Alexander Melnikov is a contemporary torchbearer of a pianistic tradition that can be traced back to the nineteenth century. At the Moscow Conservatory, Alexander honed his craft under the guidance of Lev Naumov (the ‘Godfather of the Russian piano school’; himself a student of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus), and was introduced to Sviatoslav Richter, who promptly invited him to festivals throughout Russia and France. Meteoric ascension was all but assured: prizes at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (1991) swiftly followed, leading to his selection as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist (2000–02). Then came a recording contract with harmonia mundi – one of the world’s most prestigious labels. Many of the albums in his impressive corpus of recordings have attained reference status, winning awards such as the Diapason d’Or, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, an Echo Klassik and a GRAMMY nomination.

In Australia to perform concerti with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Alexander makes his debut at UKARIA with an all-Rachmaninov program. The kaleidoscopic diversity of this music – which encompasses everything from haunting melodies to pyrotechnics of the highest order – will reveal Alexander as one of the quintessential Russian virtuosi of our time.