Sergey Mikhaylovich Nakaryakov (born May 10, 1977, in Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod) is a Russian trumpeter and flugelhorn player, one of the best-known trumpet performers in contemporary classical music. He was born into a musical family: his father, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Nakaryakov, taught piano at a children's music school in Nizhny Novgorod, and his mother, an engineer, played the violin in an amateur orchestra.[1][2] The family has lived in Israel since 1991; the musician himself settled in Paris.[2]

Beginnings in Nizhny Novgorod

Sergey began his musical education on the piano at Music School No. 8 in Gorky, studying under the teacher L. Shpungina.[3] His older sister, Vera Nakaryakova, continued her piano studies at the Central Music School in Moscow, and Sergey realized that he would never reach her level at the piano. The turning point came after a spinal injury sustained in a fall from a tree: doctors forbade him to sit for long periods, and he had to give up the piano.[2]

He was introduced to the trumpet during a visit to Pavel Aleksandrovich Grinko, principal of the trumpet section of the Symphony Orchestra of the Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) Philharmonic. After hearing a recording by Timofey Dokshitser, the boy tried a mouthpiece and immediately found a "common language" with the instrument. His first teacher was his father, and lessons with Grinko quickly yielded results.[2] In 1988, at the age of 11, Sergey received — as an exception — a diploma from the adult All-Union Trumpet Competition in Leningrad.[2]

A television program hosted by Svyatoslav Belza reported on Nakaryakov's performance at the "Golden Apple" festival in Alma-Ata; the segment was seen by Robert Bushkov, director of the Virtuosi of Moscow orchestra, who drew Vladimir Spivakov's attention to the young trumpeter. On December 27, 1990, Nakaryakov made his debut with the Virtuosi of Moscow in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic, performing Haydn's Trumpet Concerto.[2] In April 1991 he performed in the same hall with the Gorky Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Ziva — the program included Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto, in which Sergey played the solo trumpet part while Vera Nakaryakova sat at the piano.[2] That same year the family emigrated to Israel; the Finnish press bestowed on the thirteen-year-old musician the title "Paganini of the Trumpet" after his performance at a festival in Korsholm.[1]

International Career

In 1994–1996, Nakaryakov studied under Guy Touvron at the National Conservatory of Paris.[2] He radically expanded the trumpet repertoire, creating, together with his father, transcriptions of works for violin, cello, and voice: Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," and Arban's "Carnival of Venice."[1] Since 1992 he has recorded more than 15 albums; in 2006 the concerto "ad absurdum," dedicated to him by the German composer Jörg Widmann, received its premiere.[1] Nakaryakov has performed with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras and has collaborated with the conductors Yuri Temirkanov and Vladimir Spivakov, as well as with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Saulius Sondeckis.[1][2]

Alongside the trumpet, the musician has been actively developing his playing on the flugelhorn: in 2007 he performed, at the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, a version of Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for flugelhorn and orchestra under the direction of Temirkanov.[2] Nakaryakov is a laureate of the ECHO Klassik prize, plays Antoine Courtois Paris instruments, and gives master classes.[1] In 2022 he took part in the Voice of Music festival in Israel.[1]

Sources

  1. radio.orpheus.ru — Nakaryakov Sergey Mikhaylovich — Radio Orpheus (Moscow 99.2 FM)
  2. 100philharmonia.spb.ru — Persons
  3. etvnet.com — Performer Sergey Mikhaylovich Nakaryakov: biography and filmography — Russian TV eTVnet