Kopelman Quartet
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The Kopelman Quartet is a Russian string quartet founded in 2002 by
Mikhail Kopelman Mikhail Kopelman is a Russian-American violinist. He was born in 1947 in Uzhhorod and studied at the Moscow Conservatory with professors Maya Glezarova and Yuri Yankelevich. In 1973, he was awarded 2nd prize in the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competi ...
(violin), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Igor Sulyga (viola) and Mikhail Milman (cello). They studied at the
Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...
in the 1970s, but pursued individual careers for twenty-five years before founding the quartet. The quartet has played at many major international venues, including the Musikverein, Vienna, and the Dom Muzyki, Moscow, and appears regularly at venues such as the
Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...
, Amsterdam and the
Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...
, London. Chamber music partners have included
Elisabeth Leonskaja Elisabeth Leonskaja (born 23 November 1945) (In Russian: Елизавета Ильинична Леонская) is a Soviet and Austrian pianist. She was born to a family of Jewish and Polish extraction living in Tbilisi, then the capital of t ...
,
Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky ( lv, Miša Maiskis, he, מישה מייסקי, russian: Миша Майский; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, har ...
and
Julian Rachlin Julian Rachlin (born 8 December 1974) is a Lithuanian-born violinist, violist and conductor. Background and early life Born in Vilnius, he emigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to Austria. In 1983, he entered the Konservatorium Wien and s ...
. Festival appearances have included the
Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...
, the
Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
Festival, the Zurich Festival, the Colmar Festival,
Prague Spring Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní hudební festival Pražské jaro, commonly cs, Pražské jaro, Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras an ...
, the Wimbledon Music Festival and the
Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...
in the United States.


Founder Members

Mikhail Kopelman Mikhail Kopelman is a Russian-American violinist. He was born in 1947 in Uzhhorod and studied at the Moscow Conservatory with professors Maya Glezarova and Yuri Yankelevich. In 1973, he was awarded 2nd prize in the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competi ...
, first violin, (born 1947,
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
,
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
,
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
), a former member of the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra and
concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...
of the
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated wit ...
, was appointed first violin of the
Borodin Quartet The Borodin Quartet is a string quartet that was founded in 1945 in the then Soviet Union. It is one of the world's longest-lasting string quartets, having marked its 70th-anniversary season in 2015. The quartet was one of the Soviet Union's best ...
in 1976, and remained with them for twenty years. He was with the quartet in 1994 when it was awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award. From 1980-1993, Kopelman was on the faculty of the
Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...
teaching both solo violin and string quartet. He emigrated with his family to the United States in 1993, joining the
Tokyo String Quartet The was an international string quartet that operated from 1969 to 2013. The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where they studied with Professor Hideo ...
as first violinist in 1996. From 1996-2002 he was a professor at the
Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a join ...
, coaching chamber music. In 2002, he was appointed Professor of Violin at the
Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...
in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
. Boris Kuschnir, second violin, (born 1948,
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...
, Ukraine) is a professor at the
Konservatorium Wien The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna ( (MUK)) in Vienna, Austria, is a university of music and the arts. It was previously (2005−2015) named (KONSuni, Konservatorium Wien University), and before that (Conservatory of Vienna). ...
and also at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Graz. His pupils have included
Julian Rachlin Julian Rachlin (born 8 December 1974) is a Lithuanian-born violinist, violist and conductor. Background and early life Born in Vilnius, he emigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to Austria. In 1983, he entered the Konservatorium Wien and s ...
and
Nikolaj Znaider Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (born 5 July 1975 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish violinist and conductor. Biography Szeps-Znaider was born in Copenhagen to Polish-Jewish parents. His father had originally emigrated from Poland to Israel, and his mot ...
. He worked with Dmitri Shostakovich and
David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...
(with whom he also studied). He was a founder member of a founder member of the Moscow String Quartet (1970), the Vienna Schubert Trio (1984), and the Vienna Brahms Trio (1993). He was awarded the use of the " Rouse-Boughton" violin by
Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, '' Stradivarius'', as well as the collo ...
(c. 1698), belonging to Austria's central bank
Oesterreichische Nationalbank The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) is the central bank of Austria and, as such, an integral part of both the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurozone. It started operations on , replacing the Austro-Hungarian Bank of whic ...
, in recognition of his services to music in Austria. He is a regular jury member of a number of major international music competitions. Igor Sulyga, viola, (born 1951,
Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
) was a founder member of the Moscow String Quartet (together with Boris Kuschnir) and worked with Dmitri Shostakovich on the composer's late quartets. He subsequently played in the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, under the directorship of
Vladimir Spivakov Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov (Russian: Влади́мир Теодо́рович Спивако́в; born 12 September 1944) is a Soviet and Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra. Spi ...
, for twenty years and also played in Spivakov's string quartet. Sulyga moved to Spain in 1990 and teaches both viola and chamber music at the La Escuela Internacional de Música de la Fundación Príncipe de Asturias, Oviedo. Mikhail Milman, cello, studied with
Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (russian: Наталья Григорьевна Гутман) (born 14 November 1942 in Kazan), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted t ...
and Mstislav Rostropovich and was principal cellist of the Moscow Virtuosi for twenty years. He collaborated frequently with the
Borodin Quartet The Borodin Quartet is a string quartet that was founded in 1945 in the then Soviet Union. It is one of the world's longest-lasting string quartets, having marked its 70th-anniversary season in 2015. The quartet was one of the Soviet Union's best ...
in concerts and recordings. After settling in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, he spent some years as principal cello of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, and is currently principal cello of the Orquesta de Córdoba.


Discography

The Kopelman Quartet is recording a Shostakovich series for
Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. They specialise in classical music recordings and were the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by ...
and has also been captured on Wigmore Hall Live, the Wigmore Hall's own label. *
Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
, String Quartet Nos. 3 and 7 and
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
, String Quartet No. 2, Nimbus NI5762, 2006 * Shostakovich, String Quartet Nos. 1 and 8 and
Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky or Miaskovsky or Miaskowsky (russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Мяско́вский; pl, Mikołaj Miąskowski, syn Jakóbowy; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is so ...
, String Quartet No. 13, Nimbus NI5827, 2008 * Shostakovich, String quartet No. 10 and Weinberg, Piano Quintet, with Elizaveta Kopelman, Nimbus NI5865, 2009 *
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
, String Quartet No. 3, in E flat minor and
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
, String Quartet in D minor, " Death and the Maiden", Wigmore Hall Live WHLIVE0010, 2006


References


External links


Kopelman Quartet website

Official website of Professor Boris Kuschnir
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2002 Russian string quartets 2002 establishments in Russia