Ivan Ilić (pianist)

Ivan Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Илић) (born August 14, 1978) is a Serbian-American pianist. He lives in Paris.

Early life

Ilić was born in Belgrade, in the Yugoslavian Socialist Republic of Serbia (now Serbia). He attended the University of California, Berkeley in the U.S. from 1996 to 2001 where he took degrees in mathematics and music.^[1] His professors included musicologists Richard Taruskin and Joseph Kerman, pianist Barbara Shearer, and future Field Medalist Andrei Okounkov. He also studied improvisation with Steve Coleman, a decisive influence.^[2] Ilić also briefly studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Robert Helps, who encouraged his interest in Leopold Godowsky. He then pursued graduate studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, earning a Premier Prix, and finally at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. His teachers in France included François-René Duchâble, Christian Ivaldi, and Jacques Rouvier.^[3]

Career

Ilić is known for his interpretations of solo repertoire, in particular French music and American music. His recording of Debussy's 24 Préludes was released in October 2008 on the French record label Paraty and won Mezzo TV's Critics' Choice Award in France.^[4] The disc was also singled out as a Top Five CD of the year by a critic at Fanfare Magazine^[5] and a Top Five CD of the Month by the French website Classique News.^[6] Ilić rearranged the order of the Préludes on the album, a controversial choice which he defended in several interviews.^[7] Ilić's next album was dedicated to the left-hand Studies on Chopin's Études by Leopold Godowsky.^[8] The disc was the Classical CD of the Week of The Daily Telegraph,^[9] a Top 5 CD of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Figaro,^[10] and a Top 5 CD of Classique News.^[11] The CD was broadcast extensively in Europe and attracted widespread attention from the specialized press.^[12] Videos of Ilić performing Godowsky's Chopin Studies on YouTube have attracted hundreds of thousands of views.^[13]

Ilić has recorded works by JS Bach, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, Antoine Reicha, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Godowsky, Debussy, Ravel, Lucien Durosoir, John Cage, Morton Feldman and others.^[14] He frequently includes contemporary music in his recitals. John Metcalf,^[15] Keeril Makan,^[16] Dmitri Tymoczko^[17] and Scott Wollschleger ^[18] are among the composers who have written him new works. Beginning in June 2011, many of Ilić's older recordings became available on the IMSLP website.^[19]

In Spring 2017, Ivan Ilić signed with British label Chandos Records^[20] for a 5-CD series of piano music by Antoine Reicha.^[21] Volume 1 of the series is a co-production between Chandos Records, Radio Télévision Suisse and the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française.

Discography

• Ivan Ilić, pianiste - oeuvres de Brahms, Beethoven et Chopin, Mairie de Paris
• Elegance and Refinement - Baroque Suites, French Sweets, Magnatune^[22]
• Fugitive Visions - Piano Masterworks by Chopin and Liszt, Magnatune
• Romantic - Powerful Miniatures by Schumann and Brahms, Magnatune^[23]
• Vitality and Virtuosity - Sonatas by Haydn and Beethoven, Magnatune
• Transcendental - Transcriptions by Brahms and Godowsky, Magnatune
• Claude Debussy - Préludes pour piano, Livres 1 et 2, Paraty^[24]
• Leopold Godowsky - 22 Chopin Studies, Paraty^[25]
• The Transcendentalist - Works by Scriabin, Feldman, Cage, and Wollschleger, Heresy Records^[26]
• Detours Which Have To Be Investigated, HEAD Editions (art book, CD, DVD)^[27], ^[28]
• Morton Feldman - For Bunita Marcus, Paraty^[29], ^[30]
• Antoine Reicha - Reicha Rediscovered Volume 1, Chandos Records (forthcoming) ^[31]

Acting and writing

In 2010, Ilić made his acting debut in Luc Plissonneau's short film, Izak's Choice (Les Mains in French),^[32] in the lead role of Izak.^[33][34]

In 2011, he played the role of Glenn Gould in a short film by Benoît Maire, The Shepherd,^[35] alongside renowned actor Lou Castel.

He has written about music for the websites of Gramophone^[36], BBC Music Magazine^[37], Music & Literature^[38], Limelight^[39] and The Washington Times^[40][41].

References

External links

• Official website
• A Radio France interview

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