The Eastman School of Music announces that Professor of Violin Oleh Krysa will perform three Faculty Artist Series concerts this fall, celebrating his 80th birthday, as well as 60 years as a professional violinist and 55 years teaching. The concerts will include various colleagues and a variety of music.
Krysa says, “I am thrilled to bring all three of these concerts to the public and to share this music with so many colleagues.”
- September 25 at 3 p.m. in Hatch Recital Hall.: Sonatas by Berezovsky and Brahms with Barry Snyder, piano; Schubert: Quintet in C, D. 956, with Juliana Athayde, violin; Masumi per Rostad, viola; Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott, cellos.
- November 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall: Eastman School Chamber Orchestra; Taras Krysa, conductor. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043 with Robin Scott and Yoo Jin Jang, violins: Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat, K. 364 with Mikhail Kopelman, violin and Krysa; Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 featuring Krysa; Stankovych: “Almost a Serenade” for Two Violins and Strings with Krysa and Yoo Jin Jang.
- December 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Hatch Recital Hall, “Great Violin Showpieces” with Irina Lupines, Piano, including music by Vitali, Brahms, Paganini, Shtoharenko-Kleabanov, Wieniawski, Sibelius, Debussy, and Ravel.
The Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa is long esteemed in the former USSR as a distinguished soloist, chamber musician and teacher. A prominent student of David Oistrakh, Krysa won major prizes in such international competitions as the Wieniawski (1962), Tchaikovsky (1966), and Montreal (1969), and was outright winner of the Paganini Competition (1963).
Oleh Krysa began his teaching career as chairman of the Violin Department at the Kiev Conservatory. In 1973 he took the same position at the Gnesins Musical and Pedagogical Institute in Moscow and, two years later, returned to the Moscow Conservatory as Professor of Violin, where he remained until 1988. Currently he is Professor of Violin at the Eastman School of Music and was a Visiting Professor at Tokyo University of Arts in 2009. He is also an Honored Professor at Lviv Music Academy (Ukraine), Kyiv Music Academy, and an Honored Member of the Japanese String Teachers Association.
In March 2016, Oleh Krysa was elected a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine. Established in 1996, the Academy’s members are distinguished specialists of professional artistry. As a Foreign Member, Oleh Krysa will give master classes, present concerts and recitals, and create and develop musical projects.
Krysa played first violin in three different string quartets: Beethoven Quartet, Kyiv Conservatory Quartet, and Leontovych Quartet.
The artistic association “World of Classical Music” founded the Oleh Krysa International Violin Competition to honor Professor Krysa. Oleh Krysa is also a champion of contemporary music, and has worked closely with Alfred Schnittke, Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Krzsyzstof Penderecki, Vyacheslav Artyomov, Sydney Hodkinson, Virko Baley, Myroslav Skoryk, Valentin Silvestrov, Yevhen Stankovych, and Larry Sitsky. He has premiered a number of their works, and many of them have been written for and dedicated to him.
Full bio for Krysa can be found on Eastman’s website.
The Faculty Artist Series is supported by Patricia Ward Baker.
Tickets for all of Krysa’s Faculty Artist Series concerts are $10 for the general public and free to current Season Subscribers. General Admission tickets will be available for purchase at each concert. Visit http://eastmantheatre.org for more information.
Media only: Jessica Kaufman, Director of Communications; (585)278-4743; jkaufman@esm.rochester.edu
Interviews and photos available upon request.
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
The three-semester-long Eastman Centennial celebration began in Fall 2021 and continues throughout 2022. Highlights include acclaimed guest artists performing alongside Eastman’s ensembles; national academic and music conferences; alumni events throughout the country; a documentary being produced in partnership with WXXI, and more. For up-to-date information on the Eastman Centennial, including feature stories, future events, videos, testimonials, ways to engage, and more, please visit our Centennial website at https://www.esm.rochester.edu/100.