New festival program entitled Key to the Future that presents young laureates of prestigious international music competitions - continues. The Festival audience is going to hear performance of Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin on Wednesday, 22 August at 9:30 PM in the Rector's Palace Atrium.

The young virtuoso was presented at last week's concert, where he, along with fellow violinist Stephen Waarts, delighted festival audience. The repertoire of his piano recital consists ofMedtner’s Sonata Romantica No.1 in B-flat minor,Enrique Granados's Love and Death, Chopin's 12 etudes as well as the selection of Etudes from the cycle “8 Etudes” by Boris Papandopulo.

Andrey Gugnin was born in 1987. He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory where he studied under Professor Vera Gornostayeva. Almost immediately after his graduation from the conservatory, he was invited to be a regular participant of the Moscow Philharmonic Society program for promising young artists The 21st century stars. Gugnin is the prize-winner at the Allegro vivo international competition in San Marino (Italy, 2008), the International Competition in Cantù (1st prize, 2009), the International Stančić Competition in Zagreb (2nd prize and two special prizes, Croatia, 2011), the Ludwig van Beethoven Competition in Vienna (Austria, 2013) and the Valsesia musica international competition in Italy (1st prize, 2014). In June 2014 he won the Gold Medal and the Audience Award at the XVI International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Salt Lake City (USA). In the coming season Andrey's first solo concert at the Carnegie Hall is expected.

Laureates - Aleksey Semenenko, violinist and pianist Inna Firsova - are going to be presented to festival audience on Tuesday, 23 August. The new music program will be concluded with pianist Yury Favorin on Wednesday, 24 August. Tickets are available online, at the box office in the ground floor of the Festival Palace (Od Sigurate 1) and at the venue one hour before the performance.