Anastasia Khitruk, Violinist
Internationally renowned, Grammy nominated violinist Anastasia Khitruk is a champion of rarely performed works. Through her World Premieres, concert performances and recordings of such historic composers as Ivan Khandoshkin, Leon de Saint-Lubin, and contemporary composers David Winkler, Efrem Podgaitz and Michael Colina, she has gained a superb reputation as a masterful interpreter of older works from a modern perspective and a strong advocate for new voices, all of which she performs with passionate and intense musicality.
The Strad has called her, “…unquestionably a talent of the first rank.” ClassicsToday.com has said she is a “remarkable artist,” with “flashy, fiery style and impeccable technique,” and Music Web International wrote that, “She must be congratulated for taking considerable effort to bring music to light that might otherwise have been forgotten.”
She has appeared in recitals in Europe at such prestigious venues as the Salle Corot (Paris), Sala Bulgaria and the National Center for Culture (NDK) (Sofia, Bulgaria), Opera d’Avignon (France), Theatre du Cavaillon (France), Teatro Carlo Fenice (Genoa, Italy), Salons de Musique and Geneva Conservatoire (Geneva, Switzerland), the Royal Palace (Stockholm), ADMF (Abu Dhabi), the Arts Center (Dubai) and numerous appearances in Moscow and St. Petersburg (Russia). In the United States, she performed at Aspen Music Tent (Colorado), Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Merkin Concert Hall and Bargemusic (New York City), as well as numerous performances in Boston and Los Angeles.
Ms. Khitruk, a laureate of the “Premio Paganini,” has been a soloist with internationally acclaimed orchestras including the Adelaide Symphony (Australia), the Sofia Symfonietta and the Burgas Philharmonic (Bulgaria), BDMG Orchestra, Belo Horizonte (Brazil), the Avignon Symphony (France), Orchestra della Fondazioni Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa (Italy), the Hermitage Orchestra (St. Petersburg), the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra (Kazakhstan), the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (Lithuania), the St. Petersburg Philharmonia and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (Russia), the La Grange Symphony Orchestra, Georgia, the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, Alabama and the Fordham University Orchestra, New York (United States). She has also toured throughout France with the Seasons Orchestra (Russia), and the Orchestre Chambre Francais. She has performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Claude Bardon, Hannu Lintu, Svilen Semenov and Saulis Sondeskis.
Her numerous festival appearances include the Royal Palace Festival (Sweden), Telstra Adelaide Festival (Australia), Sofia Music Weeks (Bulgaria), Musicales du Luberon, Festival de Musique de Chambre les Musicimes à Courchevel (France), the Festival “Elba, Isola Musicale d’Europa” (Italy) “Sommet Musicaux” Festival in Gstaad (Switzerland), American Music Festival (Wroclaw, Poland), Aspen Festival, Long Island Mozart Festival and Festival of Russian Culture in Los Angeles (United States).
An avid chamber collaborator, Ms. Khitruk has performed with such renowned artists as Alexandre Brussilovslky, Sergey Antonov, Francois Salque, Dennis Matsuev, Tasso Adamopoulos, Sergey Babayan, Mark Peskanov, Emilio Colon, and others.
Ms. Khitruk earned a 2007 Grammy Award nomination for her performance of Miklos Rozsa’s: Violin Concerto and Sinfonia Concertante with conductor Dmitry Yablonsky and the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos CD 8.570350). This CD was honored with a nomination for Best Solo Performance with Orchestra. Interestingly, this is the great composer’s only Grammy nomination.
Gramophone said of this recording, “Khitruk’s is a sterling account full of warm, lyric impulse, her tone sweet yet strong.” MusicWeb International wrote, “Anastasia Khitruk is an able successor to Heifetz, exhibiting both ample virtuosity and a warm singing tone that is both thrilling and engaging,” and The Strad said, “Anastasia Khitruk is a compelling, gutsy exponent of this wonderful work, firmly abreast of the musical argument and utterly persuasive.”
Naxos has also released a CD of previously unknown and unrecorded work by Leon de Saint Lubin (1805-1850), performed by Ms. Khitruk, with pianist Elizaveta Kopelman. This recording, Violin Virtuoso Works, Vol. 1 (Naxos CD 8.572019), includes Saint Lubin’s wonderful Fantaisie sur un theme de Lucia di Lammermoor, Grand Duo Concertant, Two Salon Pieces and Adagio religioso.
The Strad wrote of this recording, “Anastasia Khitruk’s playing is of the very highest order and Elizaveta Kopleman’s pianism is equally exact and highly charismatic…Highly recommended.” Gramophone wrote, “Anastasia Khitruk and Elizaveta Kopelman are ideal advocates for Satin-Lubin, a well-matched duo who clearly enjoy and make the most of the virtuosity, and bring the more expressive passages to life in a graceful, vivacious way.”
Visit her website at www.AKhitruk.com