Yevgeny Kutik Makes Maverick Concerts Debut Soloist in Shostakovich's Sonata for Violin, Strings, and Percussion

Violinist Yevgeny Kutik -- known for his "dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique" (The New York Times) - will make his Maverick Concerts debut as part of Maverick Concerts' Annual Chamber Orchestra Concert, on Saturday August 27, 2022 at 6pm. Kutik will be the featured soloist alongside the Caroga Arts Ensemble, led by Music Director Alexander Platt. The performance will be held at Maverick Concert Hall (120 Maverick Road).

The evening's program will feature an assortment of musical works spanning the 20th century. Kutik will be the soloist for the most contemporary of the concert's four pieces: Shostakovich's Sonata for violin, strings and percussion, Op.134, arranged by Mikhail Zinman and Andrei Pushkarev (1968). The performance will also include Alan Shulman's Theme and Variations, for Viola, Strings and Harp (1940); Gustav Mahler's Adagietto from the Symphony No. 5 (1902); and Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso No.1 (1925).

Though this concert will mark his first time presented by Maverick Concerts, Kutik holds a well established connection with Shostakovich's Sonata Op. 134 -- one which stretches back 10 years -- to its inclusion on his 2012 Marquis Records debut album, Sounds of Defiance. Of Kutik's recorded performance with pianist Timothy Bozarth, Jonathan Blumhofer of Arts Fuse wrote: "Mr. Kutik has a very strong sense of this music's brooding character, particularly in its outer movements."

About Yevgeny Kutik: 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 standard works as well as rarely heard and newly composed repertoire.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Yevgeny Kutik immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of five. As a follow-up to his 2014 album, Music from the Suitcase: A Collection of Russian Miniatures (Marquis Classics), in 2019 Kutik launched a new commissioning and recording project titled Meditations on Family via Marquis Classics. He commissioned eight composers to translate a personal family photo into a short musical miniature for violin and various ensembles, envisioning the project as a living archive of new works inspired by memories, home, and belonging. Each track was released digitally weekly, and the full EP CD, produced by four-time Grammy winner Jesse Lewis, was released on March 22, 2019. Strings Magazine featured Kutik and Meditations on Family as its cover story for the March/April issue. Kutik's other recordings include his debut album, Sounds of Defiance (Marquis 2012), and Words Fail (Marquis 2016), both released to critical acclaim. His next album, The Death of Juliet and Other Tales, is slated for release in Fall 2021 on Marquis and includes music by Prokofiev and folk music that inspired Prokofiev.

In February 2021, Kutik launched Finding Home: Music from the Suitcase in Concert, a five-episode docu-recital series filmed at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, MA, based on Kutik's 2014 album Music from the Suitcase (Marquis Classics). Each 30-40-minute episode features music performances, including works from the album, interwoven with Kutik's personal narrative storytelling, as Kutik explores anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, his family's months as "stateless" refugees, the amazement and challenges of starting a new home in the United States, his teachers and mentors, and lessons for the future. Episodes are available to stream at www.musicfromthesuitcase.com/watch-episodes

In 2019, Yevgeny Kutik made his debuts at the Kennedy Center, presented by Washington Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia Festival. Recent performances include appearances with the Dayton Philharmonic, La Crosse Symphony, El Paso Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, the Cape Town Philharmonic in South Africa, Morris Museum, Honest Brook Music Festival, and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Upcoming performances in 2021-2022 include appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Sinfonia.

Passionate about his heritage and its influence on his artistry, Kutik is an advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, the organization that assisted his family in coming to the United States, and regularly speaks and performs across the United States to both raise awareness and promote the assistance of refugees from around the world.

Yevgeny 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.

Yevgeny Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and went on to study with Zinaida Gilels, Shirley Givens, Roman Totenberg, and Donald Weilerstein. He 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 Maverick Concerts: Maverick Concerts, Inc. is the oldest, continuous summer chamber music festival in America, celebrating over a century of world class music in the woods. The mainstay of the festival, which runs from June to September, is to be found in the Sunday chamber music concerts performed by renowned soloists and ensembles. Jazz and Contemporary Music presentations have been given more prominence in recent seasons. Our popular Young Mavericks Festival, designed to introduce students to the wonder and power of various musical genres, are free for youth aged 16 and under. The festival is a winner of the Award for Adventurous Programming, accorded jointly by Chamber Music America and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP.)

Maverick Concerts, Inc., is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Concerts are made possible in part with an award from the National Endowment for the Arts; funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, with the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the Maverick Concerts Endowment Fund; Friends of Maverick; the towns of Woodstock and Hurley; local businesses; individual donors; and other public and private foundations. Yamaha, the official piano of Maverick Concerts, appears through the generosity of Yamaha Artist Services.

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