Vadym Kholodenko: Pianist’s estranged wife charged with killing two daughters

The wife of famed concert pianist Vadym Kholodenko has been charged with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of their children ages 1 and 5, Texas authorities announced Monday.

Benbrook Police Cmdr. David Babcock said Sofya Tsygankova killed her daughters but she has not been arrested because she is undergoing a mental evaluation at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.

Tsygankova is charged with two counts of capital murder of a person under 10 years of age, a first-degree felony.

The children, Nika and Michela Kholodenko, were found dead Thursday morning by their father, renowned pianist Vadym Kholodenko, when he was scheduled to pick up the siblings. They had no obvious signs of trauma and police said Monday they were still unsure of what caused their deaths.

Court records reveal the Kholodenkos stopped living together in August after about five years of marriage. Citing a conflict in personalities, Vadym Kholodenko filed for divorce four months before the children were found dead inside the home.

The pair were supposed to exchange some financial documents regarding their pending divorce a week from Friday.

Vadym Kholodenko was gold medalist at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013. The quadrennial Cliburn is one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions. It not only identifies talented young pianists, but also nurtures their careers by arranging for winners to perform at recitals, festivals and orchestra concerts in the three years after the competition.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko has performed with orchestras around the world. He was scheduled to perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra over the weekend, but another pianist filled in.

Terri Messer, who shares a duplex with the family, said Tsygankova was a doting mother.

“Very attentive,” Messer said. “She played on the outside with them. If they were on the trampoline, she was on the trampoline.”

Vadym Kholodenko issued a statement Friday that said, in part:

“The loss of my children will be with me forever. But I would like to say that I feel the support of the Fort Worth community and all people who are sending me messages all over the world. […] I would like to ask everyone who is going to the concerts this weekend at Bass Hall to think of the music. Wherever I go after this tragedy my heart will stay with the people here of Fort Worth and my daughters will rest in this soil.”

Agencies/Canadajournal