Marquis Classics to Release Yevgeny Kutik's New Solo Album, MUSIC FROM THE SUITCASE, 4/15

Twenty-eight-year-old Russian-American violinist Yevgeny Kutik's new solo album, Music from the Suitcase: A Collection of Russian Miniatures,will be released by Marquis Classics on Tuesday, April 15. The album features recordings of sheet music found in one of two suitcases the Kutik family brought to the United States when they emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1990. Along with works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, the album includes rarely recorded works by Andrei Eshpai, Aram Khachaturian, Anton Rubinstein, and Gyorgy Sviridov, along with a song by M. M. Warshawsky transcribed for violin. The album was recorded with pianist Timothy Bozarth, a Beethoven Fellow of the American Pianists Association, and includes liner notes written by Mr. Kutik. The album will be available for preorder on Amazon in early March.

Mr. Kutik will perform a solo recital in celebration of the album release at SubCulture in New York City on Thursday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. He has created a special program for this event that will include selections from the album along with other solo repertoire. Music from the Suitcase will be available for early sale exclusively for SubCulture audience members following the recital. Tickets are available on the SubCulture website.

Mr. Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is also lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of both standard works and rarely heard repertoire. The New York Times has commented on his "old-fashioned rhapsodic style ... magnified by [his] rich, sweet tone."

Mr. Kutik made his debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops after placing first in the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. He has since gone on to perform with many regional orchestras in the United States, including the Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall and 92nd Street Y, with whom he gave the New York premiere of George Tsontakis' Violin Concerto No. 2. He has performed abroad with Germany's Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and WDR Rundfunk Orchestra Köln, Montenegro's Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, and Japan's Tokyo Vivaldi Ensemble. He has also appeared in recital in Chicago, Miami, New York, Washington, DC, Montreal, Munich, Prague, and Tokyo and has performed at festivals including the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele (Germany), Tanglewood, and Verbier (Switzerland). Mr. Kutik is featured in episode six of Gerard Schwarz's All-Star Orchestra, a made-for-television classical music concert series, performing Joseph Schwantner's The Poet's Hour - Soliloquy for Violin. The series was broadcast nationally on public television and was recently released on DVD by Naxos. The All-Star Orchestra is a hand-picked selection of first-desk musicians from top orchestras across the United States, who came together under the leadership of conductor Gerard Schwarz to film eight episodes pairing classical music warhorses with contemporary works by American composers.

In 2006 Mr. Kutik was awarded the Salon de Virtuosi Grant as well as the Tanglewood Music Center Jules Reiner Violin Prize. In the same year he gave the world premiere performance of Ron Ford's Versus with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. Mr. Kutik was a featured performer in the 2012 March of the Living observances, for which he played for audiences at the Krakow Opera House and for over 10,000 people at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He is also an advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, and regularly speaks and performs in the United States to both raise awareness and promote the assistance of refugees from around the world.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Mr. Kutik immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of five. Shortly thereafter he began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and went on to study with Zinaida Gilels, Shirley Givens, Roman Totenberg, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University and a master's degree from the New England Conservatory, and currently resides in Boston.