Ivan Bessonov
16-year-old pianist Ivan Bessonov from Russia was announced winner of Eurovision Young Musicians 2018 in Edinburgh. Also competing in the final were Hungary’s Mate Bencze on Saxophone, German violinist Mira Marie Foron, cellist Birgitta Oftestad from Norway, Czech double bassist Indi Stivín and Slovenian violinist Nikola Pajanovic.
Ivan Bessonov was born in 2002 and began to study the piano at the age of six. Currently he studies at the Central Music School at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
He performs recitals and concertos in Russia and abroad and has participated in various music festivals. He worked with the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Symphony Orchestra of the State Academic Capella of St. Petersburg, with conductors Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Alexander Sladkovsky and others.
Ivan also composes music; in 2015 he made his debut as a film score composer for the documentary film Varicella by Victor Kossakovsky, the premiere of which took place at the Message to Man international film festival in St Petersburg.
Ivan participated in the established young talent contest Sinyaya Ptitsa (Blue Bird) and was selected to represent Russia at the Eurovision Young Musicians 2018.
