Sofya Gulyak (born 29 December 1979) is a Russian classical pianist. She was the first woman to win the Leeds Piano Competition. Gulyak was born in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

. She studied at the Kazan State Conservatoire, Piano Academy Incontri col Maestro, and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

. In 2006, she won first prize in the

Sigismund Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family He was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. According to his own account, he ...

International Piano Competition. In 2007, she won the

William Kapell William Kapell (September 20, 1922October 29, 1953) was an American pianist and recording artist, killed at the age of 31 in the crash of a commercial airliner returning from a concert tour in Australia. Biography William Kapell was born in New ...

Competition and shared the Concorso F. Busoni second prize with Dinara Nadzhafova. Gulyak was the winner of the 2008 Washington International Competition of the Friday Morning Music Club, and also won ISANGYUN

Competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

2008. In 2009, she won the 1st prize in the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. She is the first female winner of the competition.

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* Living people 1979 births Russian classical pianists Russian women pianists Musicians from Kazan Prize-winners of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition 21st-century Russian women musicians 21st-century classical pianists Women classical pianists 21st-century Russian musicians 21st-century women pianists {{Russia-classical-pianist-stub