Yuri Bashmet

Yuri Bashmet is considered the most charismatic musician in Russia. The New York Times considers him the 'greatest violist of our time', and the London Times hailed him as the 'best living musician in the world'. At the age of eighteen, Yuri Bashmet entered the Moscow Conservatory, and five years later became the youngest professor ever to teach at this prestigious institution. He constantly expands his vast repertoire, adapting works for other instruments to the viola. Contemporary Russian and foreign composers dedicate their new solo viola works to him. The artist has collaborated with many famous conductors such as Rafael Kubelik, Seiji Ozawa, Colin Davis, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Yuri Bashmet's appointment as artistic director of the Moscow festival 'December Nights', led for 17 years by the brilliant pianist Sviatoslav Richter, was a testament to his talent. Maestro Bashmet is not only an outstanding musician but also a well-known social activist, and for almost 20 years he has hosted his own classical music program 'Dream Station' on television. The master violist once said: 'Sometimes I feel like I've lived more than one life'.

His brilliant solo career does not prevent the musician from leading the chamber ensemble 'Soloists of Moscow' for nineteen years. The artist also recently took over the leadership of the symphony orchestra 'New Russia'. Both ensembles are well known internationally and collaborate with world-renowned artists. 'Soloists of Moscow' have performed in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. The ensemble won a prestigious Grammy award in 2007 for recording Stravinsky and Prokofiev's music, and in 2008 was nominated again for recording works by Japanese and Chinese composers. Maestro likes to repeat: 'The viola is an extraordinary, encrypted, and even mystical instrument. A person must experience many things themselves for the viola to sound in their hands. However, when one overcomes all the difficulties of the viola, it undergoes a metamorphosis, like Cinderella from the fairy tale'.

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