Igor Parfenov was born in Saint Petersburg in 1990. He began playing the piano at the age of six and studied at a music school until 2006. At the age of 16, he entered the Pre-College programme at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
In 2009, Igor Parfenov was admitted to the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. During his studies, he participated in various international competitions and festivals, receiving several awards. He competed in the Chopin Competition in Estonia, the “Russian Piano Music on the Neva” competition in Saint Petersburg, the “Art of the 20th Century” competition in Finland, and the Rachmaninoff Competition in Darmstadt.
He attended masterclasses with, among others, Dmitri Bashkirov, Sontraud Speidel, José Ribera, Pavel Egorov, and Vladimir Mishchuk. In 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, Igor Parfenov was awarded a scholarship by the Werner Richard – Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation, which invited him to perform in concerts both as a soloist and with orchestras such as Sinfonietta Köln, the Bergische Symphoniker, and the Rheine Symphony Orchestra. These engagements included performances at the “Sommer, Schlösser, Virtuosen” festival.
From October 2011, he pursued a Bachelor of Music degree at the Wuppertal campus of the University of Music and Dance Cologne, studying with Professor Josef Anton Scherrer. In May 2012, Igor Parfenov won first prize at the Steinway Competition for selected students from the music universities of Essen, Düsseldorf, and Cologne. In April 2014, he performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the university orchestra, conducted by Professor Werner Dickel, at the Historic Town Hall in Wuppertal.
He also received scholarships from the Dr. Arthur Pfungst Foundation, the Dr. Gerhard Weil Foundation, the Schuler Foundation, and the Norbert Janssen Foundation.
In 2023, Igor Parfenov completed his Master's degree at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf, studying with Professor Lisa Eisner-Smirnova.
In 2024, he inaugurated a new concert grand piano at the Historic Town Hall in Wuppertal with a solo recital.
Igor Parfenov is the recipient of the 2025 Springmann Prize.