The 2025 Grace Hamilton Piano Festival at West Texas A&M University will kick off with a performance by internationally acclaimed pianist Andrey Ponochevny.
Ponochevny, a bronze medalist at the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, will perform at 7:30 p.m. on February 28 at Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall on the WT Canyon campus.
Tickets for the event are priced at $20 for adults, $10 for non-WT students, and are free for festival participants and WT students, faculty, and staff with a Buff Gold Card.
“We are excited to welcome Andrey Ponochevny to our campus, and we’re confident that his all-Rachmaninoff program will offer a deeply moving and unforgettable experience for all who attend,” said Dr. Sarah Rushing, assistant professor of piano at WT.
Ponochevny has earned accolades at numerous international piano competitions, including first-place finishes at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland and the Tomassoni International Piano Competition in Cologne. He has also received awards at renowned competitions in Prague, Warsaw (Chopin), Dublin, Hong Kong, Riga, and New Orleans.
His success extends beyond the competition stage. Ponochevny has performed extensively across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. His solo recitals have taken place at some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has also performed at Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Philharmonie in Cologne, City Hall in Hong Kong, Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Salle Alfred Cortot in Paris, National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, Stadtcasino in Basel, and the Harbin Opera House in China.
The Hamilton Piano Festival, which has been a part of WT’s tradition for nearly 60 years, was renamed in 2016 to honor Grace Hamilton, a distinguished piano instructor who co-founded the Amarillo Symphony and served as its first pianist.
“The festival offers valuable performance and adjudication opportunities for pre-college pianists, helping young musicians refine their skills,” Rushing explained. “Such experiences are crucial as the journey of studying the piano often involves many solitary hours of practice. We’re thrilled to host festival participants for this enriching event.”
On March 1, nearly 100 students from the Panhandle region and Eastern New Mexico will perform throughout the day, with an honors recital concluding the festival at 3 p.m. in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex.
Before the festival, the annual Piano Teachers’ Workshop will take place on February 28. The workshop will feature guest clinician Dr. Ivan Hurd, assistant professor of piano pedagogy at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Participants can register online through the WT website.
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