Valery Sokolov, Ukrainian violinist: biography, creativity

Valery Sokolov - one of the most talented violinists of the world, received recognition due to the ideal technique of possession of the instrument. During his performances at the best concert venues in the world, he performs the most complex works written for the violin repertoire. In Ukraine Valery holds numerous creative meetings, charitable concerts. The man is the organizer of the music festival in Kharkov.

Some facts from the biography of a musician

Sokolov Valery Viktorovich was born in Kharkiv in September 1986. The father and mother of the boy had nothing to do with music. His parent was the head of the Research Institute of Geology. My mother worked at the geological department of Kharkov State University. Despite this, everyone in the family loved music and often visited the Philharmonic.

According to Valery Sokolov, the biography of the violinist began with the fact that at the age of five the mother took him to the ballet and music school at the same time. With dancing, he did not have a relationship. Therefore, he stayed at musical school No. 9 with teacher Natalia Yurievna Kravetska. That year there was a shortage in the class. Therefore, the teacher offered to give the boy a violin. In the class of N. Kravetsky, the future musician studied from 1991 to 1995, and then moved to a specialized music school and continued his studies under the direction of Sergei Evdokimov.

The first music contest in Spain

In 1999, when the boy turned 12, the teacher and parents understood that he needed to develop further. Therefore, Valery Sokolov went with his mother to Spain for a contest of young singers Pablo Sarasate, where he became the youngest participant of the event. The chairman of the jury was Vladimir Spivakov. After the Ukrainian violinist received a special prize, the authoritative jury invited Valeria and her mother and recommended continuing their studies abroad.

Since the 12-year-old boy could not be admitted to the conservatory, the famous violinist Grigory Zhislin advised to address the wonderful teacher Natalia Boyarskaya. She taught in England at the famous school of Yehudi Menuhin. Valery Sokolov played the entrance exam. And in January 2001 he received a letter informing him that he could begin his studies in the next semester.

Study in Europe

After graduating from the violinist courses, Valery continued his studies at the Royal London College of Music. His class was headed by Felix Andrievsky. The young man also studied at the Graduate School of Music in Frankfurt am Main. Here his teacher was Anna Chumachenko. After that, the gifted violinist graduated from the postgraduate studies at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under the guidance of Boris Kushnir.

While studying at King's College Valery Sokolov, whose biography is full of vivid musical events, participated in the International Competition. The event dedicated to J. Enescu was held in Bucharest in 2005. As a result, Sokolov received the Grand Prix. In addition, he was awarded two special prizes for the best performance of Enescu's musical works. After this competition, he began active musical activity.

The musical career of the violinist

Valery receives invitations to perform with famous music ensembles. Among them were philharmonic orchestras of France, London, Birmingham, Stockholm, Tokyo and a number of other collectives. The musician collaborated with famous conductors: Vladimir Ashkenazi, Douglas Boyd, Jurai Valchuga, Susanna Mialka, Michel Tabachnik and others.

The Ukrainian violinist performs with solo concerts in the most famous concert halls in Europe, participates in many international festivals, plays in chamber orchestras with musicians: Leonid Gorokhov, Gary Hoffman, Denis Matsuev and others. He also collaborates with many well-known pianists of the world: Ilya Rashkovsky, Svetlana Kosenko, Peter Andrzhevsky.

In 2007, he signed a contract with the recording company EMI / Virgin Classics, which resulted in 3 CDs with the recording of his works by J. Enescu, Bartók and Tchaikovsky. There was also a DVD. It recorded the performance of Valery's concert for the violin Sibelius.

Meeting with the French director Bruno Mosenjon

In 2003, a famous French violinist and director Bruno Monsenjon visited the Menukhin school in London. He was invited to conduct a master class of playing the violin. After the performance, the guys asked a lot of questions, but the most sociable was Valery Sokolov (Ukraine). He asked Bruno for a personal meeting, during which he gave him his video recording made at age 13. The French director said that he heard an amazing performance of Aram Khachaturian's works by a young violinist.

After that, Bruno invited Valery to his house for a week. As a result of close communication, he had an idea to create a documentary about a young musician. At first Sokolov refused. He believed that it was too early for him to do such a movie. But the director insisted. Soon there were producers. Already in 2004, Bruno Monsenjon's film "The Violin in the Soul" appeared.

Stradivarius Violin

In 2007 the violinist-virtuoso got into the hands an ancient violin made by the hands of the great Antonio Stradivari. According to Valery, he held the bow over the strings several times and put the instrument aside. He believed that he did not achieve the required level of skill. The guy improved his technique by playing the instruments of Yehudi Menuhin for several years. And only after that I could touch the famous violin made in 1703.

At present it belongs to a private person from France. He passes it on to famous musicians for several years so that people can appreciate the beauty of the sound of the instrument. Now on this violin plays Valery Sokolov. The violinist believes that working with it is very difficult, because it has a unique timbre and great potential that has not been solved so far.

Kharkov musical evenings

Currently, the violinist lives in Europe, but considers his native land to be Ukraine and is not going to change his citizenship. He tours the world a lot, but often comes to Kharkov: his parents live here, and many friends are left. On his initiative, in 2010-2011 in the hometown of Valeria, the International Chamber Music Festival "Musical Evenings" was held. Thanks to the authority of the violinist, 23 famous musicians from the European Union, North America and Argentina, as well as a chamber orchestra from Kiev, whose main conductor is Vladimir Sirenko, took part in the festival in 2011.

The events organized by Valery were held on the principle of festivals, which are held in Europe. Concerts took place in the halls of the Kharkov Philharmonic. Participants of the festival held master classes for students of music schools, and Bruno Mosenjon brought films about famous musicians David Oistrakh, Svyatoslav Richter and young singers Valeria Sokolov, Petra Andershevsky and many others.

Concert in Dnepropetrovsk

In Ukraine, a musician often performs with charity concerts. One of these speeches was held in late December 2014 in Dnepropetrovsk. It took place in the concert hall of the Menorah. It was attended by fifteen hundred people, but there were many more who wanted to go. Stradivari's violin, on which the musician played, was put on display by the audience an hour before the concert. The musician called the event unique, because usually one musical piece plays during the performance, and in the "Menorah" hall three creations of different epochs were performed:

• Performed together with the orchestra concert for violin by WA Mozart, who is considered the best music of the XVIII century.
• The works of I. Brahms, one of the best composers of the XIX century, the era of romanticism.
• Concerto for violin and orchestra by one of the greatest composers of the 20th century Dmitry Shostakovich.

The live broadcast of the event was on the Internet. In Dnepropetrovsk, the musician met with the Jewish community in the synagogue, and also held a concert in the hospital. Valery Sokolov emphasizes that patriotism needs to be confirmed not by words, but by deeds. A wonderful music performed by a musician on the violin of Stradivarius, is able to heal souls.