Competition “Wandering Music Stars” in Tel Aviv (Israel). In the year 2024, Elizaveta Klyucharyova was named a laureate of the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize and the recipient of the Audience Award of the Piano Academy Eppan (Italy). She is engaged in active concert performance. Since the year 2016, she has been a participant in the programs of the Saint Petersburg Music House. 
 
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: It has been nearly ten years since I became a soloist of the Saint Petersburg Music House, and throughout all these years it has given me the opportunity to perform in various cities and in some of the finest concert halls of our homeland and around the world. These included performances with many of our outstanding orchestras, as well as joint appearances with our most talented young instrumentalists. This has been an immense and invaluable experience, which, I hope, will continue to serve me well in the course of my future artistic journey. I am deeply grateful to the Saint Petersburg Music House for these years of concert activity, for the attention it has given me, and for its constant support. Among all these performances, the one I remember most vividly is my very first concert in the English Hall of the Saint Petersburg Music House. It was a deeply emotional moment—both exciting and joyful at the same time. As it happened, this also marked my very first trip to Saint Petersburg, and I was absolutely enchanted by the beauty of the Northern Capital. Of all my concert tours, the one that stands out most in my memory is the tour in Japan. The attitude toward Russian music there is filled with such reverence and sensitivity, and the warmth and openness of the Japanese audiences met us everywhere, in every hall. It is truly remarkable that through our art, we have the power to bring people’s hearts together.
 
Saint Petersburg Music House (SPMH): You have performed with ensembles from various cities in Russia and from different countries. What would you say is the most distinctive feature in the way different orchestras approach working with a soloist?
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: Yes, I have had the opportunity to perform with orchestras from many different countries, and in some cases, this happened with just a single rehearsal—or even without any rehearsal at all, for instance, during competitions. I have not encountered any particular or specific difficulties when working with orchestras; I have somehow always been fortunate in that regard. I have consistently met professionals who are truly devoted to their craft and tactful in their interactions. From the more humorous moments, I recall a performance in the United States—specifically in South Carolina—when I was in the eighth grade, performing Schumann’s concerto. The orchestra had numbered every bar in their sheet music, whereas I did not have these markings. As a result, during the intermission, I had to count out the entire score by hand in order to facilitate better coordination between us.
 
It is no secret that time flows differently on stage, and the soloist and orchestra function as parts of a single, unified whole. The quality of the performance depends directly on how well they understand and respond to one another.
 
SPMH: At the age of fifteen, you were awarded the Grand Prix at the International Piano Competition in Mexico, and in that same year, you received the Second Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition in Novosibirsk. The question is: how does success influence one’s artistic path and further development?
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: 
“And perhaps, the finest victory
Over time and gravity —
Is to pass, without leaving a trace,
Is to pass, without leaving a shadow…”
This is a very interesting question. Success gives strength — strength to keep moving forward and to continue growing, both in terms of repertoire and in a deeper, spiritual sense. But under no circumstances can one allow oneself to stop, to fold one’s hands and say, “That’s it, life is a success.” Every day, one must make an effort and strive to discover something new. Success, once experienced, is the result of immense work. And it brings with it responsibility — responsibility before oneself and before the people who believe in you.
 
SPMH: Last year, you became a laureate of the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize and the recipient of the Audience Award at the PianoAcademy Eppan in Italy. Do the opinions of the professional jury and the general public carry equal weight for you?
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: Not exactly equal. They cannot truly be equal, as these are people from entirely different professional spheres. But it was very gratifying that, in this instance, their opinions happened to coincide. Of course, one would wish to be like Pushkin, who wrote: “ Fearing no insult, asking for no crown, receive with indifference both flattery and slander…” But I am an ordinary person, and I have not yet attained such detachment. So yes, naturally, I was happy.
 
SPMH: On May 7, we mark the 185th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose melodies have accompanied us since the very first steps of our musical education. What, in your view, is the magic of his compositions?
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: It seems to me that the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky reveals the inner life of the soul — the soul of a child, of an adult, of a person who has lived through an entire life. Tchaikovsky’s music speaks of what takes place in every human heart. That is precisely where the magic lies: in the fact that each listener, in hearing his music, recognizes something of themselves. And in addition to that, his works possess an enchantingly beautiful quality.
 
SPMH: Virtuosity and imaginative expressiveness — does it ever happen that the former becomes more important than the latter?
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: Yes, it does happen — and, unfortunately, it happens quite often. “How many fall in that abyss.” But that is a road to nowhere. Empty brilliance without meaning or substance is a path that leads into oblivion.
 
SPMH: Which pianist, for you personally, represents the ideal of an artist?
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: Since childhood, I have loved Vladimir Horowitz. The very first recording I ever heard was his performance of Scriabin’s Étude Révolutionnaire. I was six years old at the time, and his interpretation moved me to tears. It is difficult to explain why — it simply touched something deep in my heart. Among contemporary musicians, I find inspiration in the artistry of Nikolai Lugansky, Mikhail Pletnev, Denis Matsuev, Irina Plotnikova, Eliso Virsaladze, Alexei Volodin, and Martha Argerich.
 
SPMH: How did it all begin? How did music become such an important part of your life? 
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: It all began when, upon enrolling in the first grade at a children’s music school, my parents were advised to bring me to the entrance examinations for the Central Music School, which were scheduled to take place in two weeks’ time. I was fortunate enough to be given a preparatory consultation before the exam with a wonderful solfeggio teacher, Yekaterina Alekseyevna Bykanova. In just two weeks, she prepared me from the ground up. At the same time, with my first piano teacher, Manana Vladimirovna Kandelaki, we learned an entirely new audition program specifically for the Central Music School — one that was completely different from the repertoire I had studied before. I remember that the chosen piece was the Neapolitan Song from Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album. And somehow, the admission process went very smoothly, and I was accepted into the school. My first success came at the Scriabin Competition in Paris when I was ten years old. It was also my first major trip abroad. Since childhood, I have had a deep love for Chopin. In the fourth grade, I learned all of his études — I wanted to play as much of his music as possible. The true awareness of being part of something greater, of being connected to high art, of course came much later. But from the very beginning of my school life, music always held the first and foremost place. This is greatly due to my teachers — especially my teacher at the end of my studies at the Central Music School, Maksim Stanislavovich Zheleznov. At present, I am happy to be continuing my musical education in the assistant traineeship program, studying in the class of Vladimir Pavlovich Ovchinnikov.
 
SPMH: How does music influence your everyday life? What lifts your spirits? And with which composer is it best to feel a bit melancholic? 
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: Music has a wonderful influence on my life — although I am not quite certain it has the same effect on the lives of my neighbors. As for lifting my mood, that would, of course, be Mozart. To feel melancholic… I’m not entirely sure. Probably Schubert and Tchaikovsky. But if I think about it deeply — again, Mozart.
 
SPMH: What, if anything, could possibly distract you from music? And do you ever feel the need to take a break from concerts, rehearsals, tours — from music itself? 
Elizaveta Kliuchereva: In truth, nothing has the power to distract me from music. And I cannot say that I ever grow tired of touring or performing. On the contrary — these experiences bring me immense joy and satisfaction. I suppose I simply cannot live without it. It is impossible to feel fatigue when you wholeheartedly love what you do. If anything, I probably feel tired when I am not playing.
 
 
Interview by Tatyana Mikhailova