RNO Camerata
Pictured, left to right: Maxim Rubtsov, Vitaly Nazarov, Svetlana Vladimirova, Alexey Khutoryansky, Svetlana Dzutseva, Artyom Kukaev, Gennady Krutikov.
The Ensemble
The RNO Camerata was founded by oboist Vitaly Nazarov in 2003, bringing together dynamic musicians of the Russian National Orchestra in an ensemble full of innovation and energy. The group was an immediate success, with audiences savoring the rich and diverse repertoire performed by these young virtuosos. The ensemble champions new music and musical experimentation, as well as traditional works written for strings and woodwinds, occasionally with piano.
In November 2004, Russia's Culture Radio broadcast a live performance of the RNO Camerata to a nationwide audience, following its first tour of Russia, which took the ensemble to Ulyanovsk, Kazan, Cheboksary and Nizhny Novgorod.
Also in 2004, the RNO Camerata debuted in Asia with performances in Singapore and Malaysia as part of the RNO Promenade, and in London, when Lady Ustinov invited the ensemble to perform at the memorial service for Sir Peter Ustinov in the Church of St. Martin's in the Fields, Trafalgar Square.
The RNO Camerata is a featured ensemble at festivals such as the annual Napa Valley Festival del Sole in California (July), Festival of the Arts BOCA in Florida (March) and the RNO Grand Festival in Moscow (September).
What does it mean to play “in camerata”? The term originated in 16th century Florence, when a group of Italian musicians and poets wanted to build new trends in music and the arts on the foundation of ancient Greek drama. They met at the home of one of their patrons. Their focus was always on entertaining honored guests. One Greek thinker they admired believed that speech should set the pattern for song, leading to an innovation we know as opera recitative. In today’s interpretation, playing “in camerata” means brilliantly combining classical and modern repertoire to delight audiences with something familiar and something new.
The Musicians
Vitaly Nazarov, oboe [+]
Vitaly Nazarov is a graduate of the Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied with professor Gennady Kerentzev and professor Alexey Utkin.
During his studies, Vitaly received scholarships from the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation, Elina Bistritzkaya Charity Foundation, Konstantin Oberlian International Foundation, and Charity Foundation 'New Names'.
Vitaly was a laureate at Moscow's 1998 Oboe and Chamber Ensemble Competition, and at Moscow's 2000 International Festival of Young Soloists. He also received a grant from the 2000 All-Russian Open Competition "New Names." In 2000, he became one of the youngest ever laureates of the All-Russian Competition of Wind and Percussion Instruments (St. Petersburg).
Vitaly has an active solo career and has performed widely in Russia and abroad. He has been a soloist with the Russian National Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra 'New Russia', the Chamber Orchestra 'Ermitazh', and the Academic Chamber Orchestra 'Musica Viva'. Since 2001, he has been a soloist with the contemporary music ensemble 'New Music Studio' (artistic director professor Igor Dronov).
Vitaly particpated in master classes with Professor Alexey Ogrintchouk in Ferrara and Portogruaro, Italy (2006), and in Bilbao, Spain (2008). In 2009 he participated in the Chamber Music Festival (Lokenhaus, Austria) founded by Gidon Kremer. In 2012 he participated in La Folle Journée (Nantes, Bilbao).
Vitaly's recordings have appeared on the Fuga Libero and Naxos labels. In August 2005, he was awarded the European Foundation for Culture Prize in Weisbaden, Germany.
Nazarov joined the Russian National Orchestra in 2003. That same year, he founded the chamber ensemble RNO Camerata; he is also a member of the Russian National Orchestra Wind Quintet.
Internationally acclaimed flutist Maxim Rubtsov has been called “miraculous,” “superb,” “absolutely impeccable” and “one of the best flutists of the Modern Age.” Flute Talk magazine calls him, “an amazing performer who commands the audience’s attention from the moment he walks on stage.” (July/August 2011) He is also one of Russia’s best musical ambassadors.
Appointed Principal Flute of the Russian National Orchestra in 2003, Rubtsov has been given unprecedented solo opportunities with the RNO by its founding conductor Mikhail Pletnev and by others in the RNO collegium of conductors. These opportunities have included the Russian premiere of John Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy in 2004 under the baton of Alexander Vedernikov. Of the performance the composer said, “Maxim Rubtsov is the perfect Pied Piper. He has both the charm and excitement that a great performer must have. With his movie star looks and charisma, and his magnificent playing and acting of the part, the legendary piper becomes alive for all to see.”
With Vladimir Jurowski and the RNO in 2007 Rubtsov performed Mozart’s Flute Concerto in G Major, after which Jurowski wrote, “Mr. Rubtsov is the sort of person who can stand on the concert stages of the world and inspire harmonious relations through his music and his personality.”
In addition to his solo work, Rubtsov has performed hundreds of faultless and surpassingly beautiful solo passages in symphonic music which are preserved in recordings of the RNO on the PentaTone Classics label. In 2011, Blue Griffin Recording of Lansing, Michigan released his solo CD “Maxim Rubtsov — Russian Romance,” with pianist Sergei Kvitko. To launch the recording the flute-piano duo presented a series of recitals featuring selections of the Russian miniatures, including a headliner recital at the National Flute Association’s annual convention.
Born in 1977 in Bryansk, Russia, Maxim Rubtsov began to study piano at age five. At age seven he danced with the famous Moiseyev Dance Company and only later did he begin flute lessons. At age 13 he transferred to Moscow’s Gnesin Academy of Music and subsequently graduated with an advanced degree in music from the Moscow State Conservatory. Rubtsov joined the flute section of the RNO in 1999 and was appointed Associate Principal the following year, at the time the youngest ever to hold this position in the history of the orchestra.
At the invitation of Michael Tilson Thomas, Rubtsov was in residence with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for its July 2002 Russian Festival and performed each of the festival’s four musical programs. This residency opened a series of professional exchanges between the RNO and major U.S. orchestras under the Cultural Allies initiative of the Russian Arts Foundation.
Rubtsov also performs in chamber ensembles and is a founding member of Russian National Orchestra Wind Quintet, which took top honors in the Fifth Annual Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Together with the RNOWQ he has explored jazz and other genre-bending compositions, including the works of Chris Brubeck for wind quintet and jazz quartet, as well as adaptations of Peter and the Wolf and Wolf Tracks for children. Rubtsov has shared the stages of Europe in chamber performances with pianists Mikhail Pletnev and Francesco Schlimé.
December 2007 marked Rubtsov’s U.S. recital debut with pianist Valentina Lisitsa, presented by Friends of Chamber Music of Miami. The Miami Herald called his playing “virtually faultless” and stated “he possesses a stellar technique.”
In October 2008 Maxim Rubtsov created a series of solo flute performances for children presented by the Bryansk Philharmonic. His recent collaborations with contemporary dance masters have included performances in Russia with Denis Boroditsky and Germaul Barnes.
In September and October 2009 Rubtsov toured the United States presenting concerts and master classes in five states, including the U. S. premiere of Andrey Rubtsov’s Divertimento in E Major arranged for flute and piano. His tour recital programs included compositions for solo flute, alto flute, flute and organ, as well as flute and piano. He also appeared as a flutist-dancer in performances choreographed by Germaul Barnes, Sarah M. Barry, and Rita Snyder. Excerpts of Rubtsov’s 2009 recital of Russian music with pianist Pamela Penick presented by the University of Alabama Celebrity Series were re-broadcast on 245 public radio stations across the United States.
Violinist Alexey Khutoryansky, a consummate chamber music player, joined the Russian National Orchestra in 2007. Prior to that he was concertmaster of three prestigious chamber ensembles in Moscow: the Chamber Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory under conductor Gennady Cherkasov (1999-2002), the Academic Chamber Orchestra "Musica Viva" under the artistic direction of Alexander Rudin from (2003-05), and the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin under Misha Rakhlevsky (2005-07).
A native of Yekaterinburg in the Urals, Khutoryansky is a graduate of the Moscow State Conservatory. As a student of Professor V. M. Ivanov, he was a winner of international competitions and was appointed first violin of the Consonance String Quintet, which specialized in performing the works of young Russian composers. A number of these new compositions were written for the Consonance Quintet and premiered at Russian and European festivals and subsequently broadcast on radio and television and recorded on CDs.
Under Khutoryansky’s leadership, the Consonance Quintet won competitive prizes at the 1999 All-Russian Taneyev Chamber Ensemble Competition and the International Bellini Competition in Italy.
Svetlana Dzutseva was born in 1980. She began studying the violin at Sergei Rachmaninov Music School No. 27 and graduated from the Music High School at the Moscow Conservatory. She is presently a student at the Conservatory and is an honoree of the "New Names" fund.
Svetlana joined the Russian National Orchestra in 2003.
Svetlana Vladimirova began her musical studies at the Central Music School affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory, studying under A. Fedorchenko. She graduated in 1999, and continued her studies at the Moscow Conservatory in Prof. K. Rodin’s class in the faculty headed by Prof. N. Shakhovskaya.
Vladimirova won a silver medal at the Second International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition, and first prize at the International Taneyev Competition. She is a recipient of a grant from the Russian Performance Art Fund and has participated in several international festivals, touring both in Russia and abroad (Germany, Austria, the U.S.), and has performed with Young Soloists of the Moscow State Philharmonic. As one of the musicians in “Alliance Trio,” she received a grant from the I. Arkhipova Fund.
Vladimirova joined the RNO in 2003. In 2010 she became Associate Concertmaster of the orchestra's cello section.
Gennady Krutikov was a member of The 21st Century ensemble before joining the RNO in 1994. The second prizewinner at the 1995 Kussevitsky International Competition (Moscow), he regularly performs with chamber ensembles and as a soloist. He is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory. In March 2009, he was one of only three Russian musicians selected to participate in the new YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
