Ivan Polyanskiy was born in Siberia (Russia) in a musical family, his father Sergey has played trombone in the most significant jazz bands in the city, whereby Ivan was listening to a jazz music since his early years. He start playing piano in the age of five and switched to the saxophone when he was 15. After only 6 months practicing on his instrument he was accepted to the jazz department in the Novosibirsk Music College, which he graduated with Honors four years after getting the “Red Diploma”, the highest level of student encouragement in Russia. In this four years Ivan was studying with the best music teachers in the country, competing in several national music competitions. Soon after he formed a band called “Jazz Brothers” with his brother Platon and performed at some of Siberia’s finest music venues and several jazz festivals around the country.

After  finishing  College  in Russia, Ivan decided to move to Europe to continue his education. He choose one of the best jazz programs running at that time in Europe, the Jazz Department in the Music University in Cologne/Germany, where he was accepted with the fulbright scholarship. Ivan studied with the best european teachers some of which are world famous such as Wolfgand Engstfeld, Ferdinand Povel, Dick Oats, Keith Copeland etc. After four years studying  there Ivan graduated with honors and continued  his education at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen/Germany, where after two years he recieved a Master Degree in the Performing Arts(Jazz Saxophone).  

 This time period was very productive for Ivan. He was working with many musicians (such as Lalo Schifrin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kenny Wheeler, Jim McNeely, Wolfgang  Niedecker, Peter Herbolzheimer etc.) and in different bands and finally grounded his own project, Ivan Polyanskiy Band. This band existed for over 6 year and performed in many jazz venues all around the Europe, joined famous jazz festivals and competitions and was recorded and translated by the national broadcasting. The band has also recorded several CDs, one of them was published by the Dewey Records jazz label in Germany. You could find this CD online on Spotify and CD Baby.

Ivan Polyanskiy was also a member of Youth Jazz Orchestra NRW and European Jazz Academy (under the leadership of Peter Herbolzheimer) for many years, two federal supported big-bands, which included the most talented young musicians in the country and was coached by the most prestigious musicians in Germany. With these orchestras Ivan has done several worldwide  tours as a soloist, visited many countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Korea, Israel etc.) and was recorded by the West German Television.

In year 2009 Ivan was granted for an “Open Word Program” and got a chance to be part of the selected jazz quintet and participate in the workshops and master class, which took place in the Dave Brubeck Institute in Stockton/California. The coaches were world famous jazz musicians Benny Green and Nicholas Payton. Ivan got a chance to work with them every day and preform in Sacramento and Stockton. These were Ivan’s first American concerts and they inspired him to come back and be a part of the amazing jazz scene.

After finishing his education in Europe Ivan was offered work on the world’s biggest ship “Oasis of the Seas” by the RCI Cruise Line, which is known for being the highest rated entertainment venue of any cruise company. In 2013 Ivan was successfully accepted in to the house jazz orchestra and was working over two years with the company. These years Ivan was performing with high-leveled performers from all over the world and was a part of several Broadway shows orchestra cast (Cats, Hair Spray, Mama Mia, Westside Story etc.) He had also participated in the several Jazz Festival’s at sea  (Including famous Dave Koz Cruise). During this time Ivan got a chance to play with world class musicians such as Dave Koz, Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright, Lary Graham and many more.

Now ivan is back in NYC performing in different venues and also having some concert around USA.

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