April 25 & 27: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik is Guest Soloist with Minnesota Sinfonia
Photo by Corey Hayes available in high resolution at: https://www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/yevgeny-kutik
Violinist Yevgeny Kutik is Guest Soloist with Minnesota Sinfonia
Conducted by Artistic and Executive Director Jay Fishman
Featuring Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 7pm
Metropolitan State University | 700 East 7th Street | St. Paul, MN
Tickets and Information
Saturday 27, 2024 at 2pm
Basilica of St. Mary | 1600 Hennepin Avenue | Minneapolis, MN
Tickets and Information
“polished dexterity and genteel, old-world charm” – WQXR
St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN — Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, known for his “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” (The New York Times) will be presented with the Minnesota Sinfonia on Thursday, April 25 in St. Paul, MN and Saturday, April 27 in Minneapolis, MN. For both concerts, Kutik will be the featured soloist in Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, conducted by Artistic and Executive Director Jay Fishman. Each performance will also include W.A. Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, “Linz” and Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No. 8.
A native of Minsk, Belarus, Yevgeny Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and immigrated to the US with his family at the age of five. Kutik regularly speaks and performs across the country to promote the assistance of refugees from around the world. His discography, all on Marquis Records, reflects an appreciation for culture and history –both his own and as well as the stories of others: The Death of Juliet and Other Tales (2021), Meditations on Family (Marquis Classics 2019), Words Fail (2016), Music from the Suitcase (2014), and Sounds of Defiance (2012). Music from the Suitcase is being developed into an immersive stage and performance production for the 2024-2025 season.
Kutik is also the Artistic Director of The Birch Festival – a 501(c)(3) organization that aims to connect and integrate leading musicians with the Berkshire community, while highlighting the unique and original stories of those who make up the Berkshires. The festival promotes and propels distinct voices in music through new composition and creative interpretations of old favorites.
Kutik will reunite with Jay Fishman and the Minnesota Sinfonia following a 2021 guest performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in D minor. For this program, Kutik and the Minnesota Sinfonia will perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26. In this performance, audiences can enjoy Kutik’s meticulous but elegant musicality, interspersed with the vibrant energy of the Minnesota Sinfonia. Bruch’s first violin concerto continues to endure as an extremely popular orchestral work to the present day. Still, even in the face of countless renditions, the sheer technical poise and expressive expectations of the piece elicit heightened thrill over the anticipation of a newly performed interpretation and the interconnected dynamic between soloist and the orchestra.
Of collaborating with Fishman and Minnesota Sinfonia to perform one of Bruch’s most popular works, Kutik says:
“It's always a great joy to revisit Bruch's 1st Violin Concerto, a work beloved by audiences across the world. The work is astounding in how effortlessly it blends virtuosity and breathtaking beauty. I loved working with Jay and the Sinfonia in 2021 and am particularly honored to be with them again now in their final concert season.”
More about Yevgeny Kutik: With a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique” (The New York Times), violinist Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is also lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of both standard works and newly composed repertoire. Kutik is also Artistic Director and co-founder of The Birch Festival.
Yevgeny Kutik was a featured soloist in Joseph Schwantner’s The Poet’s Hour – Soliloquy for Violin on episode six of Gerard Schwarz’s All-Star Orchestra, a made-for-television classical music concert series released on DVD by Naxos and broadcast nationally on PBS. In 2021, Kutik made his debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin, performing the world premiere of Schwantner’s Violin Concerto, an expansion of The Poet’s Hour, written specifically for Kutik. Kutik gave the world premiere of Cântico, a work for solo violin by Andreia Pinto Correia, at the Tanglewood Music Festival in August 2022. The work was co-commissioned for Kutik by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, he made his debuts at the Kennedy Center, presented by Washington Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia Festival. Kutik made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops as the First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. In 2006, he was awarded the Salon de Virtuosi Grant as well as the Tanglewood Music Center Jules Reiner Violin Prize.
Kutik holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and currently resides in Boston. Kutik’s violin was crafted in Italy in 1915 by Stefano Scarampella.
For more information, please visit www.yevgenykutik.com.
About the Minnesota Sinfonia: The Minnesota Sinfonia is a community-supported 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to serve the musical and educational needs of Minnesotans with a special emphasis on serving families with young children, inner-city youth, seniors, and those with limited financial means.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, described by The New York Times as having a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” is presented as the featured soloist with the Minnesota Sinfonia in two performances on April 25, 2024 at 7pm and April 27, 2024 at 2pm. Together with the Sinfonia, under the direction of Artistic and Executive Director Jay Fishman, Kutik will perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor Op. 26. The performance will also include Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, “Linz” and Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No. 8.
Short description: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, known for his “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” (The New York Times), is presented by the Minnesota Sinfonia on April 25 in St. Paul and April 27 in Minneapolis, as the featured soloist in a performance of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor led by Artistic and Executive Director Jay Fishman.
Concert details:
Who: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik
Presented by Minnesota Symphony
Conducted by Artistic and Executive Director Jay Fishman
What: Music by Max Bruch, Antonín Dvořák, and W.A. Mozart
When: Thursday, April 25 at 7pm and Saturday 27, 2024 at 2pm
Where:
(April 25) Metropolitan State University 700 East 7th Street, St. Paul, MN 55106
(April 27) Basilica of St. Mary, 1600 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Tickets and information: www.mnsinfonia.org/2023-2024-wcs-4