Havryil SydorykEE, UA

Havryil Sydoryk is a 16-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist of Ukrainian origin. Alongside the piano, he plays the violin and harpsichord, and is an active presence in early music performance — a natural extension of the baroque influences that run through everything he writes. Havryil has been composing since the age of eight, initially for piano, and in recent years increasingly for chamber ensembles. A friendship with saxophonist Uku Gross opened up a new avenue: he began writing for saxophone, and the instrument has since become a significant part of his output. He has composed several concertos for recorder and saxophone with chamber orchestra, works that draw on baroque forms whilst speaking in a distinctly contemporary voice. That tension — between old and new — sits at the heart of his musical thinking. J. S. Bach remains his most enduring reference point, an influence that has held constant even as his compositional palette has widened. In 2025, Havryil won first place in Klassikatähed, the ETV (Estonian Public Broadcasting) competition for young performers which has launched a number of prominent Estonian musical careers.