How B.C. Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko Stormed the World Stage

Before Jaeden Izik-Dzurko could read, he would listen raptly as his parents recited The Remarkable Farkle McBride, a book about a child prodigy who tries out every instrument in the orchestra. Izik-Dzurko would then repeat the entire story aloud from memory, almost like a prophecy. Unlike the fickle Farkle, however, by five, Izik-Dzurko had settled in front of the piano. “The first couple years of lessons can be tedious,” he says. But as he entered his teen years, the rote purgatory of simple pieces gave way to more complicated, satisfying concertos. Armed with his razor-sharp recall, he picked them up quickly.

Izik-Dzurko began seeking out performance opportunities at classical festivals around B.C., his home province, mesmerizing audiences with his masterful contrapuntal ability—the skill of playing multiple melodies against each other. “It’s something you learn once you get to playing Bach,” he says. (Which is to say: once you’re really good.) Back-to-back breakout moments came in 2014: Izik-Dzurko won the piano concerto prize at the Kamloops Festival of the Performing Arts, then made his orchestral debut with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra later that year.

Izik-Dzurko’s aspirations soon turned international: in 2017, he was accepted to Juilliard for a bachelor of music—“a long shot,” he thought, due to his small-pond beginnings. And by 2022, he’d won Hilton Head, a well-known piano competition in the U.S. Still, an even larger prize loomed: the Leeds International, a prestigious test of skill previously won by some of Izik-Dzurko’s idols, like Murray Perahia, widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest living pianists.

In the lead-up to the 2024 competition, held in England this past September, Izik-Dzurko lived with his competitors, Hogwarts-style, in a university dorm, each of them prepping roughly three and a half hours of music each. In the end, Izik-Dzurko won over the jury with a rendition of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2. (Among other things, the judges praised his “exceptional artistic maturity.”)

Since then, the 25-year-old phenom has embraced the jet-setting life of a star soloist. He splits his time between Rome (where he studies with pianist Benedetto Lupo), his new home base of Detmold, Germany (chosen for its proximity to his many European shows), and wherever else the music takes him (recently: Zurich, Budapest and Tenerife). This winter, he’s booked engagements in the U.K. and Spain, but his dream show is nearer to home—he still hasn’t played live with the Vancouver or Toronto symphony orchestras. In October, he came close, debuting a 43-minute Rachmaninoff number in Edmonton. He spent four hours rehearsing the day before. “At first, you feel concerned at how little you remember,” he says. “Then muscle memory takes over.”

Pop quiz

Sing-along songs: His parents’ music. “David Bowie, Steve Miller Band, Headpins, Heart. Mostly ’80s stuff.”
Pre-show prep: Trimming his fingernails. “If they’re too long, they can split when you’re playing with force.”
Alternative music: “If I didn’t play piano, I’d play the cello. Pianists envy string players—they express a sound so much closer to the human voice.”
Central location: “Canada is so spread out but, living in Germany, I’m just a short train ride away from dozens of ancient cities.”
Packing essential: His travel piano. “It breaks down into three pieces—two go into my messenger bag and one sits in my carry-on, under my shoes. It’s great for practising in hotels and airports.”