Illarionov is the winner and laureate of numerous international competitions in the USA, Spain, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Russia. These include the Grand Prix in the VI International Promotional Competition "Guitar Talents' Review" and the title of "The Greatest Hope" in the "Tenth Gdańsk Meeting of Guitarists"; First Prize and Prize of Public in the VIII International Guitar Competition in Coria ; First Prize in the Russian International Guitar Competition - "Guitar in Russia" in Voronezh, Second Prize in Michele Pittaluga International Classical Guitar Competition. Illarionov was the first guitarist to take Second Prize in the III International Competition of Musical Personalities "Alexander Tansman". Piano, violin, cello, guitar and other instruments compete directly with each other in this competition, and Illarionov's success there made him the highest-placed guitarist ever in the Tansman competition. In October 2002, Illarionov won The Twentieth International Guitar Foundation of America Solo Guitar Competition. As part of the prize, he conducted his concert tour and will record a concert video. Besides guitar competition, Illarionov is a laureate of composing and conducting competitions.
Illarionov's repertoire is broad and versatile. It ranges across various periods and styles: music of the Renaissance and Baroque, original music for guitar from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and music of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as compositions for guitar with orchestra and chamber music. Dimitri Illarionov has recorded the CD Premieres with the Moscow Chamber "The Seasons" Orchestra for Les Éditions Doberman-Yppan; two solo CDs: by Naxos Records and the CD East Side Story with music written by modern Eastern European composers. Illarionov's Classical Duo CD with Russian cellist Boris Andrianov entered the long-list of the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Reviews
“... with such temperament, musicianship, richness of colour, radiance, sense of timing and feeling the acoustic qualities of his soft-toned instrument that the combination of all these abilities, coupled with an evident gift for entertainment, is the best expressed in one single word: wow!” - Tages-Anzeiger “Truly, this guitarist is a phenomenon.” – El Norte “Dimitri Illarionov’s concert was one of the "top five classical concerts" of 2003 in Edmonton According to this standard, elegant and dramatic Angela Hewitt was a shoo-in. Classical guitarist Dimitri Illarionov had the same kind of charisma. The chemistry between the audience and this young Russian guitarist was exceptional.” - Vue Weekly “An outstanding virtuoso” – Oliver Hochkeppel, Sueddeutsche Zeitung “...he displayed a firework of virtuosity – the filigree of sounds rivaled the incredibly swift technique of fingers and ardent warmth of bursts of emotions. Only an encore performance could satisfy the storms of applause from the audience.” – Westdeutsche Zeitung “I felt like I was struck by lightningthe moment he touched the guitar. It sent chills down my spine. I have never experienced anything like it. Incredible! Simply incredible!” – Irma Wassall – Poet Laureate and founder of the Wichita Society of the Classical Guitar “It was one of the most inspiring guitar performances I have ever heard.”- Dusan Bogdanovic – guitarist and composer. Remarks on Dimitri Illarionov's performance in Gdansk
