Dmytro Choni

Piano

Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni, based in Vienna, is internationally recognised for his technically impeccable pianism, stupendous virtuosity, clarity of articulation and finest sensitivity. In recent years he garnered international attention by winning numerous top prizes and awards, including the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2021, the Bösendorfer USASU in 2019 and the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in 2018.

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“Choni creates a goosebump-inducing sound world, his focused touch and delicate handling of each harmonic shift drawing a generous gamut of colour from the Bechstein at his fingertips.” – International Piano Magazine, August 2025

Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni, based in Vienna, is internationally recognised for his technically impeccable pianism, stupendous virtuosity, clarity of articulation and finest sensitivity. In recent years he garnered international attention by winning numerous top prizes and awards, including the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2021, the Bösendorfer USASU in 2019 and the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in 2018.

Future highlights include recitals in, among others, Amsterdam (Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ), Brussels (Flagey), Berlin (Konzerthaus), Barcelona (Palau de la Música) and in various cities throughout the USA. Orchestra engagements include the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice and Marin Alsop (Brahms no. 1), the Bielefelder Philharmoniker and Robin Davis (Rachmaninov no. 3) and the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra and Hankyeol Yoon (Rachmaninov no. 3).

Dmytro Choni’s first album for the naïve records label was released in March 2025, and includes works by Debussy, Liszt, Silvestrov and Liebermann. It has received critical acclaim with pianonews.de writing that “Dmytro Choni clearly feels at home in every era and every genre. He has a deeply felt approach to all the works and offers a fascinating journey through this consistently sensual and emotional music. Fantastic: a must-have!”
His second solo album for naïve is due for release in Spring 2026.

Recent highlights include his debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in Turin, replacing at short notice Yefim Bronfman, performing Brahms’ piano concerto no. 1 conducted by Juraj Valčuha. L’Ape musicale reviewed: “(He) knows how to deliver the punch of the thoroughbred virtuoso, without renouncing the sense of measure that is his stylistic hallmark.”. Dmytro toured China and South Korea and also appeared with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Badische Philharmonie Pforzheim, and the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. He gave highly successful debut recitals in Vienna, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, and Hannover, performed at the Lucerne Festival and the Lille Piano Festival, completed a residency at the Edesche Concertzaal, and returned to perform at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona.

The year 2023 marked the start of a successful partnership with Frank Peter Zimmermann. The duo continues to give numerous recitals throughout Europe, including a major tour in March 2026 with concerts in Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, London and Cologne. Their first album for BIS Records, with works by Bartók and Szymanowski will be released in October 2025. On their recital at the Prinzregententheater in Munich the Süddeutsche Zeitung commented: “Choni illuminates the complex harmonies, but also takes a percussive approach when necessary. There is no sign of the technical difficulties with either of them, just the focussed energy with which they transform the finale into such a furious perpetuum mobile that the audience bursts into applause.”

Dmytro Choni appeared as soloist with renowned orchestras, including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, RTVE Symphony, Ensemble Esperanza, Ukraine National Symphony, Castilla y León Symphony, Liechtenstein Symphony, Hamburger Camerata, Silesian Philharmonic and Dominican Republic National Symphony, working with conductors such as Andrew Manze, Marin Alsop, Nicholas McGegan, Dawid Runtz, Yaron Traub, Baldur Brönnimann, Pablo González, Oksana Lyniv and Lucas Macías Navarro.

He takes part in festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, Verbier Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Chopin Duszniki International Piano Festival, New Ross Piano Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Stars and Rising Stars Munich and MiTo Settembre Musica and performs in such venues as the Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Salle Cortot Paris, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Minato Mirai Hall 

Yokohama, Flagey Brussels, Palau de la Música Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid and the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires.

Chamber music also forms an important part of his musical activities. He has collaborated with the Cuarteto

Quiroga, Quartetto di Cremona, Calidore String Quartet, violinists Josef Špaček, Arabella Steinbacher, cellists Jean-Guihen Queyras, Julian Steckel, clarinettist Sharon Kam and violist Nils Mönkemeyer.

Dmytro was born in Kyiv in 1993, and began playing piano at age four with Galina Zaslavets. He studied in Kyiv with Nina Naiditch and Yuri Kot, completed his training in Graz with Milana Chernyavska, and was also mentored by Gabriela Montero.

Representation

General Management: Nymus Artists
Germany: Grunau & Paulus Music Management GmbH
Austria: Mark Stephan Buhl – Artists Management

Links & downloads

https://www.dmytrochoni.com

en

Concerts

  • December 8, 2025, 8:30 pm
    Thessaloniki, Greece
    Thessaloniki Concert Hall
    Duo recital
    Violin: Frank Peter Zimmermann
    Schubert – Sonatine in a minor D385
    Webern – Vier Stücke, op. 7
    Schubert – Variationen über "Trockne Blumen" D802
    Schoenberg – Phantasy, op. 47
    Schubert – Fantasie in C major D934

    https://www.tch.gr
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Reviews

“Choni creates a goosebump-inducing sound world, his focused touch and delicate handling of each harmonic shift drawing a generous gamut…” →“Choni creates a goosebump-inducing sound world, his focused touch and delicate handling of each harmonic shift drawing a generous gamut of colour from the Bechstein at his fingertips.” ←
– International Piano, 01/08/2025
“In jeder Zeit und in jedem Genre fühlt sich Dmytro Choni offenbar zuhause. Zu allen Werken hat er einen tief…” →“In jeder Zeit und in jedem Genre fühlt sich Dmytro Choni offenbar zuhause. Zu allen Werken hat er einen tief empfundenen Zugang und bietet einen faszinierenden Streifzug durch diese durchweg sinnliche und emotionale Musik. Fantastisch: ein Muss!” ←
– PianoNews.de, 01/09/2025
“Choni (b 1993) is Ukrainian and came to my attention when he earned a bronze medal in the 2022 Van…” →“Choni (b 1993) is Ukrainian and came to my attention when he earned a bronze medal in the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition. He has made one previous recording that James Harrington reviewed with guarded praise (N/D 2020). I have no reservations about his playing here. The title refers to his notion of being a traveler in life between light and dark, heaven and hell. Also, and perhaps less compellingly, he refers to his “musical pathways” as a kind of pilgrimage. He says the program constitutes an arc from darkness to brightness and back to darkness. The beginning and end do not quite fit in, but their close relationship with each other adds to the symmetry of the design. He begins with 3 Bagatelles, Op. 1, and ends with Postludium, Op. 5, by Valentyn Silvestrov (b 1937), a Ukrainian who lives in Berlin. (The liner notes, which are in the form of an interview with Choni, do not explain the opus numbers, which are puzzling given that Silvestrov wrote the pieces at the age of 68.) This is extremely simple music, slow and quiet, entirely tonal, without any ugly sound in it. It has a mesmerizing quality that Choni brings out with great sensitivity. He also mentions that the simplicity is deceptive, for the score contains expression marks in every bar. Darkness is represented by Liszt’s Dante Sonata, not one of my favorite pieces as it consists mostly of virtuosic bombast. But Choni is clearly convinced by it and plays it brilliantly. Then comes the bright part in the form of Debussy’s popular Isle Joyeuse and the less often heard Et la Lune Descend sur le Temple qui Fut from the second series of Images. This is followed by a suite of 4 pieces constituting Lowell Liebermann’s Gargoyles. They do not seem very dark to me, as Choni suggests, but require much virtuosity in the outer pieces, whereas the inner ones are more lyrical. On the whole, this is an interesting recital in first-rate performances. What more could one ask for?A biography in the booklet, perhaps. REPP” ←
– American Record Guide, 01/07/2025
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“… Plus que dans les peu révélatrices pièces de Lysenko et Silvestrov, l’artiste ukrainien montre l’étendue de son talent dans…” →“… Plus que dans les peu révélatrices pièces de Lysenko et Silvestrov, l’artiste ukrainien montre l’étendue de son talent dans une Sonate n° 2 de Schumann remarquablement maîtrisée, alliant souffle et profondeur.  … More than in the less revealing pieces by Lysenko and Silvestrov, the Ukrainian artist shows the extent of his talent in a remarkably masterful Sonata No. 2 by Schumann, combining breath and depth.” ←
– Diapason, 19/06/2025
“Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni begins his program with Valentin Silvestrov’s Bagatelles op. 1. Compared to Hélène Grimaud’s interpretations, Choni’s are…” →“Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni begins his program with Valentin Silvestrov’s Bagatelles op. 1. Compared to Hélène Grimaud’s interpretations, Choni’s are much more sensitive, delicate and atmospheric. His recordings offer an intimate insight into Silvestrov’s thoughtful and poetic musical language. … Choni then plays Franz Liszt’s Après une lecture du Dante. I have heard the pianist perform this work several times live, and this studio interpretation is no less impressive than the live experience, which I remember as technically brilliant, full of tension, and at times downright ecstatic. The Dante Sonata is a composition of paradoxical characteristics, created primarily through improvisation and revised again and again. Besides virtuosity, the greatest challenge for the performer is to make it coherent, which requires a perfect mastery of the concept of fantasy. Choni can do this, he can present the work here as he does live, with gripping concentration in a captivatingly coherent performance as an emotional roller coaster ride.” ←
– pizzicato.lu, 09/04/2025
“Choni has everything it takes to convey the right spirit of the opening Maestoso, torn between the dramatic opening motif…” →“Choni has everything it takes to convey the right spirit of the opening Maestoso, torn between the dramatic opening motif for the orchestra and the piano writing of an often dreamy and introverted nature, finding the right balance between the poetry of the second theme, surrounded by dialogues with the woodwind and horn, and the energy of the development, where the 30-year-old Ukrainian knows how to deliver the punch of the thoroughbred virtuoso, without renouncing the sense of measure that is his signature style. He will also have occasion to demonstrate this in Alfred Grünfeld’s pyrotechnic Soirée de Vienne, based on themes from Strauss’ Fledermaus and performed as an encore. Nor does he lack the ability to recreate the magical, suspended atmosphere of the Adagio, one of the peaks of Brahms’ inspiration, with its expressive depth recreated with a few touches of cantabile, at times sorrowful, at times luminous, sustained by a shrewd use of the pedal and an immediate understanding with the orchestra led by Juraj Valčuha.” ←
– L'Ape musicale, 24/02/2024
“Choni durchleuchtet die komplexe Harmonik, langt aber bei Bedarf auch perkussiv zu. Von den technischen Schwierigkeiten ist bei beiden nichts…” →“Choni durchleuchtet die komplexe Harmonik, langt aber bei Bedarf auch perkussiv zu. Von den technischen Schwierigkeiten ist bei beiden nichts zu spüren, nur von fokussierter Energie, mit der sie das Finale in ein derart furioses Perpetuum mobile verwandeln, dass es das Publikum zu Beifallsstürmen hinreißt.” ←
– SZ, 29/01/2024
“Den als gleichberechtigte Orchesterstimme geschriebenen Klavierpart hatte der junge, vielfach ausgezeichnete ukrainische Virtuose Dmytro Choni übernommen. Gelassen in sich ruhend…” →“Den als gleichberechtigte Orchesterstimme geschriebenen Klavierpart hatte der junge, vielfach ausgezeichnete ukrainische Virtuose Dmytro Choni übernommen. Gelassen in sich ruhend und völlig eins mit der Musik begeisterte der Pianist mit virtuoser Technik, Gestaltungswillen und Einfühlungsvermögen. Halsbrecherische Oktavläufe und die gefürchteten Oktavtriller im zweiten Satz, die höchste Beweglichkeit des vierten und fünften Fingers erfordern, meisterte er mit bewundernswerter Selbstverständlichkeit. Als Dank für den stürmischen Beifall ließ der Solist eine mit technischen Finessen gespickte, verspielte Strauß’sche Fledermaus durch den Saal flattern.” ←
– PZ, 05/12/2023
“Fabelhaft, wie gestern Abend die Anschlüsse klappten, bezwingend die Präzision selbst in den schwierigsten Passagen. Im Largo war er der…” →“Fabelhaft, wie gestern Abend die Anschlüsse klappten, bezwingend die Präzision selbst in den schwierigsten Passagen. Im Largo war er der durchgeistigte Poet am Klavier, sein Spiel war luzide-transzendent. Im finalen Rondo gelang ihm die Gratwanderung zwischen zupackender Rhythmik und kantabler Melodienseligkeit. Großes Klavierspiel, das vom Publikum frenetisch beklatscht wurde. Und als hätte er seine makellose Virtuosität nicht bereits zur Genüge unter Beweis gestellt, legte er in der Zugabe noch eins drauf: mit Alfred Grünfelds „Fledermaus“-Paraphrase steigerte er die Verzückung im ausverkauften Schlosshof ins Unermessliche.” ←
– Mallorca Magazin, 27/07/2023
“The audience response to Choni might have been fueled in part by compassion, but good will doesn’t win a top…” →“The audience response to Choni might have been fueled in part by compassion, but good will doesn’t win a top prize at a competition. Choni gave a towering performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 in the opening concert which propelled him to frontrunner status from the start. His playing of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 was exceptional for its elegance, but even more so for the emotional arc that he created from beginning to end.” ←
– Seen and Heard International, 22/06/2022
“Choni, … , employed delicate lyricism with Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in C Minor. His performance, marked by clear ornamentation,…” →“Choni, … , employed delicate lyricism with Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in C Minor. His performance, marked by clear ornamentation, supple phrasing, and pronounced extra-musicality, was affected with tender supplement from the ensemble. His pointed expressionism was especially evident in the songful slow movement. A native of Ukraine, his performance garnered a roaring applause, with swaths of yellow and blue waving throughout the performance hall.” ←
– Texas Classical Review, 20/06/2022
“… a whirlwind named Dmytro Choni made Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major leap off the page in…” →“… a whirlwind named Dmytro Choni made Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major leap off the page in a stunning display of musical intelligence and keyboard athleticism. Sitting poised and upright, Choni executed feats of gnarly passagework, leaps, and interlocking hands, all the time with the neoclassical Prokofiev of the First Symphony looking over his shoulder, demanding transparent textures and articulation that projected to the back of the hall. And whatever the pianistic hijinks, an unerring sense of direction and line animated every bar.” ←
– Classical Voice North America, 16/06/2022
“Dmytro Choni came into his own in the Quarter finals, building upon his fine Preliminary showing. He goes way beyond…” →“Dmytro Choni came into his own in the Quarter finals, building upon his fine Preliminary showing. He goes way beyond just playing the notes of Prokofiev’s Sarcasms, while his Debussy ‘Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut’ from Images Book II and L’isle joyeuse fused colourful allure and palpable rhythmic backbone. Many years ago the late Earl Wild told me that he conceived Liszt’s Dante Sonata in terms of orchestral foreground and background, as opposed to a huge octave étude. As such, he would have appreciated Choni’s like-minded aesthetic as much as I did.” ←
– Jed Distler blog, Gramophone, 08/06/2022
“Seine Kunst des Phrasierens, des Singens, des Abtönens, aber auch die Kontrolle der Dynamik, die Transparenz und gegebenenfalls auch die…” →“Seine Kunst des Phrasierens, des Singens, des Abtönens, aber auch die Kontrolle der Dynamik, die Transparenz und gegebenenfalls auch die stupende Virtuosität sind überragend. Von seinem Spiel geht somit immer die Aura höchsten künstlerischen Anspruchs und feinster Sensibilität aus. …  Wo andere junge Pianisten sehr gut spielen, besitzt Dmytro Chonis vollblutiges Spiel schon wirkliche Größe und einen genialen Atem. ##### His art of phrasing, his lyricism, the nuances and the perfect control of dynamics, the transparency and, if necessary, the stupendous virtuosity are outstanding. His playing thus always emanates the aura of the highest artistic goal and finest sensitivity. …  Where other young pianists are very good, Dmytro Choni’s thoroughbred playing already possesses real greatness and ingenious breath.” ←
– Pizzicato, 22/05/2020
“Mit Ludwig van Beethovens Klaviersonate Nr. 26 (Les Adieux) präsentierte sich Dmytro Choni erneut als fein nuancierender und ebenso spontaner…” →“Mit Ludwig van Beethovens Klaviersonate Nr. 26 (Les Adieux) präsentierte sich Dmytro Choni erneut als fein nuancierender und ebenso spontaner Beethoven-Interpret. Mit filigraner und sicherer Technik spielte er einen sehr leichten Beethoven. Die Virtuosität war immer präsent, doch sie hielt sich gestalterisch im Hintergrund. Die Melodien perlten mit atemberaubender Natürlichkeit, und die Tiefe ergab sich aus der Schlichtheit. Auch in Schuberts Impromptu op. 90/3 gelang Choni eine sehr feine Interpretation, in der Transparenz überwog und das Grollen neben hellerem Gesang bestens zum Ausdruck kam. Grünfelds Konzertparaphrase über Motive aus der Fledermaus von Johann Strauss nutzte Choni nicht für rasante Virtuosität. Sein geschmackvolles Differenzieren und das Wissen um die Hintergründe des Stücks führten zu einer wohl spieltechnisch stupenden, aber auch sehr stilvollen Interpretation. Auch in den beiden Rhapsodien op. 79 von Johannes Brahms erwies sich der junge Pianist als ein Meister im Dosieren von Leidenschaft und Melancholie. Das Geniale der Brahmsschen Gedankengänge kam mit dieser Rhetorik und typischen Brahms-Farben perfekt zum Ausdruck. Dmytro Choni stellte sich also als Pianist vor, dem traditionelle Werte am Herzen liegen, der die Ernsthaftigkeit des interpretatorischen Ansatzes mit einer bewundernswerten Ausgeglichenheit sowie einem intelligenten und spannend-rhetorischen Gestalten verbindet. Choni ist ein souveräner Interpret, der ohne Manierismen und Selbstinszenierung nur der Musik dient.” ←
– Pizzicato.lu, 13/02/2020