"Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod" is a municipal chamber orchestra that has been active since 1994 and is considered one of the leading chamber ensembles in Russia.[1] The group traces its history to the student chamber orchestra of the Gorky Conservatory, founded in 1981.[1]

History

The conservatory's student orchestra was created and led by Professor Semyon Lvovich Yaroshevich. In 1990 he emigrated to Israel, and the group passed under the direction of Sofia Naumovna Propishchan, an associate professor (later an Honored Artist of Russia and a professor) and Yaroshevich's successor as head of the department of string and bowed instruments.[1] The orchestra existed under the conservatory's auspices until 1992, after which its transformation into an independent concert organization began. In the mid-1990s the ensemble included violinists and instrumentalists who later became concertmasters and soloists of leading orchestras: Vadim Pechurin, Ilya Fisher, Mark Gurevich, Daniil Grishin, Margarita Evsikova, Vladimir Plaksin, Elena Smolyanskaya, and Lilia Lukyanenko.[1]

In 1994 the group, under the name "Sofia Chamber Orchestra," received the status of a municipal organization, which allowed the musicians to concentrate entirely on orchestral work. In 1999, by then called the "Sofia Ensemble of Soloists," the orchestra released its first album; by that time its touring map included Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Essen (Germany).[1]

In the 2003–2004 season, Sofia Propishchan left the post of artistic director. The group moved to a collegial structure: official authority was delegated to Vladimir Plaksin, a member of the original lineup, and the orchestra took its present name, "Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod." At the same time, a young violinist, Dmitry Stoyanov, became concertmaster.[1] The pianist Igor Mikhailovich Zhukov was invited to conduct the final concert of that season, and in the summer the orchestra and Zhukov performed together at the A. D. Sakharov International Arts Festival.[1]

Activities

Collaboration with Igor Zhukov defined the orchestra's next period: twelve programs were played over the first two seasons, and a joint album was released in 2005. In September 2006 the Soloists were awarded the Nizhny Novgorod Prize in the "musical art" category for their concert programs of the 2005–2006 season. In 2007 Zhukov and the Soloists performed at the "Moscow Autumn" international festival of contemporary music, and in 2012 at the 8th L. Roizman International Organ Festival in Yaroslavl.[1]

Since the late 2010s, the conductor Maxim Emelyanychev has been closely associated with the orchestra. In September 2017, the French record label Aparté Music recorded Beethoven's Third Symphony and Brahms's "Variations on a Theme by Haydn" with them.[2] In January 2020, the Soloists performed on the stage of the Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow for the first time, after which the same program was performed in Paris.[2] The orchestra's repertoire ranges from historically informed performance of Baroque music to electro-acoustic music.[2]

Since 2004, the orchestra has held the annual "Youth Assemblies" project — a competition for young performers from the towns and districts of Nizhny Novgorod Region, whose finalists perform together with the professional ensemble. Among the project's "graduates" are the violinist Ekaterina Nazarova and the conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. In 2026, a record number of applications was received — 113; following auditions, 84 performers aged 7 to 20 were admitted to the concerts, coming from Nizhny Novgorod, Dzerzhinsk, Bor, Kstovo, Balakhna, Arzamas, Diveevo, Sarov, Bogorodsk, Vyezdnoye, and Tumbotino.[3] For the first time, with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, the concerts were held not only in Nizhny Novgorod but also in the district centers of the Region.[3]

Links

Sources

  1. solistynn.ru — History of the Orchestra — Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod
  2. Rossiyskaya Gazeta — The "Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod" Ensemble Performed on the Stage of the Zaryadye Concert Hall
  3. Vremya N — 84 Young Musicians to Perform with the "Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod" Orchestra as Part of the "Youth Assemblies 2026" Project
  4. belcanto.ru — Mozart Today