The Times, June 2025“Both these fine pianists know exactly what they’re doing and why, and the result is a bracing joy”
Gramophone, June 2025“They generate almost as many decibels on their single piano as a full orchestra…However many or few piano duet albums you want on your virtual or actual shelves, I’d struggle to recommend any above this one.”
The New York Times, December 2024“Few concerts this year captured the alchemy of chamber music as intensely as their performance at Weill Recital Hall, which opened, or rather erupted, with Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” As their arms and hands overlapped, at extremes of sound, expression and physicality, they constructed an interpretation of ferocious sensuality that was also disciplined, clear and seemingly from one shared mind.”
Gramophone, June 2024“…It should be said upfront that Kolesnikov and Tsoy share a unity of musical intent, perfectly matched finesse and nuance, and beautifully coordinated pianistic resources that make their hand-in-glove ensemble a joy to experience. Desyatnikov’s piece is richly detailed and sharply focused. Its Schubertian inspirations are always obvious, without ever being overstated or laboured. Kolesnikov and Tsoy’s approach to the piece is so immersive, as well as deeply artistic…
BBC Music Magazine, August 2025“Magical Schubert from an adventurous piano duo… in this recording the Schubert works emerge as absolutely magical. The Divertissement elicits a sumptuous softness, while the Fantasie creates the impression of vast and intensely dramatic landscapes.”
The Arts Fuse, June 2024“Their debut CD is brilliant… The duo’s performance of Schubert’s Fantasy is stunning; this is a recording that is as good as or better than many made by far more famous pianists.”
Edinburgh Music Review, July 2022“With supreme virtuosity, Kolesnikov and Tsoy delivered a breathtaking and memorable performance.”
The Arts Desk, March 2022“Light, air and adventure from two pianos… The partners are very different personalities, and you hear that in their solo recitals; but here the consonance was so absolute that, able as many of us were to see hands at one keyboard, the melody line seemed to be coming from there but the optics told us otherwise.”
The Guardian, June 2020“Piano duo bring electrifying intimacy… two pianists whose sweetness of touch and unobtrusive sense of momentum illuminated a thoughtful programme… qualities present in everything these two played.”
Pianists Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy come together in a duo celebrated for its rare intimacy, imagination, and expressive depth. Longtime collaborators and close artistic partners, Kolesnikov and Tsoy create performances that feel like finely tuned conversations.
The 2026/27 season sees their debut as a duo at Leipzig Gewandhaus for a special recital performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 as part of the anniversary Festival. They also embark on a North American tour with recitals in Atlanta, New York, Boston, and Montreal, return to Wigmore Hall, BOZAR, and Schloss Elmau, and make their debut with the Romanian Radio Orchestra. Other recent highlights include appearances at Edinburgh International Festival, Piano aux Jacobins, Portland Piano International, Piano à Lyon, Klavier Festival Ruhr, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, and de Bijloke in Ghent.
Both of their recent albums released on Harmonia Mundi, received rave reviews in The Guardian, Gramophone Magazine, Le Monde, and BBC Music Magazine. Their 2024 Schubert album was awarded the prestigious Diapason D’Or. They will release their third album in 2026.
For both artists, space and setting is a crucial element in their music-making. In September 2025 they brought their site‑specific musical vision to Ballroom Marfa for a weekend of performances. During the pandemic they performed Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen at Bold Tendencies, a former multistory car park in London. In 2023 they brought back concerts at Aldeburgh’s historic Jubilee Theatre where they placed the audience on stage while performing Bach and Kurtág on upright pianos placed in the orchestra level of the theater. Other presentations include Prokofiev’s Cinderella in the Muziekgebouw loading bay and performances in galleries across Europe.
Described as “piano magicians” by The Arts Desk, Pavel and Samson have been living and working together since their early student days. In 2019, the duo co-founded the Ragged Music Festival, which provides a stripped-down environment for artists to explore a dialogue between music, architecture, and visual arts. Originally based in London’s Ragged School Museum, the festival has expanded internationally with the first edition at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam in 2023. Over the last four years it has welcomed visual artists Hélène Binet, Antoni Malinowski, Eva Vermandel and musicians Alina Ibragimova, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Mark Padmore, Lawrence Power, Elena Stikhina and Doric String Quartet. The Festival was nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts Awards in 2021. They brought the festival back to the Muziekgebouw in March 2026.
2026-2027
