Svyatoslav Lips was born into the family of the outstanding musician and bayan player Friedrich Lips.
He graduated from the Central Music School at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (studying under A. D. Artobolevskaya and Professor L. N. Naumov). While studying at the CMS, Svyatoslav won the International Competition for Young Pianists «Citta di Stresa» in Italy (Grand Prix and a special prize from the European Foundation «Teresa Maria Dragan»).
In 1992, he entered the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (in Professor L. N. Naumov’s class). In 1994, he won one of the most prestigious competitions in the world — the International Pianist Competition «Maria Canals» in Barcelona (Spain, 1st prize, Gold Medal).
From 1998 to 2000, Svyatoslav Lips was a postgraduate student (postgraduate assistantship-internship) at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Professor L. N. Naumov’s class).
In 1997, he began working at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music as an accompanist in the Department of String Folk Instruments in Professor N. I. Lips’s class.
Since 2019, he has been teaching in the Department of Special Piano as a senior lecturer, running his own class.
Svyatoslav Lips is actively performing — touring cities in Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, Latvia, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, and Japan. He has given concerts in more than 100 cities across Russia.
S. Lips has played in ensembles with musicians such as: G. Kremer, L. Ambartsumian, G. Murzha, Vl. Igolinsky, E. Revich (violin); M. Bereznitsky, S. Poltavsky, Yu. Tkanov (viola); F. Lips, M. Vlasova, M. Rantanen (Finland) (bayan, accordion); K. Rodin, V. Tonkha, A. Buzlov (cello); P. Osetinskaya, E. Mechetina (piano); A. Dressler, I. Fedorov, E. Varavko, N. Agafonov (clarinet), V. Popov, A. Posikera (bassoon), M. Pekarsky (percussion), and others.
He repeatedly performed with orchestras under the direction of M. Arkadiev, V. Barsov, A. Boreyko, E. Bushkov, S. Kondrashov, A. Kruzhkov, D. Liss, V. Polyansky, V. Ponykin, S. Tararin, G. Skvortsov (Switzerland), M. Shcherbakov, U. Schneider (Switzerland), F. P. Dekker (Canada), and many others.
S. Lips played in the world’s major halls:
- the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona;
- Sala «Mozart» in Zaragoza;
- Teatro «Victoria Eugenia» in San Sebastián (Spain);
- Dr. Oetker «Halle» in Bielefeld;
- Tonhalle in Düsseldorf (Germany);
- Nybrokajen in Stockholm (Sweden);
- Kokusai Forum Centre in Tokyo;
- Kanagawa Prefectural Concert Hall in Yokohama (Japan);
- the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky;
- the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall;
- Svetlanov Hall in the Moscow International House of Music (Moscow);
- Kremlin Palace of Congresses, and others.
He also took part in international music festivals:
- Lokenhaus (Lokenhaus, Austria);
- A. N. Cherepnin (Yokohama, Japan, 2000);
- Moscow Autumn;
- «International Chamber Music Festival» (Kostomuksha, Karelia);
- «Dresdner Musicfestspiele» (Dresden, Germany, 2016);
- CelloQwest’25, dedicated to the memory of cellist Alexander Buzlov (Moscow, 2025), and others.
A significant part of S. Lips’ work is devoted to performing works by contemporary composers. Composers such as S. Berinsky, E. Podgaits, M. Bronner, T. Sergeeva, E. Anisimova, and others have dedicated their works to him. He has performed 26 world premieres. The artist has numerous recordings on CDs.
S. Lips is the initiator and artistic director of the International Music Festival «Rendezvous» (together with accordionist M. Vlasova).
Alongside performing, S. Lips conducts master classes both in Russia and abroad.
Students from S. F. Lips’ class have repeatedly become winners and prize-winners of international competitions. Among them:
- Azalia Zaripova — First Prize winner at the XI International Competition «Path to Perfection», dedicated to the 150th anniversary of S. V. Rachmaninoff (Tambov, Russia); First Prize winner at the IV All-Russian «Art Terra» competition (Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan); Second Prize winner at the International competition dedicated to I. F. Stravinsky (St. Petersburg, Russia); Second Prize winner at the International competition dedicated to the 150th anniversary of S. V. Rachmaninov (St. Petersburg, Russia);
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Angela Dinich — First Prize winner at the I. S. Avramkova International Piano Competition (St. Petersburg, Russia);
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Ekaterina Anikina — Second Prize at the V Sviatoslav Richter International Piano Competition (Brest, Belarus); First Prize winner at the XIII «Grand Music Art» International Competition (Yelets, Russia);
- Ekaterina Musina — First Prize winner at the A. S. Znamensky Instrumental Performance Competition (Surgut, Russia);
- Evgenia Kasenova — 3rd prize at the International Competition «El Cruce Musical de Cataluna» (Barcelona, Spain).
He regularly takes part in the juries of various competitions. He is a guest teacher at a summer creative school for gifted children in Suzdal, as well as an expert on the selection committees conducted by the I. N. Voronova «New Names» program foundation.
He was awarded the Honorary Badge of the Governor of the Moscow Region (2013).
He is a member of the International Union of Musical Figures (since 2025).
