Thomas T. Hrynkiw

Thomas Hrynkiw, 83, of Scranton, passed away Thursday at Linwood Nursing and Rehab Center.

Born in Wilkes-Barre, he was the son of the late Walter and Anna Kornowa Hyrnkiw. Thomas was an alumnus of Wilkes College and Manhattan School of Music. Hailed as a pianist of dramatic power and poetry, Thomas had been making musical appearances since the age of thirteen. At age nineteen, he won a competition whose first prize was a performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Leopold Stokowski conducting. He was the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Frank Huntington Beebe, Harold Bauer, and the Music Teachers Association Awards. He has also received grants from the International Institute for Education.

Thomas has played major concerts in both the United States and Europe. His U.S. appearances include the Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress and Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., the Lincoln Center in New York, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series in Chicago.  

Thomas appeared annually at the Newport Festival in Rhode Island and served as a music advisor to the director. Other festivals include Palm Beach in Florida, Sitka in Alaska, Mt. Gretna in Pennsylvania, Virginia in Richmond, Beethoven on Long Island and the San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.

As a collaborative artist he had appeared with Erick Friedman, Richard Stoltzman, Bert Lucarelli, the Muir, Audubon, DaPonte, and St. Lawrence string quartets and with singers Gabriella Tucci, Zurab Sotkilava, Inessa Galante and Paul Plishka, with whom he made four recordings and gave a concert at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

Ukrainian works had been included in his recitals from Paris to Alaska. For the Yamaha Disklavier, he had recorded the Ballades and Scherzi of Chopin, an Encore Album and Russian Romantics. He had given master classes and had been a guest teacher at UCLA, University of Minnesota, Dartmouth, and Northern Arizona Universities. Thomas had also taught at Marywood University in Scranton. He was a gifted teacher, mentor and friend to hundreds of students over his lifetime and very proud of his Ukrainian heritage.

Thomas is preceded in death by four brothers, Walter, William, Robert and Michael, and a sister Anna Linaberry.

Arrangements entrusted to Savino Traditional Funerals and Cremation Care, Carl J. Savino, Jr. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Thomas T. Hrynkiw, please visit our floral store.