Conductor And Violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky Announces 2022-2023 Season Highlights With Concerts in Berlin, Tel Aviv & More

Prolific violinist, conductor, creator, transcriber, and recording artist Dmitry Sitkovetsky is recognized throughout the world as having made a considerable impact on every aspect of musical life. The 2022-2023 season marks Sitkovetsky's final as Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, a title he's held for 20 years. He is also highly in demand internationally as a soloist and chamber music collaborator, performing this season in Berlin, Germany; Tel Aviv & Jerusalem, Israel; Bucharest, Romania; Havana, Cuba; Istanbul, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico; Sofia, Bulgaria; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Verbier, Switzerland. In the 2022-2023 season, Sitkovetsky also serves on the esteemed juries of the Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, and Montreal Violin Competitions. Since August 2022, he has presented masterclasses at the Blackmore Academy in Berlin, and also gives featured masterclasses this season at the Manhattan School of Music and the Saline Royale d'Arc-et-Senans.

Throughout the past two decades at the helm of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Sitkovetsky curated more than 120 different orchestral programs from Bach to Brubeck with world-class soloists. Among his many accomplishments, he developed the Rice Toyota Presents "Sitkovetsky & Friends" chamber series, consulted on the biggest installation of the Meyer System in the U.S. in the new 3000-seat Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, and commissioned important new works by composers such as Jakov Jakoulov and Mark Engebretson.

Sitkovetsky conducts the opening concert of Greensboro Symphony Orchestra's season on October 1, 2022, including works by Valerie Coleman, Gershwin, Debussy, Ravel, and Florence Price's Piano Concerto in One Movement with Michelle Cann. On November 5, 2022, cellist Sergey Antonov performs as featured soloist in Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, part of a Ukrainian-themed concert of Silvestrov and Tchaikovsky. Sitkovetsky leads the orchestra in Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 and Beethoven's Violin Concerto with James Ehnes, who heard the maestro perform the concerto 39 years ago when he stepped in for Yehudi Mehunin in Winnipeg, on January 21, 2023. On February 18, 2023, the GSO performs the Brahms German Requiem with the GSO Master Chorale, and on April 15, 2023, Sitkovetsky leads the orchestra in a special preview performance of Wynton Marsalis's Trumpet Concerto, Respighi's Pini di Roma, and Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Trio Zimbalist. The closing concert of Sitkovetsky's 20-year tenure as Music Director on May 11, 2023 features him alongside Branford Marsalis in a rare violin/saxophone performance of Bach's Double Concerto, plus Glazunov's Saxophone Concerto, Milhaud's Scaramouche Suite, and Brahms Symphony No. 2. Throughout the season, Sitkovetksy also performs with esteemed colleagues in the GSO's Rice Toyota Sitkovetsky & Friends chamber concerts.

His international season opens on September 6 and 7, 2022, performing chamber music with violist Hartmut Rohde and cellist Xenia Jankovic; Brahms 'Piano Quintet in F minor with Mohamed Hiber, Gérard Caussé, Tim Park, and Sunwook Kim; and conducting the performance of Schoenberg's "Ode to Napoleon" at the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival.

Sitkovetsky then travels to Bucharest, Romania to serve as President of the Jury for the 2022 George Enescu International Violin Competition from September 9-13 and to play a chamber recital of Beethoven and Bach at the Romanian Athenaeum on September 12, 2022. From September 16-25, he sits on the jury of the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Vienna, Austria, and in April and May 2023, he will also serve on the jury of the Concours Musical International de Montréal in Canada.

He returns to Israel for performances as conductor and violinist with the Jerusalem Camerata on October 22-25, 2022 in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Rehovot, and Zichron Yaakov. Then, on October 29, he performs chamber music in Tel Aviv with musicians from the Camerata in a program of Strauss, Prokofiev, Debussy, and Brahms.

From November 8-12, 2022 Sitkovetsky will embark on his first trip to Cuba as featured artist of the Havana Classics Festival, where he will play, conduct, and give masterclasses to young Cuban musicians.

On November 18, 2022, Sitkovetsky leads the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra in a program of Amirov's Capriccio Azerbaijan, Haydn's Trumpet Concerto with Sergei Nakariakov, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 "Ukrainian" at Ataturk Cultural Center Opera Hall.

At the end of November, he will give masterclasses and a featured recital at the Music Academy in Baku, Azerbaijan.

On December 9, 2022, he returns to Berlin to conduct the 75th Jubilee Concert of foremost Azeri composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh in a program of Ali-Zadeh's own works alongside those of Bach, Desyatnikov, Amirov, and Raskatov.

Sitkovetsky will be listening to the final round of the Elmar Oliveira Violin Competition on January 29, 2023 in Boca Raton, FL, after which the winner will debut with the GSO in 2023-2024 season. Just beforehand, he will give a masterclass at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

February 5-12, 2023 will take Sitkovetsky to the Saline Royal d'Arc et Senans in France, where he will give masterclasses and play chamber music at the Saline Royale Academy.

In April 2023, Sitkovetsky heads to Mexico to play with and conduct the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Mexico City, and he also performs chamber music and leads masterclasses at the Festival Internacional de música de Guadalajara.

In June 2023, he makes his solo debut with the Bulgarian National Orchestra in Sofia and in July 2023, Sitkovetsky performs in the Verbier Festival's 30th anniversary season. August 2023 features his return to the Ljubljana Festival with two programs in which he plays and conducts the Ensemble Dissonance.

Dmitry Sitkovetsky 2022-2023 Season Calendar

September 6-7, 2022

Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival
Jerusalem, Israel
Link: https://jcmf.org.il/

September 9-13, 2022

George Enescu International Violin Competition (Judging)
Bucharest, Romania
Link: www.festivalenescu.ro/en/competition-2022/violin/

September 12, 2022

Chamber Music at the Romanian Athenaeum
Bucharest, Romania
Link: www.festivalenescu.ro/events/recital-dmitry-sitkovetsky-david-geringas-alexander-gordon/

September 16-25, 2022

International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition
Vienna, Austria
Link: https://gfpa.ngo/events/international-fritz-kreisler-violin-competition-2022/

October 1, 2022

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Coleman, Gershwin, Debussy, Ravel, and Price - Michelle Cann)
Greensboro, NC
Link: https://greensborosymphony.org/event/michelle-cann-piano/

October 22-25, 29, 2022

Concerts with Jerusalem Camerata
Rehovot, Zichron Yaakov, Israel
Link: www.jcamerata.com/en/concerts/2022-2023/2200

November 5, 2022

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Prokofiev, Silvestrov, Tchaikovsky - Sergey Antonov)
Greensboro, NC
Link: https://greensborosymphony.org/event/sergey-antonov-cello/

November 8-12, 2022

Havana Classics Festival
Havana, Cuba
Link: www.habanaclasica.com

November 18, 2022

Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra
Istanbul, Turkey

December 9, 2022

75th Jubilee of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
Berlin, Germany
Link: https://akmistanbul.gov.tr/events

January 29, 2023

Elmar Oliveira Violin Competition
Boca Raton, FL
Link: www.elevarfoundation.org/eoivc

January 21, 2023

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven, Sibelius - James Ehnes)
Greensboro, NC
Link: https://greensborosymphony.org/event/james-ehnes-violin/

February 5-12, 2023

Saline Royal d'Arc et Senans (Masterclasses)
Arc-et-Senans, France
Link: www.salineacademy.com/en/

February 18, 2023

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Brahms - GSO Master Chorale)
Greensboro, NC
Link: https://greensborosymphony.org/event/a-german-requiem/

April 15, 2023

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven, W. Marsalis, Respighi - Trio Zimbalist)
Greensboro, NC
Link: https://greensborosymphony.org/event/trio-zimbalist/

April 2-9, 2023

Festival Internacional de música de Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Mexico
Link: www.fimg.mx

April 22-May 4, 2023

Concours Musical International de Montréal
Montreal, Canada
Link: https://concoursmontreal.ca/en/violin-2023/

May 11, 2023

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (Bach, Glazunov, Milhaud, Brahms - Branford Marsalis)
Greensboro, NC
Link: https://greensborosymphony.org/event/branford-marsalis/

June 18, 2023

Bulgarian National Orchestra
Sofia, Bulgaria

July 2023

Verbier Festival (30th Anniversary Season)
Verbier, Switzerland

August 2023

Ljubljana Festival with Ensemble Dissonance
Ljubljana, Slovenia

About Dmitry Sitkovetsky

A renaissance man and a magnetic creative force, Dmitry Sitkovetsky is recognized throughout the world as having made a considerable impact on every aspect of musical life. A prolific recording artist, with a career spanning more than four decades, he is celebrated globally as a violinist, conductor, creator, transcriber, and facilitator - and holds an undisputed and venerable position in musical society as a giant personality and educator.

Sitkovetsky also enjoys a flourishing career as a conductor, having worked with such orchestras as Academy of St-Martin-In-The-Fields, Dallas Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Lucerne Symphony, Orchestra della Toscana, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, and Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Japan Century Symphony, amongst others. In 1990, he founded the New European Strings Chamber Orchestra (NES) - bringing together the most distinguished string players from the top European ensembles, from both Russian and Western musical backgrounds (reflecting Dmitry's own life story). Since 2003, Sitkovetsky has served as the Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina, to whom he has brought such soloists as Emmanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Garrick Ohlsson, and Pinchas Zukerman. Previous positions of artistic leadership have included the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y Leon (Artist in Residence, 2006-2009), Russian State Symphony Orchestra 'Evgeny Svetlanov' (Principal Guest Conductor, 2002-2005), and the Ulster Orchestra (Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor, 1996-2001).

In 2019, he celebrated the release of a recital disc on the Melodia label, recorded with Tchaikovsky Competition-winner Lukas Geniušas - with a program designed as an homage to the legendary duo of Fritz Kreisler and Sergei Rachmaninov. His celebrated career as a violinist is documented in an extensive discography of more than 40 recordings, reflecting the impressive breadth of his repertoire. His recording collaborators to date include such orchestras as the London Symphony, Philharmonia, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, working with such legendary maestros as Sir Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons, Sir Neville Marriner, and Yehudi Menuhin. As soloist, he has performed with the world's leading orchestras - including the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland, LA Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, New York Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, and Philadelphia, amongst others.

Given his unmatched ability to turn any project into a highly anticipated artistic event, Sitkovetsky has also been invited to create, develop and lead a number of festivals, including the Korsholm Music Festival, Finland (1983-1993, and 2002), the Seattle International Music Festival (1992-1997), the Silk Route of Music, Azerbaijan (1999), and the Festival del Sole, Tuscany (2003-2006). During his tenure at the Korsholm Festival, he hosted Alfred Schnittke, Krszystoff Penderecki & Rodion Shchedrin as composer-in-residence, performed with such luminaries as Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Evgeny Kissin, Mischa Maisky to name but a few.

Sitkovetsky is also in high demand as a jury member, musical expert and educator. Recent jury roles have included the Indianapolis International Violin Competition, Concours Musical International de Montréal, International Tchaikovsky Competition, and the Enescu Violin Competition. Additional highlights include Sitkovetsky's debut TEDx talk, The Power of Curiosity; the launch of his first book, Dmitry Sitkovetsky: Dialogues; and his interview series on Medici.tv, It Ain't Necessarily So.

Dmitry Sitkovetsky's name has also become synonymous with the art of transcription. His iconic orchestral and string trio versions of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations have taken on a life of their own - enjoying regular performances and acclaimed recordings by many of the leading performers of today. Following this unprecedented success, Sitkovetsky has gone on to arrange over 60 works of major repertoire by such composers as Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Schnittke, and Shostakovich. In 2015, he unveiled his transcription of Stravinsky's Le baiser de la fée, commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and premiered by Augustin Hadelich at Carnegie Hall. The 2017/2018 season saw the successful premieres of a new multi-genre/multimedia work, Devil, Soldier & Violin (inspired by Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale), with sold-out performances across Russia. Summer 2018 saw the world premiere of Sitkovetsky's transcription of Sarasate's Navarra Fantasy, commissioned by the Verbier Festival. This performance - marking the Festival's 25th anniversary - was broadcast live worldwide on Medici.tv, with an all-star lineup of musicians, including Lisa Batiashvili, Leonidas Kavakos, Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Tabea Zimmermann, and Pinchas Zukerman - as well as Dmitry Sitkovetsky himself. The latest transcription, Bukovina Songs/Preludes by Leonid Desyatnikov, was recorded online by the NES during the Pandemic, and reached an audience of more than 250,000, is now much in demand and has been performed in Bucharest, Oviedo, Ljubljana, Baku, Korsholm and Jerusalem. Learn more at www.dmitrysitkovetsky.com.

Photo Credit: Panol De la Vega

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