Heralded for his “extraordinary breadth and freedom of imagination” (Gramophone), praised as an “Exceptional talent” (The Scotsman), and named the “Rising Star” by the BBC Music Magazine, Nikita Lukinov stands out as one of the most exciting pianists based in Scotland. In his impressive international presence, he performed as a soloist in prestigious venues across the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Poland, Croatia, Germany and Russia. Most notable appearances include renowned venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Usher Hall, Southbank Centre, Palau de la Música, Fazioli Hall, Verbier Festival and Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow.
In recent years his notable performances extended to Steinway Hall London, National Liberal Club in London, Hastings International Piano Series, Verbier Festival 2021 and 2022, Jorquera Pianos in Barcelona, Girona Town Hall, British Institute in Florence, Steinway Hall Berlin and Vaduz Rathaussaal in Liechtenstein.
In June 2023 Nikita was awarded The Governors Recital Prize for the most outstanding end-of-year performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, culminating in the completion of his Master’s Degree. The same month Nikita’s debut CD was released with the KNS Classical label. The album was airplayed by BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Scotland and Scala Radio throughout the Summer of 2023. It received numerous accolades from media including "Gramophone" and the BBC Music magazines.
A disciple of the Russian Piano School Nikita Lukinov started his musical education with Svetlana Semenkova, an alumna of Dmitry Bashkirov, at the age of six in Voronezh, Russia. Nikita’s first significant success was a Grand Prix at the 2010 International Shostakovich Piano Competition for Youth in Moscow. This led to a debut with a symphonic orchestra at the age of 11. Other achievements include 1st place in the Inter-Russian piano competition for young pianists, Finalist in an International television competition for young musicians “Nutcracker”, 1st place in the Inter-Russian Concerto competition, where he performed a Chopin piano Concerto 1 op.11 with the Voronezh Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 14.
In 2013 Nikita won a full scholarship to continue his education at The Purcell School, a specialist music school in London, with Prof. Tatiana Sarkissova, an alumna of Dmitry Bashkirov. In 2017 Nikita was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Prof. Petras Geniušas, an alumnus of V. Gornostaeva. In 2021 Nikita was awarded a First-Class with Honours Bachelor of Music Degree and a full scholarship from ABRSM to pursue a Master of Music degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since October 2022 Nikita has also started teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, being the youngest senior staff in all of the UK’s Royal Schools of Music.
Nikita started an Artist Diploma degree on a full scholarship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in September 2023.
Nikita has had masterclasses with maestri András Schiff, Kirill Gerstein, Dang Thai Son, Dmitry Bashkirov, Dmitry Alexeev, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Steven Osborne, Klaus Hellwig, Noriko Ogawa, Vladimir Viardo, Aaron Shorr, Yaron Kohlberg and others.