A competition for young pіanіsts, named in honor of Dimitri Tiomkin, will be held in Kremenchug, Ukraine on May 16 through 18 as a part of the second annual International Jazz Festival (“Energy”). Olivia Tiomkin will appear on the large projection screen at the City Palace of Culture to welcome and greet the audience at the gala concert on May 18.
The competition aims to promote the music of Kremenchug’s native son, Dimitri Tiomkin. Born in Kremenchug in 1894, Tiomkin found international fame as a film composer in Hollywood. In addition to popularizing Tiomkin’s music, the competition’s goals are to support talented young pianists and promote improvisation and jazz. Tiomkin developed an interest in jazz during his student days in Russia and further delved into the field while living in New York in the 1920s. One of his first concert works for solo piano was “Quasi Jazz.”