"Music in the Rockies": Bravo! Vail, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Yulianna Avdeeva featured on Pianist magazine
Erica Worth, editor of Pianist magazine, visited Bravo! Vail Music Festival this summer, now in its 38th year. She reports on this classical music haven high up on the Rocky Mountains.
Pianist magazine (October/November 2025)
Founded in 1987, Bravo! Vail Music Festival has grown from a small chamber-music series into a six-week orchestral festival, with supporting events, chamber recitals, and masterclasses. Erica Worth, editor of Pianist magazine, visited Bravo! Vail in the summer of 2025; she reports on this classical music haven high up on the Rocky Mountains for the October/November issue of the magazine.
“In contrast to European festivals which seem to attract a global public, the Vail vibe is decidedly American, at least for now. 'You're right, it's a domestic audience,' replied [executive director since Caitlin] Murray, when I raised the issue with her. 'However, Vail as a whole is an international tourist destination. We added our fourth orchestra almost a decade ago, with the aim of making the festival more international. In the 2025 season, we have had five orchestras from three continents. And in terms of the level and the quality of music that happens here, well - let's be "The American Verbier!"'
Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
“A festival is only as good as its artistic director. At Bravo! Vail, it’s the charismatic American pianist Anne-Marie McDermott in charge... During that time, she has increased the visibility of female composers, and introduced composer-focused 'Immersive Experiences' as well as fully staged opera productions. In both concerts and masterclasses, she takes an active role at the festival as well as setting its tone.
“On my first evening, Yulianna Avdeeva made me sit up and listen with fresh ears to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. This was a strong, muscular account from the outset, decisive and full-bodied... She brought a pearly touch to the slow movement when she took over from the opening flute solo, and in the third movement she demonstrated admirable imagination as well as technique when voicing the lyrical second thee, before really going for it in the torrents of octaves at the climax.”
McDermott (credit: Sophie Zhai); Avdeeva (credit: Kevin Kinzley)
Read the full piece here.
"Richly rewarding: Yulianna Avdeeva is on five-star form in Shostakovich," says BBC Music Magazine
Another top review of the amazing Russian pianist's new recording of the 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87. In the September 2025 issue of BBC Music Magazine.
The September 2025 issue of BBC Music Magazine is out. Pianist Yulianna Avdeeva gets a five-star review for her new recording of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87, available now on PENTATONE.
Avdeeva’s take on the monumental cycle for solo piano is "a jewel box of treasures," says the reviewer.
And as the brief pieces flit by, their myriad characters are drawn out by Avdeeva's nimble fingers, cool approach and nuanced understanding. She particularly makes the more elusive, quiet numbers gleam like gems. ... Shostakovich's stylistic nods to Bach are beautifully delineated but never overstated…
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death, Avdeeva performed the entire piece in the 2024-25 season, including at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig; Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin; Palau de la Música in Barcelona; Saitama Arts Center, in Tokyo; Festival de Lanaudière, in Quebec; National Centre for the Performing Arts, in Beijing; Ostrava, in the Czech Republic; and Seon, in Switzerland, among others. Later this year, she performs the full piece at Círculo de Bellas Artes, in Madrid. Find out more at avdeevapiano.com.
Check out the full review here.
The Daily Northwestern: A feast of pianistic fantasy: Yulianna Avdeeva enchants with Chopin and Rachmaninoff
Against the lustrous backdrop of Lake Michigan, pianist Yulianna Avdeeva took the Galvin Recital Hall audience on a journey of imagination and rumination through the music of Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The winner of the prestigious 2010 International Chopin Competition, Avdeeva performed as part of Bienen School of Music’s Skyline Piano Artist Series.
Avdeeva opened with Chopin’s “Polonaise-Fantasie.” Rather than emphasizing the “Polonaise” — a traditional Polish dance — Avdeeva let dance rhythms accompany the wandering melodies and frequent tempo changes of the “Fantasie.” Sometimes Avdeeva’s right and left hands were subtly offset, an imaginative touch that created a sense of exploration.
The following piece, Chopin’s “Barcarolle,” a reimagination of Venetian boat songs, exemplified Avdeeva’s characteristic restraint and subdued grandeur.
After a nuanced, poignant performance of Chopin’s “Prelude in C-sharp minor,” Avdeeva launched without pause to his “Scherzo No. 3.” The interplay between serene spontaneity and tumultuous outbursts in the Scherzo mirrored the imaginative and fiery performance of Rachmaninoff that would come later.
The Daily Northwestern
By Ben Kim
Against the lustrous backdrop of Lake Michigan, pianist Yulianna Avdeeva took the Galvin Recital Hall audience on a journey of imagination and rumination through the music of Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The winner of the prestigious 2010 International Chopin Competition, Avdeeva performed as part of Bienen School of Music’s Skyline Piano Artist Series.
Avdeeva opened with Chopin’s “Polonaise-Fantasie.” Rather than emphasizing the “Polonaise” — a traditional Polish dance — Avdeeva let dance rhythms accompany the wandering melodies and frequent tempo changes of the “Fantasie.” Sometimes Avdeeva’s right and left hands were subtly offset, an imaginative touch that created a sense of exploration.
The following piece, Chopin’s “Barcarolle,” a reimagination of Venetian boat songs, exemplified Avdeeva’s characteristic restraint and subdued grandeur.
After a nuanced, poignant performance of Chopin’s “Prelude in C-sharp minor,” Avdeeva launched without pause to his “Scherzo No. 3.” The interplay between serene spontaneity and tumultuous outbursts in the Scherzo mirrored the imaginative and fiery performance of Rachmaninoff that would come later.
Read more here.