Iliya A. Melikhov
Associate Professor of Percussion Instruments Department
In 2003 he graduated from the Music College of the Moscow State Institute of Music named after A. G. Schnittke (class of L. I. Krasilnikova). In 2008 he graduated with honours from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (class of Professor D. M. Lukyanov).
Since 2010 he has taught at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, and since 2017 he has held the position of Associate Professor at the Percussion Department. Among Ilya Melikhov’s students are players with leading orchestras in Russia and Europe, as well as more than twenty‑five laureates of all‑Russian and international competitions, including the prestigious Italy PAS Competition.
Ilya Aleksandrovich Melikhov is a high‑level percussionist in the field of classical music. He is an outstanding percussionist and timpanist, equally fluent in classical and contemporary performance techniques. He is a First Prize winner of the Second All‑Russian Open Competition for Brass and Percussion Performers named after A. A. Nesterov (Nizhny Novgorod, 2007), and he holds the Grand Prix of the international Musica Classica competition (2016).
Since 2005 he has been a soloist in the percussion section of the Russian National Orchestra. He has performed with such renowned musicians as Alexander Rudin, Mikhail Pletnev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Igor Butman, Alexander Lazarev, Vasily Sinaisky, Kent Nagano, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Michel Plasson and Ingo Metzmacher in major concert halls in Russia and abroad. He has taken part in international projects with the China National Orchestra (conductor José Serebrier), the London Philharmonic Orchestra (conductor Vladimir Jurowski), the CIS Symphony Orchestra (conductor Vladimir Spivakov) and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (conductor Gerard Schwarz).
He has participated in more than twenty‑five CD recordings with the Russian National Orchestra for international labels such as PentaTone, Ondine, Deutsche Grammophon and San Francisco Music Company.
In 2019 Ilya Melikhov received high praise for the organisation and performance of José Serebrier’s «Symphony for Percussion», recorded at the request of the Peer Music Company.
Particularly noteworthy is his participation in the recording of D. D. Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony with the Russian National Orchestra, which won the French Diapason d’Or award in 2015 and was nominated for a Grammy in 2016. His brilliant performance and subtle interpretation of the famous «invasion rhythm» on the snare drum were highly acclaimed; critics at the Financial Times highlighted the «brilliance and ferocity» of his playing, underscoring his status as a virtuoso percussionist in today’s musical world.
Ilya Aleksandrovich’s artistic activity is multifaceted. In addition to his work with major orchestras, he appears in solo and chamber projects. Since 2009 he has been an active organiser and participant in international festivals such as Brass Days, Other Space, the Russian National Orchestra Grand Festival and Napa Valley Festival del Sole, performing with leading percussionists Nebojsa Zivkovic, Keiko Abe and Evelyn Glennie at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His professional standing is confirmed by his work on juries for competitions such as Music Competition (Belgrade), the Yuri Dolzhikov Competition (Moscow) and the Second B. Shukenov Republican Competition (Almaty).
As part of his charitable work he organises concerts and educational programmes for children with disabilities and special educational needs, including the projects «Russian National Orchestra Soloists for Children and Young People» at the Tretyakov Gallery, the Marina Tsvetaeva House‑Museum, the Alexander Herzen Museum, the «Classics in Zavidovo» project (Mokshino, Tver Region) and activities at the Perspektiva Charity Centre.
His own masterclasses have become an integral part of many international educational and national initiatives, including the University Saturdays at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music and the Gnesin Academy Creative School at the V. Ya. Shebalin Music College in Omsk, the Siberian Institute of Arts in Krasnoyarsk, the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory in Almaty, the San Francisco Conservatory, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the University of Iowa, Chapman University in Orange (California), Hoseo University in Seoul (South Korea), Blackburn Music Academy in Napa (California), the Grieg Academy in Bergen (Norway) and the Erasmus+ programme at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma (Italy).
In 2021 he became the first and so far only Russian teacher to appear in the history of the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC).
These masterclasses convey not only unique performance techniques on percussion instruments, but also create an inspiring educational environment in which students can develop their creative potential under the guidance of an experienced performer and teacher.
His research covers a wide range of priority topics in contemporary percussion performance. He is currently working on a PhD thesis and is the author of six scholarly articles, presenting his research at various conferences.
An important part of his methodological work is the publication of an anthology of orchestral excerpts for keyboard percussion in Russian symphonic music, making a valuable contribution to the systematisation of knowledge and methods of percussion performance.
For his contribution to the study and development of percussion art, Ilya Aleksandrovich Melikhov has received commendations from the Ministry of the Chuvash Republic, the Presidential Grants Foundation, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Committee for Culture of St Petersburg, the Russian Concert Agency and the Yuri Dolzhikov Foundation for the Development of Culture. In 2023 he was commended by the Ministry of Culture of the Omsk Region for his contribution to human capital development, the preservation of traditions and the advancement of performance art.
As a result, his active artistic and research work enables Ilya Aleksandrovich Melikhov to be in demand as a performer, a successful teacher and a profound scholar in the field of music.
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