Natalia Smirnova laid what was to become the foundations for Andrey Gugnin to pursue the career of a concert pianist, which enabled him to study with Olga Mechetina, Valery Kastelsky & Lev Naumov and later with Vera Gornostayeva at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory whereupon from 2016 he continues with Stanislav Ioudenitch and William Naboré at the International Piano Academy Lake Como.

In 2013 Andrey Gugnin gained 2nd prize at the Ludwig van Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna and 2014 saw the Gold Medal and the Audience Award at the XVI International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition, followed by the first prize in the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2016, taking the accolades for best overall concerto, best 19th or 20th century concerto, best violin and piano sonata, and best preliminaries round one recital.

Subsequently, he received an invitation with Maestro Valery Gergiev with the Mariinsky Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

His innumerous competition successes are as follows: International Competition in Cantù (1st prize, 2009), the International Stančić Competition in Zagreb (2nd prize and two special prizes, Croatia, 2011), and the Valsesia Musica International Competition in Italy (1st prize, 2014), Cidade de Ferrol competition in Spain (1st prize, 2015). The prize at the Allegro Vivo International Competition in San Marino shows his capacity not only as a soloist but also an avid chamber musician excelling in four hands with Vadym Kholodenko (Italy, 2008).

Gugnin will be recording for Hyperion in 2018 preceded by a recent additional invitation by Piano Classics in 2017. He is very much in demand as a recording artist recordings of piano concertos by Shostakovich together with the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia, (Delos International, 2007), music for piano duo iDuo (together with Vadim Kholodenko, Delos International, 2010) and a recital program from (Steinway & Sons) with the Pictures of the Exhibition raved by the public. The recording of Shostakovich concerti was used on the soundtrack of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning film, ‘Bridge of spies’. Andrey has also recorded for TV and radio in Russia, The Netherlands, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland and the USA. Gugnin's versatility makes him very much in the spot light as a recitalist, chamber music partner and a soloist with orchestras in more than twenty countries, performing at Vienna’s Musikverein, Carnegie Hall in New York, Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Sydney Opera House, the Eastman School of Music, the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Mariinsky Concert Hall, Thailand Cultural Centre, the Louvre, Paris, and the Zagreb Opera Theatre, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space and Asahi Hamarikyu Hall just to mention part of the expanding list. He has been invited and given masterclasses in Russia, the USA, Finland, Australia, Croatia and Japan.

In Takebe cho, Okayama City in Japan, his recital so motivated the public and the organizers in 2016 that soon after the concert, a festival for chamber music was created namely "Takebe-cho Chamber Music Festival - Gugnin and Friends" to be continued in October 2017.

The institutions of artistic collaboration extends from the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Symphony Orchestra of the Saint-Petersburg Cappella, Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Camerata, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo New City Orchestra, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Asko Schönberg ensemble and Camerata Salzburg so far as well as guest appearances in the Verbier Festival, Ruhr Klavier Festival, Mariinsky International Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the Musical Olympus Festival, the Art-November International Festival of Arts, Vivacello, Ars-longa, the Ohrid Summer Festival, the Shanghai Festival, the Summer Evenings in Zagreb festival, the Youth Festival in Aberdeen and the Bermuda Islands Performing Arts Festival, among others.

Forthcoming engagements includes performances in Asia with the Wuhan Philharmonic, Bangkok Symphony; Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Svetlanov State and Mariinsky Orchestras, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra and Jerusalem Camerata, among others. The 2107/18 season also features chamber music performances in Adelaide, Australia, the Malta Festival, Bard and Newport Festivals, USA, Duszniki Chopin International festivall; and concerts in the UK with violinist Tasmin Little. Andrey will be touring throughout Australia and New Zealand as the winner of the coveted Sydney International Competition.