Chipak-Kushnir Piano Duo
Olha Chipak and Oleksiy Kushnir first met in 1998 while studying at the L’viv Music Academy in Ukraine, they could not have imagined where their musical partnership would take them. What they certainly knew, however, was that from that point on they would not only pursue a career as solo artists but also devote themselves to an equal degree to performing chamber music. They soon won their first international competition together (“Roma 98”), but the piano duo - like Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter she is from the legendary music metropolis Odessa on the Black Sea, he from the cultural melting pot of L’viv, where the first music conservatory in the Ukraine was founded as early as 1786—sought more than recognition by juries.

Thus their path as a duo took them to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Rostock where they majored in piano duo performance with Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl and in 2005 completed their degree in piano ensemble performance (Konzertexamen). The two have since begun to work at the institution as instructors.

The duo has won numerous international competitions, including the Murray Dranoff Piano Duo Competitions in Miami and Białystok, Poland, the San Marino Piano Competition, the Premio Valentino Bucchi in Rome, the Palma d’Oro in Finale Ligure, the TIM Competition in Venice, and the Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta, Italy. Success at these competitions led to concert performances at important venues in many European countries, the U .S ., and China as well as guest performances at festivals such as the Virtuosi Festival (Ukraine) and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The artistry of the duo is documented in recordings for NDR (North German Radio) and television and radio recordings in the Ukraine, Poland and San Marino. After their 2008 debut release featuring works by Brahms, Reger and Rachmaninoff, the program chosen for their second disc is devoted to works of the great north German Romantic composer Johannes Brahms.

Francisco Manuel Anguas Rodríguez
was born in Seville, Spain in 1990. After completing his bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Music Victoria Eugenia in Granada, he began his master’s degree at the Rostock University of Music and Theater with Henrik M. Schmidt, Torsten Schönfeld, and Jan Frederick Behrend. In 2015 he studied at the Toho University in Tokyo at the invitation of the marimba legend Keiko Abe.

Already during his studies he performed in the Philharmonisches Orchester Vorpommern, serving as principal percussionist in 2016/2017 and principal timpanist in 2017/2018. He gained professional experience as an orchestral musician with the Staatskapelle Berlin and at the Komische Oper Berlin. From 2015 to 2019 he worked at the Bayreuth Festival. His passion for historical performance practice brought him to international concert stages as principal timpanist with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. As a chamber musician, he is always searching for new tonal colors and combinations. At his concerts with the Ukrainian Piano Duo Chipak-Kushnir and Elbtonal Percussion, he captivates his audience with his natural approach and his musicality.

He is the winner of numerous competitions, including the Ian Murray Competition and the 2008 Ciutat de Llíria Percussion Competition in Llíria, Spain.