About


Mark Taratushkin is a pianist whose interpretations offer fresh perspectives on familiar repertoire and reflect a deep curiosity for lesser-known musical terrain. Celebrated for his performances of some of the most demanding works in the piano literature—such as Bartók’s Études, Prokofiev’s concertos and sonatas or Brahms’s Paganini Variations—he draws on the Russian pianistic tradition while shaping his interpretations with personal insight and a precise sense of musical structure.

Born in Ukraine, Mark Taratushkin began his piano studies at the age of five and later enrolled at Moscow’s Central Music School, where he was mentored by renowned pianists such as Pavel Nersesyan and Dmitry Bashkirov. His formative years were marked by prizes at several international competitions, including the “Anton Rubinstein” Competition in Paris, “The Muse” in Santorini, and the “Yakov Flier” Competition in Moscow.

Taratushkin continued his musical education at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Professor Natalia Troull, delving deeply into the philosophical and expressive potential of the music of the XXth century. He developed a strong affinity for the innovative compositions of Bartók, Prokofiev, Barber, and Ginastera. This dedication culminated in his debut album, featuring Bartók’s Études for Piano, Sz. 72—described by the composer himself as “virtually unplayable”—alongside select works by Prokofiev. The album led to invitations across Europe and helped establish his reputation as a fearless and original interpreter of modernist repertoire.

In 2013, Taratushkin moved to Germany to pursue further studies—first at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover under Gerrit Zitterbart, and later at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Klaus Hellwig. This period marked the beginning of a steadily growing international career, with performances across Europe and Asia. He has appeared at major venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, and Bremen’s Die Glocke, as well as at festivals in China, Japan, and Singapore. His concerts have been broadcast on WDR3, Kulturradio Berlin, and Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Immersed in Germany’s rich musical traditions, he deepened his engagement with the repertoire of the Viennese classical era and German Romanticism—most notably in the works of Schubert, Brahms, and Beethoven, composers he interprets with structural insight, historical awareness, and a distinct expressive freedom. Notable highlights from this period include a performance of Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto alongside trumpeter David Guerrier under Peter Csaba at the Santander Music Festival, and a program of rarely heard chamber works by Enrique Granados at Berlin’s Crescendo Festival. His artistic development during this time was supported by scholarships from the Swiss Foundation Clavarte, the Paul Hindemith Foundation, the Ad Infinitum Foundation, the Ottilie-Selbach-Redslob Foundation, and Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now.

In recent seasons, Taratushkin has increasingly devoted himself to recital programs shaped by thematic and architectural coherence, often centered around a single composer. His concerts are frequently accompanied by spoken introductions, creating a direct and reflective dialogue with the audience. His Schubert program “Der Wanderer” combined the Four Impromptus, Op. 90, the G major Fantasy, Op. 894, and Liszt’s most virtuosic Schubert transcriptions—including Erlkönig and Gretchen am Spinnrade—highlighting contrasting dimensions of Schubertian lyricism and drama. His recital programs frequently feature daunting pianistic milestones: notably, his recent Chopin program, which paired all four Ballades with the complete Études Op. 25. Rarely attempted in a single evening, this demanding combination showcased a level of interpretative intensity and technical command seldom encountered—affirming Taratushkin’s stature as both a virtuoso and a compelling musical storyteller.

Taratushkin’s interdisciplinary interests led to a collaboration with artist Ming Wong on Rhapsody in Yellow – A Lecture Performance with Two Pianos, a politically charged stage work that blends live music, spoken word, archival footage, and theatrical performance. Premiered at Steirischer Herbst and later presented at Berliner Festspiele, SPIELART Munich, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, and Singapore’s Esplanade Studios, , the piece reimagines an international piano competition and a ping-pong match as metaphors for Cold War diplomacy. Together with pianist Ben Kim, Taratushkin performs, narrates, and improvises around musical material drawn from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and the Yellow River Concerto, adapted from Xian Xinghai’s wartime cantata. The result is a surreal and immersive reflection on cultural identity, myth-making, and the entangled musical legacies of the United States and China.

Alongside his performance career, Taratushkin actively contributes to musical education. Together with his partner Maria Yulin, he founded Piano Insel in Berlin, a vibrant educational and cultural hub hosting over one hundred students. Piano Insel has quickly become one of Berlin’s most distinguished institutions for piano education, renowned for its professional-level teaching, intimate concert series, and nurturing artistic atmosphere.

To follow his recent performances, recordings, and artistic projects, Taratushkin shares insights and updates via YouTube and Instagram, inviting listeners into his creative process and fostering a direct dialogue between artist and audience.

Reviews


"If you havent' heard the young Russian artist living in Berlin, you really missed something. The pianist impressed the public straight away with a brilliance and intensity of his performance of Bartoks' Suite "Out of Doors". Different facets, either at the martial beginning of "With drums and pipes", or later in the mysterious "Sounds of the night", were interpreted by Taratushkin effortlessly."

Westdeutsche Zeitung

October 19th, 2014

"Taratushkin fills every single tone with life. Everything fits together in an organic and natural way ... Brahms wrote his Paganini variations as exercise pieces for certain technical challenges, scales, thirds, sixths, octaves. In all this challenges Brahms went to the limits of performers capabilities. It seams that for Taratushkin this limits simply do not exist. The pieces are not exercises, but music, performed with energy and power ... Standing ovation for the young artist and the outstanding performance. One should definitely note down the name Mark Taratushkin"

Gerhard Raßner, Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA)

August 14th, 2018

"Mit dem aus der Ukraine stammenden Pianisten Mark Taratushkin hatte der Kulturring Straelen ein Ausnahmetalent in das europäische Übersetzerkollegium eingeladen ... Von einem hohen emotionalen Ausdrucksgehalt getragen, bewahrte Taratushkins Interpretation dem Werk dabei ein reiches, beinahe orchestrales Ausdrucksspektrum, das sich in einer geballten Klangdichte ausdrückte. Das desillusionierte "Sarkasmen" op. 17 spielte er mit klarem, kernigem, leicht trockenem Anschlag und überzeugte mit seiner perfekten Homogenität sowohl im Forte wie im lyrisch verträumten Piano. Viel Beifall für einen Vortrag mit höchster Klavierkultur."

Rheinische Post

October 21st, 2014

"The young Russian pianist Mark Taratushkin has a rare gift: a completely unobtrusive superior virtuosity that is totally at the service of musical expression. If you, for example, listen to his performance of the Paganini Variations of Johannes Brahms, you hear only a great music, but never the technical difficulties of this extraordinary challenging piece.

Mark Taratushkin is on the way to greatest pianists of the young generation."

Gerrit Zitterbart

April 13th, 2015

"Mr. Taratushkin is a wonderful pianist, with a very established knowledge of style and form. He has a good ear for contemporary music and he understands very well the different approaches to piano playing in modern music.”

Prof. Moshe Zorman

August 15th, 2014

"This was a truly breathtaking performance in terms of tone, sonority, power and contrast of character... fabulous account of one of the most difficult works in the keyboard literature and one of the finest I have heard for many years... A true individualist of tremendous talent”

Michael Moran

November 8th, 2013