Nikita Khnykin | Pianist

Recipient of the Robert Levin Prize in 2022, Nikita Khnykin, is a young Norwegian pianist who is firmly gaining recognition. He was nominated for both the Norwegian Soloist Prize and Equinor Music Award in 2023, and has performed as a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019, and with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in 2018 and 2020, through live-streamed and televised performances. In autumn 2023, he made his first appearance with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. He was invited by Leif Ove Andsnes to perform at the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival in 2024, and has since appeared at the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival and Valdres Chamber Music Festival in 2025, collaborating with leading musicians internationally. 

One of Nikita’s proudest accomplishments occurred in May 2024, when he organized and led an orchestra and choir with musicians from Sweden and Norway. He conducted them from the piano in performances of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, “Elvira Madigan”. In April and May 2025, he was musical director in a student production of Salieri’s opera Prima la musica e poi le parole, and led the rehearsals and performance from the keyboard.

Nikita was born in 2003 in Oslo to Russian parents, and currently studies with Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist at Ingesund College of Music in Sweden. He has also been part of Prof. Jiri Hlinka Piano Academy in Bergen since 2017, where he worked closely with the mentors Leif Ove Andsnes, Håvard Gimse and Christian Ihle Hadland, and participated in masterclasses with a number of distinguished pianists including Bertrand Chamayou, Kirill Gerstein and Lilya Zilberstein. 

Notable achievements include several first prizes in the Norwegian National Music Competition in different age categories, and in 2020 he won all possible prizes within the competition, including the Audience Prize, the EMCY Prize for Exceptional Performance, and being named “Talent of the Year”.

Ever since Nikita began his musical training at the Barratt-Due Music Institute, playing chamber music with prominent musicians and friends has been an important part of Nikita’s musicianship. This has led to performances, among others, at the Oslo Chamber Music Festival and Bergen International Festival, both in 2016, and in 2023 at the Lofoten Chamber Music Festival.

Nikita’s musical interests also include conducting, and in 2020 he was featured as a mentor in the program “Maestro” on Norwegian television. He has also composed several works, and his piece “Poeme” for symphonic orchestra was played by the Oslo Philharmonic in 2021, conducted by Christian Eggen.

Updated August 2025

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