Contestant

Rafael Kyrychenko, winner of many important international prizes, was born in the Azores Islands and began his studies with 5 years old with his mother, Cristina Pliousnina. Rafael, since his early ages, showed a great admiration for music, and having grown in a family of musicians, aided the beginning of his studies and professional development leading to his first prize at the age of 8, in his first international competition in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Since then, he has travelled internationally achieving many 1^st and 2^nd prizes in Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Estonia, San Marino, Cyprus and also in the United States. He has also participated in masterclasses with world renowned teachers such as Philippe Entremont, Dmitry Bashkirov, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Michel Béroff, Martino Tirimo, Artur Pizarro, Rosella Clini, among others. In the Paris International Summer Sessions, he had the opportunity to play in Salle Cortort and the Fountainebleau Palace. Rafael also performed in prestige halls such as the Sala de Congressos and Teatro Baltazar Dias (Funchal, Madeira); Genebra Congress Hall (Narva); Estonia Concert Hall (Tallinn, Estónia); DeSantis Chapel de Palm Beach Atlantic University (EUA); Sala Suggia da Casa da Música (Porto) and CCB (Lisboa, Portugal), Charlottenborg Festsal (Copenhagen, Denmark), Flagey Studio 1 (Brussels, Belgium), among others. In 2014, he won the 25^th Edition of the Yamaha Scholarship. Along with his solo recitals, Rafael has also performed under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Mikhail Jurowski, Philippe Entremont, Andris Poga, Joseph Swensen, Michael Schønwandt, Cesário Costa and Rui Massena. Having finished his studies in the Professional Course in the Madeira School of Arts, and also the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth under the mastership of Maria João Pires, Rafael is now attending the Brussels Conservatory with Daniel Blumenthal, and since 2019 has been accepted into the Imola Piano Academy with Prof. Leonid Margarius, and since 2021 he is now studying at the Escuela Superior Reina Sofia with Milana Chernyavska.