"It's about the touch." Irina Kulikova has used that phrase as a kind of motto, and it tells you exactly where to listen. For all the prizes and the prodigious early career, what stays with audiences is the quality of her sound — a tone of unusual roundness and warmth, shaped by a player who treats the act of touching the string as the heart of the whole art. Born in Russia in 1982 and based for many years in the Netherlands, she has become one of the most admired guitarists of her generation.
A prodigy from the Urals
Kulikova was born on 30 April 1982 in Chelyabinsk, an industrial city in the South Urals. Music ran in the family — her mother is the cellist Vinera Kulikova — and under her mother's guidance and that of the guitarist-composer Victor Kozlov she began developing at the earliest age, taking up both piano and guitar at five. By eight she was giving her first guitar performances, and by twelve she was a genuine child star, touring across Russia and appearing at festivals in Europe. Kozlov, who mostly taught adults, has said she was his first young pupil.
A pan-European training
Few guitarists have studied so widely. Kulikova graduated with distinction from three of Europe's notable institutions — the Gnessin Academy in Moscow, the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, and the Conservatoire of Maastricht — working along the way with teachers such as Marco Tamayo and Carlo Marchione, and broadening into baroque music and even baroque lute. The result is an artist equally at home in the Russian, Spanish, baroque and Romantic repertoires.
More than thirty prizes
Her competition record is formidable: over thirty awards, including first prizes at some of the most prestigious events in the guitar world — the Michele Pittaluga Competition in Italy, the Alhambra Competition in Spain, Forum Gitarre Wien in Austria and the competition at Iserlohn in Germany. She has carried that success onto the great stages, performing at venues including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Palau de la Música in Valencia, and concert halls in Tokyo and Shanghai.
On record, and on health
Settled in the Netherlands since 2007, where she also teaches, Kulikova has recorded seven albums, several of them produced by the Grammy-winning Norbert Kraft. She has also spoken openly about recovering from a playing-related injury, turning that difficult experience into a wider awareness of musicians' health — a generosity of spirit that matches the warmth of her playing. Her repertoire ranges from Legnani and Bach to Tárrega and beyond, always returning to that singing, carefully voiced tone that is unmistakably hers.
FAQ
Where is Irina Kulikova from?
She was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 1982, and has lived in the Netherlands since 2007.
Who did she study with?
Victor Kozlov in Russia, and later Marco Tamayo and Carlo Marchione, among others, in Salzburg, Moscow and Maastricht.
How many albums has she recorded?
Seven, several produced by the Grammy-winning producer Norbert Kraft.
