Valery SOKOLOV, violin

Born in 1986 in Kharkov, Ukraine, Valery was awarded the Study Grant Prize at the International Pablo Saraste Competition in Pamplona, Spain in 1999 which provided him with a scholarship to study with Natalia Boyarskaya at the Yehudi Menuhin School, England. In September 2005, Valery took part in the George Enescu International Competition and won ‘Grand Prix’ with a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto; he also won ‘Best Performance’ for Enescu’s Sonata No.3 as well as the «Enescu Foundation Prize». He is currently in his final year at the Royal College of Music where he studies with Dr Felix Andrievsky.

Last season, Valeriy made a return visit to Zurich for performances with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Ivor Bolton as well as his recital debut at the Wigmore Hall.

He also performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Douglas Boyd, the Bournemouth Symphony and Yan Pascal Tortelier as well as with Kollegium Winterthur under Howard Griffiths. Elsewhere he performed with the Bremen Philharmonic and Stefan Blunier, and the Basel Symphony Orchestra with Rumon Gamba. In February 2008, he gave the US premiere of Boris Tichenko’s Concerto for Piano and Violin at Carnegie Hall, New York and at the Library of Congress, Washington.

Valery made his US orchestral debut in summer 2007, performing at Aspen and Grand Tetons festivals, and, upon special invitation of David Zinman, at Blossom festival with the Cleveland Orchestra. Valery returned to Aspen festival in August 2008 to perform Bartok’s Violin Concerto No.2 with Peter Oundjian.

Upon Lawrence Foster’s personal invitation, Valery recorded Enescu’s Sonata No.3, complementing Mr.Foster’s recording of Enescu’s Octet in a transcription for symphonic orchestra. The CD will be released at the beginning of 2009 on the EMI/Virgin label.

Bruno Monsaingeon’s film “un violon dans l’ame / Natural Born Fiddler”, a record of Valery’s recital in Toulouse in 2004, received much praise from the critics and continues to be frequently broadcast on ARTE TV.

Future performances in Valery Sokolov’s diary include performances with the Halle Orchestra, a return visit to the Orchestre de Bordeaux under their Musical Director Kwame Ryan, as well as concerts with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at Cite de la Musique, Paris and in Ferrara. In March 2010, Valery makes his orchestral debut in Japan with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Soudant.

In recital, Valery appears each season at the Theatre du Chatelet (Paris) and is a regular guest in the “Grands Interpretes” series at the Auditorium de Lyon. He has also performed at the Gstaad, Ravenna, Mecklenburg Vorpommern and St.Denis festivals, the latter with David Fray. Next season, Valery makes his recital debut in Vancouver and at Lincoln Center, New York.

A keen chamber music player, Valery enjoys regular collaborations with pianist Kathryn Stott and cellist Leonid Gorokhov; together they return this season to the Theatre des Bouffes (Paris). In July 2008, Valery was invited by Elena Bashkirova to appear at one of Bad Kissingen’s “Klangwerkstatt” and by Gidon Kremer to his Lockenhaus festival; in summer 2009, Valery will join fellow musicians at the Verbier Festival.

Valery is generously supported by the Accenture Foundation for a period of three years as part of their young musician scheme.