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The harpsichordist Ilton Wjuniski was born in Brazil of Polish extraction. He was trained in Paris with Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert, and holds four "Premiers Prix" from the Conservatoire in Paris, as well as top prizes from the International Harpsichord Competitions of Edinburgh and Paris.
Ilton Wjuniski now lives and works in Paris. He is a major recitalist in France, Spain, Portugal and Brazil, specializing in early Iberian keyboard music. In January 1988 he made his New York debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has received critical acclaim for his performances throughout the USA (, Canada, France, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Scottland, Japan and Russia. The New York Times said "his sense of the music's flow, shape and style was most impressive" resulting in "a continuously impressive, engaging evening of music making." He has been repeatedly invited by the Northwestern Bach Festival for solo and chamber playing, most recently as continuo to the St. Matthew's Passion (BWV 244). Reviewing his performances at the Northwestern Bach Festival, The Spokesman Review said, "Wjuniski's playing reflected Bach's universe of feelings through the subtlest phrasing and scarcely discernible changes of tempo."
Associate Professor for the City of Paris, Ilton Wjuniski holds tenure for Early Music at the Claude Debussy Conservatory, and has given master-classes at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the Tchaikovski Conservatory in Moscow and the Forum Artium in Osnabrück. At the 1986 International Conference in Toronto, he presented several transcriptions of Brazilian music for harpsichord from the Colonial Era. He was the leading clavier player in Gunther Schuller's Bach Festival in Spokane, Washington in its 26th anniversary season. Due to his interest in the style of François Couperin, the Fondation des Treilles chose him as a member of the faculty at their Académie Musicale in Provence.
His duo with flutist Michael Faust recorded a set of three compact discs entitled From Bach to Mozart for the GM label, Boston. Produced and prefaced by Maestro Gunther Schuller, these recordings were highly acclaimed by the German press. He also recorded a selection of pieces by F. Couperin for the Lyrinx label and two recitals for Pro Musicis. Dedicating his energies equally to the harpsichord and clavichord, his recordings include Iberic 16th and 17th century clavichord music for Harmonia Mundi (SCB-Dokumenta); a series of Baroque solo masterpieces played on historical instruments, including Bach's six French Suites for the GM label; and a new Radio-production of Elliott Carter's Sonata. |
