Heralded for “extraordinary breadth and freedom of imagination” (Gramophone), praised as “Exceptional talent” (The Scotsman), and being named the BBC Music Magazine “Rising Star”, Nikita Lukinov is one of the most exciting pianists of a younger generation residing in Scotland. In recent years he performed as a soloist in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Poland, Croatia, Germany and Russia, appearing at Wigmore Hall, Usher Hall, Southbank Centre, Palau de la Música, Fazioli Hall, Verbier Festival and Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow.
In the 2022-23 season Nikita gave recitals at the Steinway Hall in London, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Verbier Festival 2022, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Jorquera Pianos in Barcelona, British Institute in Florence, the embassy of the City of Hamburg representing Steinway&Sons pianos, Hastings International Piano Series, Vaduz Rathaussaal in Liechtenstein, “Celebrity recitals” concert series in Shrewsbury, completed a tour of 8 concerts in Scotland and performed live for BBC Radio Scotland. In April 2022 in Shrewsbury, UK, Nikita gave a recital in aid of Ukraine. Another concert of this nature was in Berlin in December 2022. More than £10,000 was raised from these events.
In January 2023 Nikita won the “Walcer Prize” Competition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and had his solo recital debut at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. In April 2023 Nikita was selected as a finalist at the Piano FVG competition in Sacile, Italy. The final will take place in May 2024. In June 2023 Nikita was awarded The Governors Recital Prize for the most outstanding final exam at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Highlights of the 2021-22 season included:
1st Prize at “Sheepdrove” UK Intercollegiate Competition, 2021; The Governors Prize 2021 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Gran-Prix at the International Competition “Tokyo Stars”, Japan 2021; 2nd Prize at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, Spain 2021. Nikita had his performances at the Southbank Centre in London, the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland - the world’s leading festival of classical music.
In March 2022 Nikita performed with the Royal College of Music Prince Consort Orchestra under the baton of Simon Crawford-Phillips in Hastings. In April 2022 in Shrewsbury, UK, Nikita gave a recital in aid of Ukraine. Another concert of this nature was in Berlin in December 2022. More than £10,000 was raised from these events.
In 2020 Nikita Lukinov was appointed as “Emissary of the Muses” of San Antonio, State of Texas.
This season Nikita is a recipient of scholarships from ABRSM, The Munster Trust, Liechtenstein Academy of Music, the HelpMusicians Postgraduate Award, Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation and Voronezh’s State Award “For outstanding cultural achievements”. Nikita is one of the musicians at the Talent Unlimited and Live Music Now Scotland schemes.
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 the UK’s higher musical institutions.
On June 1st Nikita's debut CD will be release on the KNS Classical label. Nikita will start an Artist Diploma degree on a full scholarship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland from 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.