Accompanists

Anna Polishchuk is a distinguished Ukrainian pianist, collaborative pianist, and pedagogue, awarded the honorary title Honored Artist of Ukraine.

She began studying piano in early childhood and was soon recognized as a prodigy, participating in masterclasses led by Kyiv’s leading teachers. At the age of six, she was invited to Poland for solo performances featuring works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Frédéric Chopin.

Anna graduated from the Kyiv Lysenko State Music School in 1999 (piano classes of  D. Yudelevych and I. Lipatova). During her studies, she performed extensively in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine, also toured Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Between 1988 and 1999, she became a laureate and diploma winner of six national and international competitions.

She completed her higher musical education at the Ukrainian National Academy of Music in 2005 (under Professor V. Vorobyov), and later pursued postgraduate studies and served as an assistant in 2013 (under Professor A. Lysokon). During this period, she was active as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist, working with leading Ukrainian vocalists. She won First Prize at the International Glenn Gould Memorial Competition (Italy, 2002) and participated in international masterclasses in France.

Since 2000, Polishchuk has worked as a collaborative pianist with prominent conductors and as a faculty member at the Department of Accompaniment at the Ukrainian National Academy of Music. From 2004, she has also served as a collaborative pianist for the vocal department (opera studio and chamber singing), contributing to productions such as The Magic Flute by W. A. Mozart, Zasvatana-nevinchana by I. Poklad, Stolen Happiness by Yu. Meitus, Aleko by S. Rachmaninoff, and others.

Between 1998 and 2022, she worked as a collaborative pianist at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. From 2004 to 2023, she held the position of collaborative pianist at the Kyiv Operetta Theatre, where she also created and performed in numerous artistic projects, including solo programs and concerto performances.

From 2019 to 2020, she worked as a collaborative pianist in the vocal studio of renowned opera singer V. Liubymova at the National Opera of Ukraine.

Between 2009 and 2019, Polishchuk became a laureate and diploma winner of ten international competitions, receiving awards in Ukraine, Italy, Croatia, Japan, and Serbia.

She is also active internationally as a guest coach and collaborative pianist, participating in opera productions and festivals across Europe. Notably, she contributed to international projects and contemporary opera productions recognized among the top performances in the United Kingdom.

In 2020, she was awarded the honorary title Honored Artist of Ukraine.

Since 2021, she has been a collaborative pianist at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, and since 2024, at the National Opera of Ukraine.

As a solo performer, Anna Polishchuk has appeared in Ukraine, Europe, and the Americas. Highlights include performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico under Enrique Bátiz, and collaborations with the ensemble “Kyiv Camerata” under Valerii Matiukhin.

Her repertoire spans works from all musical periods, with a particular focus on Ukrainian composers, both classical and contemporary, many of whose works she has premiered.

She regularly collaborates with internationally acclaimed opera singers and instrumentalists and serves as a jury member for international and national music competitions.

Born in the city of Komsomolske, Donetsk region, Anastasiia Byka began studying music at the age of five in the class of Tetiana Zakharchuk. From an early age, she participated in competitions and performed with orchestras.

At the age of 15, she continued her musical education at the Kharkiv Specialized Music Boarding School, studying under Nataliia Avramenko. From 2014, she studied at the I. P. Kotliarevsky Kharkiv National University of Arts in the class of Professor Anna Sagalova. During her studies, she focused on chamber music performance and piano accompaniment, performing in ensembles and participating in competitions both as a trio member and as an accompanist.

Since 2022, Anastasiia Byka has worked in Kharkiv as an accompanist at the Koliada Children’s Music School, the Liatoshynsky Kharkiv Music College, and the Kharkiv Palace for Children and Youth. Following her relocation to Kyiv due to the full-scale war in 2022, she successfully passed an audition to join the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. She collaborates with distinguished musicians and performs in philharmonic halls and major venues in various cities, including appearances with flutist Yurii Shutko in Lviv, Lutsk, and Dnipro.

Anastasiia Byka is an experienced soloist, ensemble performer, and collaborative pianist, specializing in chamber music.

Denys Kashuba is a Ukrainian pianist with extensive experience as a soloist, chamber
musician, and collaborative pianist.

He graduated with honours from the Dniprodzerzhynsk Regional Music College
(2012) and the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts (2018), where
he studied piano with Professor T. Verkina and collaborative piano with Professor Ye.
Nikitska. He also completed there his postgraduate studies.
He has participated in masterclasses with distinguished pianists such as Wolfgang
Manz (Germany), Dmitri Bashkirov (Spain), Dmitri Alexeev (United Kingdom),
Sergei Edelman (Belgium), and Pavel Gililov (Germany), as well as in ClaviCologne
Piano Masterclasses (2019, Hamburg, Germany). As an accompanist, he has also
taken part in masterclasses with Elisabeth Schütze, Christian Hilz, and Richard Resch
(Germany), as well as conductors Yaroslav Shemet (Ukraine–Poland) and Celso
Antunes (Brazil–Germany).

Denys Kashuba has extensive experience of collaboration with vocalists and
instrumentalists. He has also worked as an accompanist in the M. V. Lysenko Kharkiv
National Opera and Ballet Theatre, performing with opera soloists.
Kashuba has held academic and accompanist positions at the Kharkiv I. P.
Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts and the Kharkiv State Music Lyceum. He is
a recipient of scholarships from the Wagner Society (Bayreuth) and the President of
Ukraine.

In 2023, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD in Arts) for his
research on piano concertos by Johannes Brahms.

Since 2023, he has been a collaborative pianist at the National Philharmonic of
Ukraine.