Music of Shostakovich, Schnittke, Pärt and Achron
Timothy Bozarth, piano

ALFRED SCHNITTKE: Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano
JOSEPH ACHRON: Hebrew Melody, Op. 33
JOSEPH ACHRON: Hebrew Lullaby, Op. 35, No. 2
DIMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 134
ARVO PÄRT: Spiegel im Spiegel

YEVGENY KUTIK TAKES, SOUNDS OF DEFIANCE, ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE
This spring and summer, Russian-American violinist Yevgeny Kutik will perform works from his debut album, Sounds of Defiance (Marquis Classics), throughout the United States and Europe with engagements in Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Germany, Poland, and elsewhere. His schedule includes performances in Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau on April 18 and 19 in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the March Of The Living. The March Of The Living is a 3-kilometer walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau held in tribute to victims of the Holocaust.
(See below for a full list of performances.)

Sounds of Defiance was inspired by Yevgeny Kutik’s family history and cultural heritage. Kutik and his frequent collaborator, pianist Timothy Bozarth, recorded music composed during some of the darkest periods in the lives of Alfred Schnittke, Joseph Achron, Dmitri Shostakovich and Arvo Pärt. Despite the turbulent, resigned, even angry sense these works may convey, they each contain themes of faith – faith in God, faith in the human spirit, and faith in art. Kutik writes, “It is their unyielding faith that provided these composers with a powerful weapon against tyranny – defiance.”
When violinist Yevgeny Kutik was five years old his family left Belarus and immigrated to the United States. As Soviet Jews living in the USSR, they experienced unjust pressures that permeated every aspect of life: life at school and work, public and private interaction, and the inability to openly practice their religion. These same pressures were experienced by a wide array of religious, ethnic and social groups, politicians and artists who suffered brutally for their beliefs in the former Soviet Union. It is the painful legacy of a country rich in culture and creativity, a country that throughout its history produced many incredible figures who have made incalculable contributions to society.
Kutik writes, “Although I have few memories of the Soviet Union, I feel a profound connection with its history and culture. Partly, this is due to all I have gathered about my family’s life in Belarus yet, maybe equally so, it has come from the incredible Russian music I’ve heard and studied since I first picked up the violin. This music features prominently in the soundtrack to my personal, cultural and philosophical worldview.”
Each of the composers featured on Sounds of Defiance was affected by the darkness of Soviet and pre-Soviet repression. Joseph Achron was born into a devout Jewish family in turn-of-the-century Russia, a time when anti-Semitism was rampant and violent. Stalin and his formalist Composers Union, which lived on long after his death, hounded Dmitri Shostakovich for much of his life. Alfred Schnittke ran afoul of the Composers Union for his compositional style and musical experimentation, resulting in blacklisting by Soviet authorities for many years. Arvo Pärt was born in Estonia immediately prior to its occupation by the Soviet Union and, though Estonian, lived under the same frustrating Soviet bureaucracy that plagued the lives of Schnittke and Shostakovich.
Yevgeny will perform repertoire from Sounds of Defiance (Alfred Schnittke’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Joseph Achron’s Hebrew Lullaby and Hebrew Melody, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 134 and Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel) on many of the concerts listed below. (Please see presenter websites for full details.)
March 5 – The Bohemians (NYC)

March 18 – Hammond Performing Arts Series (Hingham, MA)

March 25–30 – Residency and Performance (3/30) at UMass Amherst (Amherst, MA)

April 10 – New Center LIVE! – Performance and Discussion with Martin Bookspan (Boston, MA)

April 18, 19 – March of the Living (Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland)

April 25 – Boston University/Alea III – An International Salute to Roman Totenberg

April 28, 29 – Hammond Performing Arts Series (Hebron, ME and Weston, MA)

May 5 – Ludwig Symphony (Roswell, GA)

May 19, 20, 21 – Norddeutsche Philharmonie (Rostock, Germany)

May 23 – Lobkowicz Collections Series, Lobkowicz Palace (Prague, Czech Republic)

June 8 – The Embassy Series – Embassy of Poland (Washington, DC)

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