Teen Tchaikovsky Sensation, All Grown Up and Headed to the Hahn

Young Russian Piano Sensation Alexander Malofeev Is Next in Arts & Lectures’ ‘Hear & Now’ Series in Santa Barbara

Although the UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) season’s classical roster arrives healthily stocked with artists with “household name recognition” this season — including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Yuja Wang — some of the more inviting action happens on the periphery. A&L’s ever-alluring “Hear & Now” series, in the embracing ambience of Hahn Hall, makes a point of ferreting out and showcasing young and young-ish classical musicians well-entrenched on their career paths but on their way up and out into the larger classical world.

On the now-long list of past subjects in the series is harpsichord master Jean Rondeau (in a memorable performance of the complete form of Bach’s Goldberg Variations) and, early in its run, Wang herself, heard here just before her rightfully precipitous rise into the upper echelon of living classical pianists.

On Friday, January 24, the spotlight turns to another lesser-known name in the emerging category: prodigious young Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev, making his Santa Barbara debut. He is now 23, a decade older than when he won first prize in the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow, barely into his teenage years. Photos of the pianist, as seen on the home page of his website (here) reveal a handsome and decidedly boyish blonde of serious comportment, and the serious aspect runs deep.

Now having performed with many orchestras, in Russia and internationally, and fast gaining acclaim due, the now Berlin-based pianist is well on his way to broader recognition. His recital program at Hahn Hall on Friday is noticeably Tchaikovsky-free but includes important Russian composer Scriabin and Kabalevsky, along with Schubert’s Drei Klavierstücke, Janáček’s In the Mists, and Liszt’s Funérailles, S. 173.

It promises to be a refreshingly balanced program of both oft-heard and lesser-heard scores, by a pianist destined for a bright future in the here and now.

Alexander Malofeev performs at 7 p.m. at Hahn Hall on the campus of Music Academy of the West (1070 Fairway Rd.) on Friday, January 24. See bit.ly/4akp5OU.