Market Drayton events venue to host 'rising star' pianist in huge showcase including local artists

Mussorgsky’s majestic suite for piano ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ will be the centrepiece of a piano recital by Nikita Lukinov at the Frogmore Road centre on Sunday, February 9.

Each of the 10 powerfully evocative sections were inspired by a painting with a recurring theme - the well-known ‘promenade’ - suggesting movement through the exhibition.

Twenty-six local artists including students at the Grove School have inverted this creative process, each listening intensively to a movement or the promenades, and producing a painting it inspires.

"Pictures at an Exhibition is a wonderful showcase for Nikita’s virtuosic skill and deeply thoughtful interpretation at the keyboard," said local artist Tania Paling Sparkes, who has visually interpreted the movement 'Market at Limoges'.

"Our artwork will be projected onscreen as Nikita plays and add another dimension to the audience experience."

The artwork will also be exhibited in the Festival Drayton Centre gallery for the afternoon of the concert.

Imagery created at the piano will feature throughout the programme. Mr Lukinov will open with an arrangement of Mussorgsky’s 'Night on Bald Mountain' which featured prominently in the Disney movie 'Fantasia'.

He will also play 'Six pictures for Piano' by the Soviet Armenian composer Babajaniyan and three ‘Images’ by Debussy.

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Nikita Lukinov was born in Voronezh, in southwestern Russia. 

At the age of four he was already fascinated by listening to his father play with the folk group Balalaika. 

By the age of seven Nikita was accepted to study at Voronezh Central Music School where his tutor helped him develop a particular appreciation for the music of Chopin and Liszt. 

Following his Grand-Prix at the 2010 International Shostakovich Piano Competition for Youth, Nikita made his debut with a symphonic orchestra, aged just 11. 

He went on to study at the Purcell School in London and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he now lives.

The Keyboard Charitable Trust has described Lukinov’s playing as "magic of music-making at its finest". 

Following the release of his debut album he was heralded for his "extraordinary breadth and freedom of imagination" by Gramophone magazine, while BBC Music Magazine named him "a rising star".

Festival Drayton Centre said it is grateful to Market Drayton Town Council for financial support for the collaborative venture. 

The concert on February 9 starts at 3pm. Tickets cost £15 per person, are £12.50 for friends of the centre and are £1 for under-18s.

Further information can be found here.