Alexey Botvinov, the founder and president of „Odessa Classics“ is a world piano star, he is one of the best performers of  Rachmaninoff’s music in Europe. Among his extremely wide repertoire are more than 30 concerts for the piano and orchestra. Botvinov performed in 45 countries, and he is the only pianist in the world who has performed Bach's cult masterpiece "Goldberg Variations" more than 300 times live on stage.

"My dream is to make a festival which would be a landmark not only for Odessa but for the country. It could be similar in weight to the Salzburg Festival. I’d like it very soon to be the main festival in Eastern Europe" - Alexey Botvinov.