All my life except the first six years was connected to the P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory: the Primary School of the Academic Music Specialized School (now the Academic Music College) at the Conservatory, then the College, then the five years at the Conservatory itself and the three years of the Postgraduate Program. I could hardly imagine parting with my Alma Mater. However, right after getting my post-graduate diploma, in the summer of 2010, I received a phone call from Andrey Anatolyevich Shishlov, the legendary first violinist of the Shostakovich Quartet, the People's Artist of Russia, professor and the Head of the Quartet Department of the Moscow Conservatory. He reported completely unexpected, but welcome news – I was invited to work at the Chamber Ensemble and Quartet Department.
And in 2011 my main mentor at the Conservatory, Teacher with a capital T, Professor Sergei Georgievich Girshenko, a world-class violinist and the People's Artist of Russia, offered me to become his assistant at the Violin Department directed by I.V. Bochkova. So my relationship with my beloved Conservatory continues, though my status has changed.
Music and concert life of the Moscow Conservatory is rich and varied, so the students in my class regularly participate in concerts, festivals and competitions at the Conservatory halls and in the other venues.
My concert activities are mainly connected with RUSQUARTET, but communication and music making together with new friends always gives me a lot of pleasure, especially if it is a matter of playing chamber music. I was very happy to cooperate with such marvelous musicians as Philip Setzer (violin, Emerson Quartet), Barry Shiffman (violin, viola), Denis Brott (cello), Sergey Girshenko (violin), Boris Brovtsyn (violin), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Svetlana Makarova (violin), Alaxander Trostiansky (violin), Dmitry Sinkovsky (violin), Boris Andrianov (cello), Evgeny Rumyantsev (cello), Emin Martirosyan (cello) Sergey Suvorov (cello), Ilya Goffman (viola), Fedor Belugin (viola), Serj Poltavski (viola), Boris Berezovsky (piano), Stephen Prutsman (piano), Vyacheslav Gryaznov (piano), Tatiana Titova (piano), Emanuel Rimoldi (piano), Evgeny Starodubtsev (piano), Elena Tarasova (piano), Ksenia Apalko (piano), Dmitry Korchak (singer and conductor).
Realizing that the listeners of classical music concerts outside the conservatory are not so well-informed and not quite ready to perceive the concert program, I consider it my duty to pay attention to the educational aspect. It is important to set the mood, to tell about interesting historical facts related to the creative life of composers and the fate of their works that the public is to hear. Informed people perceive music differently, they try to grasp its essence, immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the epoch.
Knowing how important it is to educate our future listeners belonging to the younger generation, I try to introduce the live classical music into school education system. With the support of people who appreciate the value and significance of intellectual and spiritual development, I organize charity concerts, in particular with RUSQUARTET, in schools and social shelter-care facilities for children.
Working with established contemporary composers and giving assistance to young, self-seeking authors is always a joy for a musician. Communication, the search for new sound, the discussion of a concept give rise to incomparable feeling of thrill. I was lucky enough to work with such composers as ...
