Chamber Ensemble "Moscow Soloists" (GRAMMY WINNER 2007 "Best Small Ensemble Performance - Best Ensemble")

Orchestra

One of the worlds most highly acclaimed chamber orchestra, the Moscow Soloists were founded by Maestro Yuri Bashmet in March 1992.

Comprised of leading young graduates all under 30 from the Moscow Conservatory, the orchestra made its debut in May 1992 at the main hall of the Conservatory. Two days later, the ensemble made a highly successful Paris debut at the Salle Pleyel.

Since that time, the Moscow Soloists have performed in many other prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican Centre in London, the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Additionally, tours have taken the orchestra to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Greece and Turkey. Its festival appearances have included concerts at the BBC Proms, the Evian Festival, the Montreux Music Festival, the Sydney Festival and the annual December Nights Festival in Moscow.

The Moscow Soloists have worked with such celebrated soloists as Sviatoslav Richter, Gidon Kremer, Mstislav Rostropovich, Viktor Tretyakov, Maxim Vengerov, Barbara Hendricks, Lynn Harrell and James Galway. In 1994 the Moscow Soloists recorded the Schnittke Triple Concerto with Kremer, Rostropovich and Bashmet himself as soloists for EMI Classics.

As part of Mr. Bashmets exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical, they made their first recording for that label in 1998. Featuring works of Brahms and Shostakovich, the disc was nominated for a Grammy award. The Moscow Soloists have also recorded programs for broadcast by Russian television and on the many of the worlds major radio networks, including the BBC, Bavarian Radio, Radio France and the NHK in Japan.

The original Moscow Soloists were founded by Yuri Bashmet in 1986. After several years of touring and recording, the musicians in the orchestra emigrated from Russia, while Mr. Bashmet remained in Moscow and re-established the ensemble with an entirely new group of virtuoso players.

The groups most recent tour of the United States, in March 2000, included performances at Carnegie Hall in New York and Orchestra Hall in Chicago, as well as stops in Los Angeles, Seattle and Fort Worth, among other cities. In June 2001 the ensemble participated in the Festival Casals in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Moscow Soloists will return to the United States in the spring of 2003.