Wednesday, May 7, 2025
7:30 p.m.
1900 Building, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Mission Woods, Kansas 66205

Join us on May 7, 2025, for the extraordinary season finale featuring the father-daughter duo, Maria Ioudenitch and Stanislav Ioudenitch. Witness their exceptional musical chemistry as they present a stellar program. Presented in partnership with Navo as part of their Season Finale Fest.

Stanislav Ioudenitch, renowned for his commanding individuality and profound musicality, has left an indelible mark on the classical music world. With accolades including the Gold Medal at the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, his artistry has garnered international acclaim. Collaborating with orchestras and chamber ensembles worldwide, Ioudenitch’s performances have graced prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Beyond his virtuosic performances, Ioudenitch’s dedication to music education shines through his role as the Artistic Director and Associate Professor at the International Center for Music and the Youth Conservatory of Music at Park University.

Joining her father on stage, Maria Ioudenitch brings her own brilliance to the concert. Having received numerous awards and prizes including top honors at the Ysaÿe, Tibor Varga, and Joseph Joachim International Competitions, special recognitions (like the Joachim’s Chamber Music Award), and a prestigious recording deal with Warner Classics, Maria’s talent continues to captivate audiences globally. Trained under distinguished mentors and institutions, including the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory, Maria’s innovative programs and diverse repertoire spans classical standards to contemporary compositions. As she embarks on new ventures, including mentorship under Sonia Simmenauer and studies at the prestigious Kronberg Academy, Maria Ioudenitch emerges as a leading figure in the classical music landscape, enriching audiences with her profound musicianship and unwavering dedication to her craft.

Read More: Concert Featuring Ioudenitch Father-Daughter Duo to Close Out Park University International Center for Music Season

Maria Ioudenitch

American-Russian violinist Maria Ioudenitch captured the attention of music lovers worldwide in 2021 when she received first prizes in three international violin competitions – the Ysaÿe, Tibor Varga and Joseph Joachim – as well as numerous special prizes at these competitions, including Joachim’s Chamber Music Award, the prize for Best Interpretation of a Commissioned Work and the Henle Urtext Prize. In 2023, she won the Opus Klassik Award in the category “Chamber Music Recording of the Year” for her debut album, Songbird, on Warner Classics.

Recognized for her innovative programmes, her first album on Warner with pianist Kenny Broberg, spans from Franz Schubert and Fanny Mendelssohn to Nikolai Medtner and Nadia Boulanger. In upcoming concerts, she performs concertos by Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Barber, as well as Vivaldi’s “Il Grosso Mogul”, while this season’s recital programmes include works by Lera Auerbach and Germaine Tailleferre, alongside standard violin repertoire.

Highlights of the 24/25 season include debuts with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as part of the Orpheum Foundation’s concert series, with Trondheim Symfoniorkester, with Sofia Philharmonic and with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, with whom she also goes on tour. She is also invited by Heidelberger Frühling, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg and Philharmonia Frankfurt. Maria will return to Dresden Philharmonic for the New Year’s concert, after a very successful tour together in the UK in 2024. Upcoming debut appearances in the USA are with the Cincinnati and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.

Named “Great Talent” by the Konzerthaus Wien, a programme that supports young artists on their way to the top of the world, she gives various recitals at the Wiener Konzerthaus. As an active chamber musician, she participates in chamber music tours with Ravinia Steans Music Institute and Marlboro Music Festival.

Maria Ioudenitch has made her debuts with hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (at Berlin’s Philharmonie), MDR-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Münchner Symphoniker as well as with NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony und Kansas City Symphony. She works with conductors such as Andrey Boreyko, Donald Runnicles, Alpesh Chauhan, Marta Gardolińska, Holly Hyun Choe, Jonathan Bloxham, Yi-Chen Lin, Ryan Bancroft, Kevin John Edusei, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Andrew Manze, Jan Willem de Vriend, Robin Ticciati and Ruth Reinhardt.

Maria grew up in Kansas City and began playing violin with Gregory Sandomirsky at the age of three. Prior to completing a professional studies program at the Kronberg Academy (Germany), she earned a master’s degree and artist diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston), and a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia). In addition, Ioudenitch studied with Ben Sayevich in Park University’s Youth Conservatory for Music.

Stanislav Ioudenitch

Praised for his technical brilliance and profound musical insight, Stanislav Ioudenitch is recognized as one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation. Winner of the Gold Medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, he has captivated audiences worldwide with performances that combine intellectual depth, emotional nuance, and virtuoso artistry. Prior to his Cliburn win that launched his international career, Ioudenitch had gained top prizes at many international competitions, including the Ferruccio Busoni, William Kapell, Maria Callas, and New Orleans International Piano Competitions, among others.

Ioudenitch’s career as a soloist has taken him to renowned stages across the globe, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Munich’s Gasteig, Milan’s Conservatorio Verdi, Moscow’s Great Conservatory Hall, the Mariinsky Theatre, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, Fort Worth’s Bass Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron, and the Aspen Music Festival.

He has appeared with leading orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), the Rochester Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, and Russia’s National Philharmonic. His collaborations include esteemed conductors such as James Conlon, James DePreist, Asher Fisch, Justus Franz, Valery Gergiev, Günther Herbig, Mikhail Pletnev, Stefan Sanderling, Carl St. Clair, and Michael Stern.

Ioudenitch has also collaborated with distinguished chamber ensembles, including the Takács Quartet, the Prazák Quartet, and the Borromeo Quartet.

A lifelong advocate for artistic growth, Stanislav Ioudenitch’s pedagogical lineage is deeply rooted in the traditions of some of the 20th century’s most influential pianists and pedagogues. His teachers have included Natalia Vasinkina at the Uspensky School of Music in Tashkent, Dmitri Bashkirov and Galina Eguiazarova at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Leon Fleisher, Rosalyn Tureck, and William Grant Nabore at the International Piano Foundation in Como, Italy (now the International Piano Academy Lake Como). Ioudenitch later became the youngest faculty member in the history of the Lake Como Academy and was subsequently appointed Vice President, a role he continues to hold today.

As the founder of Park University’s International Center for Music in Kansas City, Ioudenitch serves as both Artistic Director and Professor of Piano. He is also a Professor of Piano at Oberlin Conservatory and at Madrid’s Reina Sofía School of Music, where he holds the Fundación Banco Santander Piano Chair.

Ioudenitch’s contributions to music education have gained international recognition, with his students winning top prizes at prestigious competitions such as the Cliburn, Tchaikovsky, Geza Anda, London, Enescu, and Sydney. Many now maintain thriving careers as performers on international stages. Beyond his teaching, he is frequently invited to serve as a juror at important international competitions and to lead masterclasses around the world.