SAVILIAN SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT BY ALINA PRITULENKO OF TRINITY LABAN CONSERVATOIRE OF MUSIC AND DANCE.

Over the years, Savilians have collectively and individually supported outstanding young musicians.  Last autumn some of us became aware of young Uzbek pianist Alina Pritulenko, so outstanding that those awarding her a First-Class Honours degree assessed her unanimously with an extremely rare 100%. However, coming from a relatively impecunious family, she would only be able to complete her even more advanced Masters tuition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire if sponsors could be found at short notice to donate a further £10,000 for each of her remaining two years. A small group of Savilians undertook to do this.  In May 2024 Alina dazzled us with a concert in the Ballroom which reflected both her Russian music background and her more recent experiences at Trinity Laban. In the months since then, she has performed ever more widely, and this second concert is Alina in gratitude performing again some of her repertoire for our whole Club.

On behalf of her Savilian sponsors, Nick Wilkinson will invite Alina also to say a few words about her very different programme choice this year, about her Trinity Laban and other performance experiences since last May, and about her hopes for the next stages of her ever wider international future.

Born in Uzbekistan, Alina Pritulenko began playing the piano at the age of five. She started performing from the age of seven at numerous concerts and festivals. She took part in many masterclasses and soon became a laureate of international competitions such as “Le Muse” in Naples, Italy and “Iste’dod” in Uzbekistan. In 2008, Alina started her musical education at the Uspensky Republican Specialized Academic Lyceum of Music in Tashkent.

After graduation from that Lyceum she was invited in 2019 to continue her education at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Alina has been awarded with a number of scholarships and prizes including “Alfred and Therese Kitchen Scholarship”, “Trinity College London Scholarship”, “Bagri Foundation Scholarship” and “The David and Margaret Lipsey Scholarship”, “Nancy Thomas Prize for Piano” (for the highest-achieving Undergraduate piano student), “Charles Proctor Prize” for Choral Conducting, “Director’s Prize for Excellence in Piano”.  She is currently studying with Professor Sergio De Simone. She has participated in a number of international masterclasses, led by Joaquin Achucarro, Gabriel Kwok, Alim Beysimbaev, Pablo Galdo, Alessio Bax and Natalia Kislenko, and performed both solo and chamber music at such venues in London as the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, St James’s Piccadilly, Razumovsky Academy, Wigmore Hall, St. Luke’s, The National Gallery and  King’s Place.

She is a member of Mozaika Piano Trio who represented Trinity Laban in the final round of the prestigious Intercollegiate ‘Cavatina’ and ‘Piano Trio Society’ competitions.  Alina graduated from Trinity Laban with a First Class Honours degree and Silver Medal from Keyboard Department and was the Gold Medal Keyboard finalist in the Gold Medal Showcase.  She currently finishing her studies for a Master’s degree on a full scholarship, kindly provided by 8 members of the Savile Club and by other donors. 

Programme:

Beethoven – Piano sonata no.30 op.109 in E Major

Schumann – Selected pieces from Carnaval op.9

Ravel – La Valse