A concert celebrating the centenary of the unique Russian composer of Polish origin, Moisey (Mieczysław) Weinberg (1919-1996). Friend and disciple of Shostakovich, his musical style was also influence by Prokofiev and Myaskovsky. The programme is curated by an award- winning pianist Yulia Chaplina and features the newly appointed leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Igor Yuzefovich as a guest soloist, in addition to Weinberg-expert Yuri Kalnits.
Violinist Igor Yuzefovich has most recently been appointed as Concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, having previously served in the same role with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, The Hong Kong Philharmonic, and prior to that, as Assistant Concertmaster with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to a busy orchestral performing calendar, Igor Yuzefovich continues to be an active chamber musician, often reuniting with the Monument Piano Trio which he co-founded in 2004. The trio made its concert debut in the US to critical acclaim and has since captivated audiences across the United States and in China. Its debut recording, featuring works by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield received high praise from critics and audiences alike.
While Mr. Yuzefovich’s concerts and recitals have taken him from Carnegie Hall to the Cairo Opera House, across Europe and throughout Asia, he has been equally committed to educating the next generation of musicians as an Artist Faculty at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore and is sought after for solo and chamber music masterclasses around the world.
Born into a musical family in Moscow, Russia, Mr. Yuzefovich began his violin studies at the age of 5, and soon after enrolled at the Gnessin Music School, studying with Irina Svetlova. In 1991, Mr. Yuzefovich moved to the United States where he continued his violin studies and later earned advanced degrees from The Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of world renowned pedagogue Victor Danchenko.
When he is not leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Yuzefovich can be seen and heard in his frequent appearances as guest concertmaster with many of world’s well-respected orchestras.
A recipient of two prestigious Diapason d’Or awards for his recording of Weinberg’s Violin Sonatas, Yuri Kalnits was described by reviewers as ‘an interpreter of the highest order’. He has participated in festivals throughout the world such as Festival Musicales Internationales Guil-Durance (France), Young Artist Peninsula Music Festival (USA), Festival Cziffra (France), Waterford International Music Festival (Ireland), Irina Kandinskaya and Friends (Russia), Pharos Trust Festival (Cyprus), Festival “Musica da camera” (Germany), Festival International Ciudad de Ubeda (Spain), Loch Shiel Spring Festival (Scotland) and has played at many important venues including The Purcell Room, St. John’s Smith Square, Barbican, St. Martin-in the-Fields, Small Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center and Suntory Hall. Tours have taken him to Russia, Ireland, Germany, Israel, France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, USA, Hong Kong and Cyprus.
As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the London Festival Orchestra, Mozart Festival Orchestra, Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra, London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra, Kazan Chamber Orchestra “La Primavera”, London Musical Arts Ensemble, Minsk Symphony Orchestra and the New Philharmonia Koln to name a few.
Equally active as a chamber musician, he joined the Erato Piano Trio in 2010 and has since performed with the group at many prestigious venues across the UK, China and most recently in their much acclaimed Purcell Room debut, and released a CD recording on Toccata Classics.
Dubbed ‘impressively virtuosic with terrific control and powerful playing’ by The Classical Reviewer, ''...intense and full of energy' by Presto International and ''one to watch" by the International Piano Magazine, Yulia Chaplina is the winner of 7 international piano competitions.
Since winning first prize and the gold medal in the junior section of the 2004 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Yulia has performed both in recital and with orchestra in some of the world's finest venues, including the Wigmore Hall in London, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Grand Halls of the Moscow Conservatoire and the St. Petersburg Philharmonie and the Bunka Kaikan Hall in Tokyo.
Yulia’s debut CD recording - of the solo piano works of Badarzewska – was made by King Records in Japan in 2007 and a subsequent documentary was made by the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK). Her solo CD of Russian Music recorded by Champs Hill records was released worldwide in 2014. The American Record Guide’s described this disk as "....an outstanding disc and one I’ll return to often" and " Yulia Chaplina brings to her playing more than a lifetime of acquaintance with this music." Her chamber music CD of Russian Music recorded by Champs Hill records was released in 2018, The Straits Times described this CD as ''..performed with much feeling and an unmistakable sense of nostalgia, this collection could have been called From Russia With Love''. Yulia's next recording is a CD of Prokofiev music for violin and piano and will be released in summer 2019.
Yulia holds a Masters of Music degree from the Royal College of Music in London where she studied with Dmitri Alexeev. Yulia also studied with Mstislav Rostropovich, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida and Paul Badura-Skoda. In 2012 Yulia was appointed the Mills Williams Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music.