Nuron Mukumi
Piano
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1996, Nuron Mukumi received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of six. A year later he won First Prize at the International Russian Music Piano Competition in San Jose, California, and was then accepted to the Uspensky Music School for Gifted Children at the age of seven, joining the class of Tamara Popovich.
“Tamara Popovich was strict, but I owe her a great deal. I played my first Chopin Etudes when I was eight years old. She also introduced me to Liszt’s music. With Liszt I am particularly fascinated by the works from his Weimar period. For me they ingeniously combine both virtuosity and poetry. Chopin’s B-minor sonata was like a magnet to me. I only stopped playing the piece in order to eat and sleep.”
The same year Mukumi began conducting lessons with Vladimir Neymer, and the following year he gave his conducting debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor, in which he also played the piano part. At the age of nine Mukumi won a special prize at the Citta di Cantù International Piano Competition in Italy.
“Since as long as I can remember, mountains have played an important role for me. Even as a child I spent every summer with my family in the mountains of my homeland Uzbekistan. I always wanted to reach the summit.”
While a student at the Purcell School (2007–2010), he gave performances at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Wales Millennium Center, Steinway Hall, and the Royal Academy Hall in London. Also in 2007 the young pianist won First Prize and a special prize at the International Mozart Piano Competition in Rome. Mukumi also had the special honor of conducting the Moscow Virtuosi as part of the International Festival organized by the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation. In 2009 he won Second Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition Weimar. Nuron Mukumi appears as a soloist in venues including the Mariinsky Theater St. Petersburg, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Salle Cortot in Paris, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Martinskirche Basel, and Weilburger and Bad Homburger Schlosskonzerte. In May 2014 he gave his debut at the Ruhr Piano Festival and in 2016 at the St. Petersburg International Piano Festival.
“Somehow it was my destiny to go to Lev Natochenny in Frankfurt. My mother and the Uzbek pianist Evgenia Rubinova felt that I should. Independently of this, Lev later told me that it was Tamara Popovich’s ‚last wish‘ that I study with him.”
In 2010 Nuron Mukumi was accepted into the master class of Lev Natochenny and studied at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts until 2015. Since 2015 he has studied with Lev Natochenny at the Kalaidos University of Music in Switzerland as well as the City of Basel Music Academy. Nuron Mukumi has been a mentor-scholarship holder of the Stiftung Bad Homburger Schlosskonzerte since 2017.
“When I came to Frankfurt to take the entrance examination at the age of fourteen and saw the Alte Oper for the first time, I knew that I wanted to give a concert there. Just one year later, this wish was fulfilled during a concert presented by Lev Natochenny’s master class.”
Photography: Nikolaj Lund
The artist's homepage: 
https://www.nuronmukumi.com/
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1996, Nuron Mukumi received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of six. A year later he won First Prize at the International Russian Music Piano Competition in San Jose, California, and was then accepted to the Uspensky Music School for Gifted Children at the age of seven, joining the class of Tamara Popovich.
“Tamara Popovich was strict, but I owe her a great deal. I played my first Chopin Etudes when I was eight years old. She also introduced me to Liszt’s music. With Liszt I am particularly fascinated by the works from his Weimar period. For me they ingeniously combine both virtuosity and poetry. Chopin’s B-minor sonata was like a magnet to me. I only stopped playing the piece in order to eat and sleep.”
The same year Mukumi began conducting lessons with Vladimir Neymer, and the following year he gave his conducting debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor, in which he also played the piano part. At the age of nine Mukumi won a special prize at the Citta di Cantù International Piano Competition in Italy.
“Since as long as I can remember, mountains have played an important role for me. Even as a child I spent every summer with my family in the mountains of my homeland Uzbekistan. I always wanted to reach the summit.”
While a student at the Purcell School (2007–2010), he gave performances at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Wales Millennium Center, Steinway Hall, and the Royal Academy Hall in London. Also in 2007 the young pianist won First Prize and a special prize at the International Mozart Piano Competition in Rome. Mukumi also had the special honor of conducting the Moscow Virtuosi as part of the International Festival organized by the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation. In 2009 he won Second Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition Weimar. Nuron Mukumi appears as a soloist in venues including the Mariinsky Theater St. Petersburg, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Salle Cortot in Paris, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Martinskirche Basel, and Weilburger and Bad Homburger Schlosskonzerte. In May 2014 he gave his debut at the Ruhr Piano Festival and in 2016 at the St. Petersburg International Piano Festival.
“Somehow it was my destiny to go to Lev Natochenny in Frankfurt. My mother and the Uzbek pianist Evgenia Rubinova felt that I should. Independently of this, Lev later told me that it was Tamara Popovich’s ‚last wish‘ that I study with him.”
In 2010 Nuron Mukumi was accepted into the master class of Lev Natochenny and studied at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts until 2015. Since 2015 he has studied with Lev Natochenny at the Kalaidos University of Music in Switzerland as well as the City of Basel Music Academy. Nuron Mukumi has been a mentor-scholarship holder of the Stiftung Bad Homburger Schlosskonzerte since 2017.
“When I came to Frankfurt to take the entrance examination at the age of fourteen and saw the Alte Oper for the first time, I knew that I wanted to give a concert there. Just one year later, this wish was fulfilled during a concert presented by Lev Natochenny’s master class.”
Photography: Nikolaj Lund
The artist's homepage: https://www.nuronmukumi.com/
CDs released by GENUIN
with Nuron Mukumi
