Employees

prof.

Sofya Gulyak

piano

In September 2009, Sofya Gulyak was awarded First Prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the 16th Leeds International Piano Competition - she won this honor as the first woman in the competition's history. Since then, she has performed all over the world and enjoyed great acclaim. Her recital programs are often rated in superlatives alone, and her concert performances with major orchestras are enthusiastically reviewed by the world music press. Sofya has been praised for her “extraordinary precision and color... exquisite, soft playing... with delicacy” and described as a “Rach Star” (Washington Post).

Sofya Gulyak has won prizes at many prestigious piano competitions: she is a first prize winner of the William Kapell International Piano Competition in the USA, the Maja Linda International Piano Competition in Helsinki, the Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen, the Isang Yun International Piano Competition in South Korea, the San Marino Piano Competition, the Busoni Competition in Italy or the Marguerite Long Piano Competition in Paris. Sofya Gulyak has performed as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Rio de Janeiro Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Budapest Philharmonic, Orchestra dell' Arena di Verona, Orchestra Filarmonica di Bologna, NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic, Enescu Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Slovak Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Copenhagen Symphony, Ulster Symphony, Ochestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Orchestre National de France, Shanghai Philharmonic, Oulu Philharmonic, Leipzig Philharmonic, Pensacola Symphony, Tatarstan Symphony, Philippine Philharmonic, Philharmonic of Morocco and others.

Sofya Gulyak has participated as a jury member in International Piano Competitions in Italy, Serbia, France, Greece, USA and has been invited to give master classes in China, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Mexico, USA and Germany . In the past and in recent years, she has been a lecturer at the Royal College of Muisc in London, the Kazan State Conservatory, and the Monteverdi Conservatory in Bolzano. Her performances have been broadcast on radio and television in Poland, France, Italy, Germany, USA, Finland, Denmark, Serbia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico and the UK (BBC 3 and BBC 4).