THE FIFTEENTH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER ARTISTS AND ENSEMBLES
SILVER LYRE
History
Silver Lyre 2020
Performers
YOUTH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
of the Honoured collective of Russia
of St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra
Director and Conductor – Yaroslav ZABOYARKIN
Polina OSETINSKAYA (Piano)
of the Honoured collective of Russia
of St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra
Director and Conductor – Yaroslav ZABOYARKIN
Polina OSETINSKAYA (Piano)
YOUTH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA of the Honoured collective of Russia of St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Symphony OrchestraA major impetus for the creation of a new chamber group, which debuted on March 11, 2020 on the stage of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic's Grand Hall, was the encouragement on the part of Maestro Yuri Temirkanov.
The orchestra has been headed by Yaroslav Zaboyarkin, both violinist and conductor, the artist of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra, and the winner of multiple prestigious violin and conducting international competitions.
The new group has brought together young musicians from St. Petersburg who work in the famous Philharmonic Orchestra. The group maintains creative and friendly atmosphere that formed already during its members' studying years, when they played music together in different chamber ensembles.
The main goals of the newly born orchestra are to preserve the traditions of the country's oldest symphony orchestra, to prepare young musicians to collaborate with world-class soloists and ensembles, and to perform modern and rarely heard compositions.
Yaroslav ZABOYARKIN (Director and Conductor) Yaroslav Zaboyarkin graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory as a violinist (A. Kazarina's class) and as a conductor of an orchestra or opera company (M. Kukushkin's class). The opera "Eugene Onegin" and a charity concert for the St. Petersburg Cancer Prevention Foundation were the musician's graduate work. Both of them took place at the theater of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
From 2007 to 2011, he was a member of the St. Petersburg State academic Cappella orchestra under the direction of V. Chernushenko. From 2011 to the present day, Yaroslav Zaboyarkin is the memeber of Russia's Honored Collective of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2010, he won the IX International Violin Competition in Gerard (France) and the II International Shostakovich Chamber Ensemble competition in Moscow. In 2012, he made his debut as a conductor with the New Japan Philharmonic orchestra at the XVI International Conducting Competition in Tokyo and received a semifinalist diploma.
In 2013, he became a permanent conductor of the youth Singolo Orchestra. In 2016, he was awarded the title of laureate at the international competition Vivat, Saint Petersburg!. He is also the winner of The Rota International Conducting Competition in Italy (2017) and of the Fitelberg International Conducting Competition (2017).
In 2017, after completing a three-week course with N. Jarvi, P. Jarvi and L. Green, Yaroslav Zaboyarkin was invited to the Jarvi Conducting Academy in Estonia and conducted the Academy's festival orchestra at the closing concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of NeemeJ?rvi.
In November 2017, he became a laureate of the G. Fitelberg International Сonducting Сompetition (Katowice, Poland).
Polina OSETINSKAYA (Piano)Having started playing the piano at the age of five, Polina gave her first solo concert at the Vilnius Philharmonic hall at the age of six. At the age of eight, she performed Bach's D minor Concerto with the Lithuanian chamber orchestra conducted by Saulius Sondeckis.
Having made a long and challenging way of primary education under the guidance of her father, film director Oleg Osetinsky, and having attained the dubious status of a miracle child, Polina eventually found a happy home in the Lyceum School at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of Marina Wolf. After graduating from the Lyceum and the St. Petersburg Conservatory under the guidance of the outstanding teacher, she also finished an assistant internship at the Moscow Conservatory supervised by Vera Gornostaeva, Polina Osetinskaya boldly embarked on the thorny path of concert performance. And as time has shown, this decision was absolutely justified.
The talented pianist was warmly welcomed by the audience of the most prestigious halls in the world. She played with many famous orchestras. Her stage partners include Saulius Sondeckis, Laurent Petitjerard, VassilySinaisky, Andrey Boreyko, Gerd Albrecht, Jan-Pascal Tortelier, Thomas Sanderling, Tugan Sokhiev, Alexander Sladkovsky.
Polina Osetinskaya is a frequent guest of such famous festivals as Du Wallonie, Mainly Mozart, Chopin Festival, "December Evenings", "Crescendo", "Stars on Lake Baikal", "Territory", Diaghilev and Levitan Festivals, "Faces of Modern Pianism", "Stars of White Nights".
In her solo programs, the pianist often includes works by contemporary composers. Osetinskaya is an adherent and tireless popularizer of post-avant-garde composers: Silvestrov, Desyatnikov, Martynov, Karmanov, Pelecis.
The pianist's recordings are released by many labels, including Sony Music, Naxos, Bel Air, and Quartz. Her artwork is highly appreciated by discerning music critics of many reputable broadsheets.
The winner of the Triumph youth award, Polina Osetinskaya is also known as a talented writer – in 2008, her poignant autobiographical novel Goodbye Sadness! was published.
PetRoDuet (Piano Duo)
The duet was created in 2001 after a successful performance at the International Festival of Arts "From the Avant-Garde to the Present Day". Since then, the ensemble regularly participated in many festivals, including “Baltic Piano Duets”, “Petersburg Musical Spring”, and “Three Centuries of Russian Romance”.The duo's repertoire is extremely extensive and includes examples of classical and romantic heritage, as well as many contemporary authors. The ensemble's assets include premiere performances of duet transcriptions of works by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Ravel, Poulenc, Shostakovich, Davidenko. Igor Rogalev, a composer from St. Petersburg, wrote “Concerto for two pianos and orchestra”, “Notebook of marches and dances in memory of V. Gavrilin”, “Little fantasy on the theme of Paganini” and a number of other works specially for PetRoDuet. The duo often performs their own transcriptions of works by Bach, Liszt, Glinka, Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Sviridov.
In recent years PetRoDuet has had a number of world premiere performances, including “The duet of an unknown author” from the album of AvdotyaIvanova (recorded in the album in 1786); Five sonatas by E.V. Wolf for clavier three and four hands; “Mazurka” (A. Pashkov) for piano three hands; “Great Russian military march” of A. Preis, dedicated to Empress Maria Feodorovna; “Don Capriccio” for two pianos (I. Vorobyov), "Twelve characteristic pieces on one theme" and "A doll's house" for two pianos (I. Rogalev).
PetRoDuet is the winner of many International Competitions of Ensembles, including competitions in Athens (2002), London (2005), Vologda (2015), as well as the 20th competition of piano duets in Tokyo (2016), at which A. Rogaleva and D.Petrov were awarded the Grand Prix.
In addition, A. Rogaleva was recognized as the best accompanist of the 8th International Competition for Young Singers named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, and the 6th St. Petersburg International Opera Singers' Competition, and D. Petrovis a Diploma Winner of the 2nd International Competition named after K. Nerikhazi (Tokyo), and laureate of the International Competition named after V. Sofronitsky (St. Petersburg).
Currently A. Rogaleva and D. Petrov teach at the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
CHIZHIK JAZZ QUARTET
The Chizhik jazz quartet under the direction of the vibraphonist and composer Alexei Chizhik is, in its own way, a unique phenomenon in the modern St. Petersburg musical culture of the so-called "third stream". The Quartet performs classics in jazz arrangement and expressively solves one of the main tasks in the crossover genre - it presents to the public an invaluable musical heritage through an unexpected but always bright and memorable virtuoso performance.The team was created in 2005 by Alexey Chizhik, and for the last ten years the team remains unchanged.
The Quartet performs not only on the stages of the Mariinsky Theater and the St. Petersburg Academic and Jazz Philharmonic, but also on television in various TV shows: “Evening Urgant” (Channel One), “Battle of the Quartets”, (Culture channel), “Live Sound” (100 TV). The Quartet takes part in such festivals as “Jazz Q” (St. Petersburg), “Barents Jazz & Blues Festival” (Murmansk), "Blooming wild rosemary" (Chita), "Days of St. Petersburg" (Krakow and Tallinn), "White nights" (Perm), "Bridge of Friendship" (“Sopruse sild”) (Narva), "Jazztage Bad Homburg" (Germany), "Caldas Nice Jazz" (Portugal).
Alexey CHIZHIKAlexey graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and has worked in several symphony orchestras. He performs both academic and jazz music and remains the only vibraphonist in Russia who owns the technique of playing with five sticks.He collaborated with such musicians as Placido Domingo, Mstislav Rostropovich, Winton Marsalis, MarisыJansons, Andrei Kondakov, David Goloshchekin, Arkady Shikloper, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Krzysztof Penderecki, Eddie Gomez, Larry Porter, Diya Drummond, Wuyton Drummond. Since 2010 he has been performing with the EkkehardWielka jazz trio (Germany). Alexey participates in many jazz festivals, including the Moscow “City Jazz Fest”.
He performs as a pianist on various stages and tours with silent film music programs. He also took part in the screening of retro films at the Aurora cinema in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the famous cinema. He was a member of the jury of the International Competition of Percussion Instruments in Pescara (Italy, 2018). Alexey remains an active representative of the French company "Bergerault" for the production of percussion instruments.
Oleg BELOVOleg is a hereditary musician - the son of the famous composer from St.Petersburg Gennady Belov. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a pianist and composer. He is a laureate of the Dmitry Shostakovich Composers Competition and soundtrack author for many Russian films, TV series and cartoons. He also worked with the famous film director Roman Prygunov and appeared in the famous Russian TV show "Evening Urgant".
Petr MIKHEEVPetr is one of the most demanded drummers in the concert and club life of St. Petersburg and Moscow. He performed at many domestic and foreign festivals, including Montreux (Montreux Jazz Festival, 2008) with the Doo Bop Sound.He collaborates with such bands as Zventa Svetlana & Tina Kuznetsova, Alexey Chumakov, Non Cadenca, Tribute to Charls Mingus, Andrey Kondakov, Electrik Project, Good Evening trio, Alexey Popov &LeraGehner band.
Victor SAVICHHe is well known among the jazz and rock musicians of St. Petersburg and in the entertainment business as well. Throughout his impressive career he has successfully collaborated with many Russian and foreign musicians, including Symphonic Cinema, Optimistica Orchestra, Boris Grebenshchikov, Non Cadenca, A. Kondakov, JD Walter, David Morin, B. Titomir, Fun 2 Mass, Doo Bop Sound, N. Noskov, Zhanna Aguzarova.
BESSONOV BROTHERS
Bessonov brothers - Ivan, Daniil and Nikita - are extremely lucky. The outstanding musical abilities of the children, noticed in time by their parents - the people who are not strangers to the art of music, and who did not become professional musicians only by coincidence - immediately determined the right vector for the development of their sons. It all started, of course, with the eldest son - Ivan.
Ivan BESSONOVHe was born in Saint Petersburg in 2002. He began his professional piano training at the age of six, first with Zora Zucker at the St. Petersburg Conservatory’s school, then with Olga Kurnavina, and after that with Eleonora Margulis at the Lyakhovitskaya school.
It was during the period of training with Margulis that Ivan's main victories at St. Petersburg competitions took place. In 2015, for the sixth time in a row, he won the Grand Prix at the city's annual etude performance competition, as well as the Grand Prix of the Chopin youth competition. In the same year, he made his debut as a professional composer in Viktor Kosakovsky's film "Сhicken Pox".
In 2016, he was awarded with the first prize of the Rubinstein competition, won the Saint Petersburg government's Young Talents competition, and the audience award at the Moscow international Grand Piano Competition. In the same year, he performed a solo program at the Mariinsky Concert hall.
This was followed by an invitation to the Central music school at the Moscow Conservatory, and naturally, the family moved to the capital. At first, Ivan studied with Vadim Rudenko, and then he started his studies in the class of Valery Pyasetsky, where he continues to master his skills up to this day,
Moving to Moscow did not interrupt the marathon of prestigious awards given to the young pianist. In 2017, Ivan won the First prize of the Astana Piano Passion International competition, was the finalist of the Blue Bird TV competition, and got the first prize of the Young Talents of Russia competition. In 2018, he became the winner of the second international Grand Piano Competition and of the "Classic Eurovision" in Edinburgh (Eurovision Young Musicians). Last year, in 2019, he was awarded the Russian national award "Bravo" in the category "Discovery of the Year".
Currently, Ivan performs with such Russian conductors as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Vladimir Spivakov, Alexander Sladkovsky; he participates in various festivals, gives recitals in the best concert halls of the world, composes music. The young musician's schedule is planned out for years to come.
Daniil BESSONOVHe was born in Saint Petersburg in 2005. He began to study music at the age of four - first singing and solfeggio, and then started playing - not the piano, but the violin. Already in his early childhood, while listening to the older brother play the piano, he began to distinguish notes by ear before even learning to speak.
In terms of achievements and awards, Daniil is not far behind his brother. At the age of six already, he won the second St. Petersburg Savshinsky international competition and the St. Petersburg competition and festival "First chord". The year of 2016 brought Daniil a special prize from the Musical Olympus Foundation at the Nutcracker competition, as well as the title of laureate of the Moscow international competition "Rotari" and the participation in the final of the Blue Bird TV project.
In 2017, at the Nutcracker competition, he received five special prizes at once, and in 2018 - the title of laureate of three international competitions: the All-Russian Nutcracker TV competition, the second Gnessin festival competition, and the Ryazan international violin competition named after V. Bobylev. In 2019, Daniil became the winner of the Sochi competition "Constellation", the winner of the VIII Yekaterinburg Demidov International youth violin competition "DEMUX", and the winner of the XV Moscow International competition of young musicians.
Just like his older brother, Daniil composes music and gives many concerts, both solo and together with his brothers, in Russia and abroad. He is currently studying at the Central music school at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Professor Alyona Chvertok.
Nikita BESSONOV
He was born in Saint Petersburg in 2007. Like his middle brother, Daniil, Nikita plays the violin and composes music. He is studying at the same centr
al music school at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Alyona Chvertok. Since the age of five, Nikita has been participating in various concerts with his brothers and has already performed in many famous halls in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 2016, he became a finalist for the Blue Bird TV project. In 2017, he was the winner of the first prize of the Moscow competition "Constellation of talents".
PIANO TRIO OF THE SAINT PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY (Russia)
The trio was founded in 2013. One of its features is the focus on the works of Russian composers.In addition to many foreign composers, the band’s repertoire includes piano trios of Alyabyev, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Arensky, Katuar, Shostakovich, Babadzhanyan. In 2016, the musicians recorded a CD with the trio of Arensky and Babadzhanyan.
Currently, the team is actively involved in the musical life of St. Petersburg, performing at the best concert halls of the city.
Dmitry PAVLIYHe graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and did postgraduate studies (class of L.M. Zaichik). He was a grant-holder of the funds «Young talents of St. Petersburg», «Palaces of St. Petersburg» and «Wagner Society» (Bayreuth).
He is a laureate of International Competitions, a winner of more than ten diplomas in the nomination «Best accompanist». He took part in the master classes of Lev Naumov, Vladimir Mishchuk, Andrey Diev, Mikhail Voskresensky.
He gives a lot of concerts in Russia and abroad as a soloist, accompanist and as a member of various chamber ensembles.
He teaches at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At the same time, he works as a leading accompanist at the vocal faculty of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of T.D. Novichenko).
Igor ZOLOTAREVHe graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and did postgraduate studies (class of A.M. Kazarina). He is a laureate of the competition named after A.K. Glazunov (Paris, 2003).
He is a musician of the Honored Ensemble of Russia of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic (artistic director and chief conductor is Yu.H. Temirkanov).
He is a concertmaster and a soloist of the Youth Chamber Singolo Orchestra. He gives a lot of concerts as a soloist and participates in various chamber ensembles.
Nikita ZUBAREVHe is a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of A.P. Nikitin) and a laureate of various International competitions. He participated in the master classes of A. Rudin, T. Gadamovich, G. Schiffen (Germany).
He is a musician of the Honored Ensemble of Russia of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic (artistic director and chief conductor is Yu.H. Temirkanov). He actively participates in the concert life of St. Petersburg as a soloist and ensemble player, and regularly performs at various festivals.
He is a founder and artistic director of the Youth Chamber Singolo Orchestra. He organized a lot of premieres of cello compositions of K. Stamitz, A. Vivaldi, L. Hoffman, D. Zipoli for cello and orchestra.
Alexey ZHILIN (Cello)
Inga DZEKTSER (Piano)
Inga DZEKTSER (Piano)
Alexey ZHILIN (Cello)Alexey graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and is one of the last students of the outstanding professor cellist Anatoly Pavlovich Nikitin. He is a laureate of more than one and half a dozen different International competitions, including the 38th Dr. Luis Sigall competition (Chile), where he became the first Russian laureate of this competition in history; a laureate of the Second Prize at one of the most prestigious cello competitions in the world - the Isang Yun International Competition (South Korea), which was the highest achievement of Russian cellists in the entire history of this competition; and, finally, a laureate of the Brahms Competition (Austria) in 2018, where Aleksey Zhilin won two First Prizes at once.
Alexey remains almost a unique phenomenon: he got his education in Russia, in one city and with one teacher, and has won world recognition, which happens rarely. The Austrian press called him "a grandiose Russian", as well as "a passionate, virtuoso and deep musician representing the Russian cello school in its highest manifestation." The Belgian press also wrote about "the mesmerizing sound of his cello, similar to the voices of great opera singers" after Zhilin's victory at the first ever Queen Elizabeth Cello Competition in Brussels.
Today he performs in many countries of Europe and Asia, as well as in many Russian cities. As a member of the David Oistrakh Quartet, in which Zhilin has been playing since the day of its foundation, he traveled all over Russia from Kamchatka to Murmansk.
Since 2014 he has been teaching at the cello department of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, continuing the work of his teacher. He gives master classes in Russia, Europe and Asia and collaborates with such masters as ElisoVirsaladze, Teodor Currentzis, Keng Nagano.
The extensive repertoire of the musician includes all the diversity of the cello heritage, including rarely performed classics and works by contemporary authors such as Philip Ersan, Isang Yun, Boris Tishchenko.
Inga DZEKTSER (Piano)Inga Dzektser masterfully combines her work at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory as Professor of the Chamber Ensemble Department with giving concerts.
Her name can be seen on event posters of the Grand and Small Halls of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Rakhmaninov and Small Halls of the Moscow Conservatory, the Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Vredenbourg (Utrecht), Bozar and Flagey (Brussels) and many other halls in Russia, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Holland, Finland, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, USA, Japan, Korea, China.
She has won the International Chamber Ensemble Competition in Trapani, Italy, and the International Piano Duet Competition in Tokyo, Japan.
Inga Dzektser also runs workshops in Japan, Korea and Portugal.
She worked as a concertmaster at master classes of the Berlin Philharmonic Quartet, at the summer music academy "The International Holland Music Sessions" in the Netherlands, at the “Venice Music Master" Summer Academy in Italy, as well as at the master classes “Gustav Mahler International Academy” (Italy) under the patronage of Claudio Abbado.
She participated in the jury of the International Chamber Ensemble Competition in Linz, Austria, and many Russian competitions.
She has performed at the following chamber music festivals:
The Yuri Bashmet festivals on the island of Elba and in the city of Camerino, Italy, in Germany (Kissinger Sommer festival), Finland, Portugal, France, the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Classics), St. Petersburg (festivals "From the Avant-garde to the Present Day", "Petersburg Music Spring", in the "Music collection" international festival, the festival dedicated to the artwork of P. Hindemith).
She was an official concertmaster at the International Tchaikovsky competition (where she received a diploma of the best concertmaster), the Tibor Varga competition in Sion, Switzerland; the Lipitzer competition in Gorizia, Italy; the D. Oistrakh competition in Odessa, Ukraine and in China (China International Violin Competition).
CDs with her music were recorded with such companies as "Melodia" (Russia), La Salle de Musique de La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) and The Catgut Acoustic Society (USA), FugaLibera (Belgium).
Elizaveta UKRAINSKAYA (Piano)
Elizaveta UKRAINSKAYA (Piano)Elizaveta studied at the St. Petersburg Children's Music School named after S.S. Lyakhovitskaya (class of V.A. Ovcharova) and at the Secondary Special Music School at the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (class of L.L. Rudova). She graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory under professor A.M. Sandler and entered his assistant-internship, which she is currently undergoing.
During her studies at music schools she also was a scholar of the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg.
Elizaveta is a laureate of international competitions, including the Piano Competition in Bremen (2016, first prize and three special prizes), the James Mottram Competition in Manchester (2018, first prize) and the All-Russian Competition "Delphic Games" in Rostov (2019, first prize).
In 2014 she was awarded the title of laureate of the International Fund for Cultural Initiatives named after Yuri Temirkanov.
She performed both solo and in ensembles in the cities of Russia, as well as in the cities of Austria, America, England, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Estonia and Japan.
DIVERTISSEMENT CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Artistic Director and Soloist – Ilya IOFF (Violin)
Lidia KOVALENKO (Violin)
Yana IVANILOVA (Soprano)
Artistic Director and Soloist – Ilya IOFF (Violin)
Lidia KOVALENKO (Violin)
Yana IVANILOVA (Soprano)
DIVERTISSEMENT (Chamber Orchestra)The orchestra was established in 1990 thanks to the efforts of the professor of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory violinist Yelena Komarova and some of her students. The musical school's unity and loyalty to the truly Petersburg traditions of chamber performance allowed the orchestra to make itself known immediately, first in their hometown, and then abroad.
In 1998, the group was headed by the violinist Ilya Ioff. The quartet-like flexibility and ensemble-like mobility of the group provided the opportunity to significantly expand the repertoire, including the most complex music scores by masters who created their artwork from the Baroque era to the XXI century.
Divertissement successfully collaborates with contemporary Russian composers. Among the authors of works often performed by the orchestra in concert programmes are S. Slonimsky, L. Desyatnikov, G. Korchmar, N. Khrushcheva, P. Karmanov, V. Martynov and many others. The group is known in Russia not only as an active promoter of Russian music, but also as a performer of the most complex masterpieces of Western European music from various eras – from the Baroque compositions to modern experiments with electronics.
Divertissement has collaborated and continues to collaborate with such outstanding performers as Natalia Gutman, Grigory Sokolov, Alexey Lyubimov and others.
Ilya IOFF (Artistic Director and Soloist)Ilya Ioff graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (B. Gutnikov's class) and post-graduate school (V. Ovcharek's class). During his studies, he came across as a practised musician with his firmly established musical worldview and technical skills; in his postgraduate years, he also proved to be a talented teacher. Ilya Ioff is the winner of a special prize at the ARD competition in Munich, and the winner (the first prize) of the J.Viotticompetition in Vercelli.
As a soloist and ensemble player, he performed with such outstanding musicians as M. Argerikh, M. Jansons, and Y. Temirkanov, S. Stadler, and A. Rudin in many countries of Europe and America. His wide-ranging repertoire includes works by the most important authors who composed music for the violin - from J.-S. Bach to L. Bernstein.
Extraordinary human individuality and dynamic creativity of the artist attract not only listeners, but also contemporary St. Petersburg composers. Many of them, including B. Tishchenko, S. Slonimsky, G. Korchmar, L. Desyatnikov - trusted him with the first performance of their works.
The first season of working with "Divertissement" showed I. Ioff's undoubted talent for being the group's artistic director. Careful attitude to the traditions previously established by Y. Komarova did not prevent the creation of an absolutely individual criterion for the sound quality of the band and its own repertoire policy.
In 2002, Ilya Ioff was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia. In addition to performing, he teaches a violin class at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
Lydia KOVALENKO (Violin)Lydia Kovalenko graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where she studied in the classes of Y. Komarova, A. Yuryev and M. Gantvarg. She has won the IX All-Russian Violin Competition and the International Shostakovich competition in Hanover (where she got a special prize for the best performance of works by D. Shostakovich).
Teaching at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, she is also actively engaged in concert activities. Along with her permanent work in the chamber orchestra ‘Divertissement’ (Lydia Kovalenko is the concertmaster of the orchestra), she performs solo and chamber programmes on the best stages of St. Petersburg, tours as a soloist and as a member of the St. Petersburg Chamber Soloists ensemble across Europe, Japan, China and Brazil.
In the recent years, Lydia Kovalenko has given concerts not only as a violinist, but also as a violist in various chamber groups with such musicians as S. Stadler, I. Ioff, A. Massarsky, A. Bakhl, F. Fiore, and S. Chiesa.
She recorded several CDs performing works by Schubert, Shostakovich, Schoenberg, Schnittke, B. Tishchenko and B. Tchaikovsky and other composers.
Yana IVANILOVA (Soprano)Yana Ivanilova graduated from the Theoretical and Vocal Departments of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (V. Levko's class) and received a postgraduate education at the Moscow Conservatory (N. Dorliak's class). She trained in Vienna with I. Wamser (Solo Singing) and P. Berne (Musical Stylistics), as well as in Montreal with M. Devalue.
She is the winner of the Schneider-Trnavsky international competition (Slovakia, 1999), and of a special prize for the role of Violetta in Verdi's ‘La Traviata’. Over the years, she has been a soloist at the Moscow Novaya Opera theater, and has collaborated with such ensembles of ancient music as Madrigal, Academy of Ancient Music, and Orfarion. In 2008, she was invited to join the Bolshoi theatre company, with which she successfully toured to London's Covent Garden theatre in 2010.
She has given concerts at the Great Hall of the Conservatory and the International Music House in Moscow, the UNESCO Hall in Paris, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, Westminster Abbey in London, the Millennium theatre in New York, and the Glen Gould Studio in Toronto. She has collaborated with such famous musicians as Y. Svetlanov, V. Fedoseyev, M. Pletnev, A. Boreyko, P. Kogan, V. Spivakov, V. Minin, S. Sondeckis, E. Kolobov, A. Rudin, A. Lyubimov, B. Berezovsky, T. Grindenko, S. Stadler. She took part in the premieres of works by L. Desyatnikov, and in the world premieres of restored operas by B. Galuppi "The Shepherd King", J. Sarti's "Aeneas and Lazio", Russian premiere of T. Traetta's opera "Antigone". The singer's repertoire in terms of leading opera and cantata-oratorio arias is quite impressive and covers almost the entire history of world music. Chamber music holds a special place in the singer's work, including monographic programmes from works by Russian and foreign composers.
Y. Ivanilova's discography includes recordings with pianists B. Berezovsky and A. Lyubimov, with Orfarion the ensemble conducted by O. Khudyakov, as well as with Y. Derzhavina and H. Milne.