Keys to Life Interview: Teodor Doré
We spoke with pianist and composer Teodor Doré about music education, artistic freedom and the ideas behind his Renaissance-21 movement. He also shared the story of his orchestral realisation of Rachmaninoff’s long-lost Suite in D minor, which premieres at Carnegie Hall this November.
You previously studied landscape architecture and helped restore parks in Crimea. Has that experience shaped your approach to music at all?
The natural landscape of Crimea has always been one of my greatest sources of inspiration. I grew up in a deeply creative environment, my grandfather, Vitaly Zaykoff, was a prominent sculptor, and our home was constantly filled with architects, sculptors, and artists.
This environment undoubtedly influenced me, leading me to pursue landscape architecture at an early age, having completed school at fifteen. Parallel to this, my musical training continued unbroken.
In essence, my recent work orchestrating Rachmaninoff’s lost Suite in D minor from a piano transcription is fundamentally the same process as restoring the historic parks along the Southern Coast of Crimea — it is about taking a primary source and expanding it, transforming a concise framework into a complex, richly textured orchestral canvas infused with new colors and depth.
You once stepped away from music because your early training was too pressurised. What do you think good teaching should give them beyond technique?
Every musician’s journey is personal, and the goal is to find your own authentic path. My mother was a pianist and my grandmother a choir conductor, so the pressure at school and home was relentless. Expectations were extremely high, and the training often felt more like strict drill than guidance.
I stepped away so I could eventually reconnect with music on my own terms. During that break, I studied landscape architecture, which changed my perception of form and space. While completing my degree, I was invited by the rector to join the conservatory without entrance exams. The break also gave me the freedom to form a rock band and write original songs.
My later piano training in Moscow was highly conservative and bound by a rigid system that did not resonate with me. That pressure can shatter a musician’s creative identity rather than forge it. Discipline is necessary, but it must be paired with curiosity, an open mind and a mentor who expands your horizons.
That was precisely the revelation of my Master’s studies at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona under Benjamin Davies. Benjamin opened entirely new vistas for me and helped me reclaim my artistic freedom. It is also why I so admire the British approach to music education. It introduces young musicians to a vast spectrum of genres and styles right from the start. Beyond textbooks and technical drills, an open mind and a spirit of exploration are the true driving forces of any artist.
29% of non-learners say cost is the main barrier to learning music (ABRSM). Is learning an instrument in danger of becoming a privilege?
When I arrived in the UK three years ago, I was struck by the realization that music education here has largely become the preserve of the elite. It is a disheartening shift, particularly coming from a Soviet tradition where many households had an upright piano in the living room and music was woven into the social fabric regardless of background.
The core issue is a systemic lack of public investment. As arts and culture are increasingly sidelined in educational budgets, the burden falls heavily on private foundations, philanthropists, and independent initiatives. Without stronger state backing and support from these organisations, access narrows and the continuity of British musical culture is put at risk.
This neglect also affects how musical heritage is preserved. In the Renaissance-21 movement, we are currently focused on unearthing and performing rare, forgotten British repertoire from across the centuries. I was astonished by how few UK festivals are dedicated to this music and how irregularly many of them run. By giving forgotten works a platform, we hope to encourage a musical culture driven by artistic curiosity rather than personal wealth.
Speaking of Renaissance-21, what inspired you to create this cultural movement?
Renaissance-21 was born out of a sense of profound urgency — a direct reaction to a modern culture drifting toward simplification and division. We created it to champion the principle of art before identity, restoring beauty, depth, and universal human values to the centre of creative expression. Through this movement, we aim to craft new works for a new era that bridge fractures and speak directly to our shared human experience.
Portraits of Cities brought together more than 30 musicians to capture the character of 8 cities. Why are you creating a second instalment?
My decision to expand Portraits of Cities into a second installment was sparked during my recent tours in Japan and Malaysia. Performing in those environments made it abundantly clear that there is a vast amount of cultural territory still to explore.
At its core, this project is an effort to bridge diverse cultures and genres. It examines how the piano can exist in a genuine, living dialogue with traditional instruments from around the globe, demonstrating how disparate musical heritages can peacefully coexist and enrich one another. In many ways, that dynamic mirrors the multicultural fabric of modern Britain itself.
There is still so much ground to cover, and I am very much looking forward to presenting the second volume of the album next year.
How did you approach orchestrating Rachmaninoff’s rediscovered Suite in D minor?
It was an extraordinarily complex undertaking spanning more than two years. The greatest challenge was the fourth movement, where the surviving piano manuscript is sometimes reduced to octaves in the left hand and a melody in the right. That provides very little material for a full symphonic texture.
I had to create the inner voices and middle textures while remaining faithful to Rachmaninoff. I immersed myself in the orchestral language of his Second and Third Symphonies, using his contrapuntal logic and instrumental colours to balance musicological research with creative intuition.
I am profoundly grateful to Alexandra Rachmaninoff, his great-granddaughter, who gave me her blessing for this project. To have that trust behind such a momentous task was deeply humbling.
The premiere comes 135 years after both the suite’s composition and Carnegie Hall’s opening. Rachmaninoff sent the piano manuscript to Tchaikovsky, who conducted during the Hall’s opening celebrations, before it disappeared for more than a century. Bringing the suite back to orchestral life at Carnegie Hall creates an extraordinary connection between these two composers and brings the story full circle this November.
You compose for orchestras, voice and a wide range of instruments. What keeps bringing you back to the piano?
I returned to the piano specifically to compose a new cycle of miniatures Les Reflets dorés — to search for and develop a refined musical language for the Renaissance-21 movement.
The piano remains my primary home, and it provides the ideal medium to express complex ideas with utter concision. Stripping away the vast scale of an orchestra allowed me to test these new harmonic and stylistic concepts in their purest form, creating a concise framework before this upcoming album is released.
How do you decide which piano to perform on?
The choice depends entirely on the programme. The team at Markson Pianos understands an artist’s requirements and consistently provides world-class instruments of the highest standard.
For example, during a recent prepared-piano performance at the Roca London Gallery in Chelsea, materials were placed inside the piano to alter its sound. I needed an instrument suited to this setup without sacrificing dynamic range or projection. We chose a Yamaha C3X, which delivered powerful dynamics while maintaining exquisite clarity.
What is something about life as a professional pianist that would surprise most people?
Most people think playing the piano is purely about art and emotion, but the physical reality is intense and there is virtually no rest.
It is a strange mix of power and hyper-precision: you need the sheer physical force of a blacksmith, combined with the lightning-fast coordination and focus of a fighter pilot. Balancing that level of physical exertion with absolute mental control takes constant discipline, leaving very little time to ever truly switch off.
What are you listening to at the moment?
At the moment, my playlist is strongly shaped by my upcoming autumn tour to Mexico. I have been listening extensively to Natalia Lafourcade. Her work is simply extraordinary. The way she blends traditional Latin American folk roots with such refined, contemporary artistic depth is deeply inspiring to me as a composer and performer.
What do you most enjoy about living in London?
What makes London truly extraordinary is that no two days ever need to be the same. In such a vibrant, multinational city, if you have the imagination, you can step into virtually any world and connect with entirely different cultures and perspectives on a daily basis. London is unique in that sense — it allows you to live right at the heart of the world, immersed in a rich cultural landscape that offers endless inspiration.
Teodor’s orchestral realisation of Rachmaninoff’s Suite in D minor receives its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on 12 November 2026. He is also preparing for an autumn piano tour of Mexico, developing Les Reflets dorés, a new cycle of piano miniatures, and working on a second volume of Portraits of Cities, planned for next year.
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