Irina Kulikova is a multiple award-winning guitarist. She is widely acclaimed for the rare beauty of her sound and her enchanting presence on stage. Her motto, in life and music: It's about the touch. Irina Kulikova started playing guitar at five. She gave her first concert at eight. At twelve, she was a childstar playing across Russia and at festivals in Europe. At seventeen, she left home to study in Moscow and Salzburg. She joined the ‘Salzburger Solisten’ for chamber music festivals in Europe. She performed for royal and aristocratic families of Denmark and Germany. After she had made her home in The Netherlands, in 2008, Ms. Kulikova won first prize at five of the world’s most prestigious guitar competitions. Subsequently, she was invited to over thirty countries, appearing at leading festivals in Europe, North America and Asia, and in concert halls such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Musashino Hall in Tokyo and the Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai. In the midst of the coronacrisis in 2020, Irina Kulikova released her fifth album. “Life as we know it has dramatically changed for all of us. It brings a lot of insecurity and stress. We need to take our moments to find harmony and strength. I believe music can help. Music moves us with the joy and the pain, the passion and the serenity that once inspired great composers. Those feelings bring us close to ourselves and close to people from all over the world. It’s about the touch.”