Illya Bunyakyn was born in Donetsk, Ukraine. Ever since hearing his domra teacher’s daughter play the piano when he was 8 years old, he has been entranced with the piano’s sound. That was the moment he knew he wanted to play the piano instead. After immigrating to the USA, Illya resumed his piano studies with Svetlana Kaplanskaya, whom he still sees for lessons to this day. When it came time to attend university, he pursued a degree in Computer Science instead of music. Illya is extremely grateful to his wife, family, and his teacher for supporting his passion for playing the piano all this time