| Alexander Malofeev | |
| Native Name: | Александр Малофеев |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Birth Date: | 21 October 2001 |
| Birth Place: | Moscow, Russia |
| Occupation: | Classical pianist |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
| Awards: | 1st Prize and Gold medal at the 8th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, 2014 Grand Prix at the 1st Grand Piano Competition, 2016 |
Alexander Dmitrievitch Malofeev (Russian: Александр Дмитриевич Малофеев|r=Alexander Dmitrievitch Malofeyev; born 21 October 2001) is a Russian pianist.
Alexander Malofeev was born to Dimitri Alexandrovitch Malofeev, an engineer, and Dr. Lyudmila Borisovna Malofeeva. He has an older sister and a younger brother. He began studying piano at the age of five.[1] By the age of seven, he became interested in the music of Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev.[2]
In 2014, Malofeev graduated with honors from the N. P. Osipov Children's Music School. He continued his studies with Elena Berezkina, who has the honorary title "Honoured Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation", at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow, graduating in 2019.[3] He is currently studying at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Sergei Dorensky, People's Artist of Russia.[4]
Malofeev gained international recognition at the 8th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians held in Moscow in June and July 2014, where he won first prize and the gold medal.[5] [6] Two years later, he was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1st Grand Piano Competition – International Competition for Young Pianists in Moscow.[7]
In 2019, he won second prize and silver medal at the 1st China International Music Competition.[8] He is also the recipient of numerous other international prizes.[9] At the opening of the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo in April 2017 in Italy, he was awarded the "Premio Giovane Talento Musicale dell'anno 2017" (Best Young Musician of 2017).
As a soloist, Malofeev has performed with Russia's leading orchestras: the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic of Russia, the Moscow Virtuosi, and the New Russia' State Symphony Orchestra under the batons of conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Kazuki Yamada, Yuri Tkachenko, and Vladimir Spivakov.[10] [11]
Malofeev's scheduled performance in early March 2022 with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, to be led by renowned conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, was cancelled in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite his public opposition to the war.[12] Malofeev and Tilson Thomas were finally able to perform together at Tanglewood (summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) in August 2022 where the young pianist delivered a performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto.[13]