Philipp Kopachevsky,
Alexander Ramm, Sergey Dogadin

A soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic and a prize-winner at international competitions, the young pianist Philipp Kopachevsky had won tremendous audience admiration and acclaim by the age of twenty-three. He regularly appears in recital in Great Britain, Germany, the USA, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece, Poland and Spain as well as throughout Russia. Kopachevsky has won particular popularity in Japan, where especially for NHK TV he recorded a disc of piano music by Chopin. 

Philipp Kopachevsky was born in Moscow in 1990. He graduated from the Central School of Music of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. He is currently a student at the Moscow Conservatoire (class of Professor Sergei Dorensky). He has been a prize-winner at eight prestigious international competitions, among them the Х International Franz Schubert Piano Competition (Germany).

The musician has performed with the world’s great orchestras, among them English Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra, Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St Petersburg Philharmonic. He has collaborated with such illustrious conductors as Mstislav Rostropovich, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, Yevgeny Kolobov, Yuri Simonov, Alexander Dmitriev, Andrew Gourlay, William Noll, Bjarte Engeset, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Yevgeny Bushkov, Maxim Vengerov, Paul Watkins, Jan Latham-Koenig, Dorian Wilson and Dmitry Liss among others. 

Philipp Kopachevsky has appeared at numerous international festivals, such as the Andrei Sakharov Festival (Nizhny Novgorod), the Vera Lotar-Shevchenko Memorial Competition (Novosibirsk), the Steinway Festival, the Miami Piano Festival, the Arts Naples World Festival (USA), the Colmar International Festival (France), the Mstislav Rostropovich Memorial Festival (Baku), the Baltic Seasons festival (Kaliningrad), Vladimir Spivakov Invites, Stars on Baikal, Crescendo and Denis Matsuev Invites among numerous others. 

Philipp Kopachevsky performed at the world premiere of choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s ballet Without at the Mariinsky Theatre. He is involved in the Moscow State Philharmonic’s project Stars of the 21st Century. Previous engagements include concerts at the Moscow Conservatoire and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and appearances with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia under Jan Latham-Koenig, the State Academic Symphony Cappella of Russia under Philipp Chizhevsky and the Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra under Terje Mikkelsen.

Alexander Ramm was born in 1988 in Vladivostok. Graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (cello class of Natalia Shakhovskaya and chamber ensemble class of Alexander Bonduriansky) and completed a postgraduate course at the conservatory. Continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin (class of Frans Helmerson).

Prize-winner at the Moscow Competition for Young Cellists (2003; 1st prize), the Cambridge International Boston Competition (2005; 1st prize), the Moscow Romantic Music Festival (2006; Grand Prix), the Unisa International String Competition (Pretoria, South Africa, 2010; 4th prize), the Beijing International Music Competition (2010; 2nd prize), the All-Russian Music Competition (Moscow, 2010; 1st prize) and the International Cello Competition Antonio Janigro (Zagreb, 2012; 4th prize). In August 2012 together with pianist Anna Odintsova he took 4th prize at the Swedish International Duo Competition (Katrineholm). In April 2013 he won 3rd prize at one of the most prestigious cello competitions – the Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki, making him the first Russian musician to be a prize-winner at that contest. In June 2015 he won 2nd prize and the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Since 2011 he has featured in concert programmes of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, including the project Stars of the 21st Century, and has been a soloist at the St Petersburg Music House. Regularly performs at the Moscow Easter Festival.

In 2018 he recorded a CD of Benjamin Britten’s cello suites that received the Listeners’ Choice Award by the Violoncello Foundation in New York.

Has toured to many towns and cities in Russia, Great Britain, Lithuania, Sweden, Austria, Finland, South Africa, Japan, France and Bulgaria; performs at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris, London’s Cadogan Hall, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. Collaborates with such conductors as Michail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski, Vladimir Spivakov, Valery Gergiev, Vasily Petrenko, Alexander Sladkovsky, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Yuri Bashmet, Antoni Wit, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Alexander Lazarev, Valery Polyansky, Dmitry Liss.

One of the brightest representatives of the Russian violin school, Sergei Dogadin is establishing a strong international career as soloist and chamber musician with his captivating performances. 

Dogadin has won a number of the most prestigious violin competitions including the XVI Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, where he was awarded first prize and the Gold Medal (2019). This accolade led to invitations from Valery Gergiev to perform with him and The Mariinsky Orchestra at the European summer festivals. In addition, he took part in the Tchaikovsky Competition Winners’ tour of Japan, combining concerto performances with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Norichika Iimori, and chamber recitals. During the 2020/21 season Dogadin made his debuts with Westdeutscher Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, appeared at the Philharmonie in Paris and Philharmonie Luxembourg with Russian National Orchestra, L’Orquestre Symphonique de L’Opera de Toulon, Ljubljana Winter Festival and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

He has recently worked with Tonkunstler-Orchester at the 2020 Grafenegg Festival, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover with both Andrew Manze and Robert Trevino, and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas Carter. In Russia, Dogadin has performed with all the major orchestras, and in addition to performances The Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, he continues to develop his relationship with St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov. He toured the UK with them in 2019 under the baton of Vassily Sinaisky, and in 2019/20 worked with the Orchestra for a number of projects, including the opening of the Rostropovich Festival in Moscow. 

An active and passionate chamber musician, in 2020/21 Dogadin appeared, amongst others, at the Theatre de Champs Elysees in Paris and at the St Petersburg Philharmonic Hall with Evgeny Sinaisky and regularly performs with internationally renowned musicians such as Daniil Trifonov, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Denis Matsuev, David Geringas, Elisabeth Leonskaya, Alexander Knyazev, Maxim Rysanov and Alexei Ogrintchouk. Other competition successes include the Singapore International Violin Competition (2018), IX Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover (2015). 

Dogadin is currently continuing his studies under Boris Kuschnir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, having previously studied with him in Graz. He has also studied at St Petersburg Conservatory with Vladimir Ovcharek, International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad with Maxim Vengerov, and Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne with Mihaela Martin. He plays a 1721 Domenico Montagnana violin on loan from the Rin Collection in Singapore and has had the opportunity to perform on various rare instruments including legendary Paganini’s Sivori violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume and an Amati once owned by Johann Strauss.

Throughout its history, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra has ranked among the best national orchestras and has been a worthy representative of Russian musical culture abroad. 

The orchestra was founded in September 1951 under the Soviet Radio Committee and joined the Moscow Philharmonic Society in 1953. Its artistic image and performing style were built under the guidance of renowned Russian conductors. The ensemble's first Artistic Director and Principal Conductor was Samuil Samosud (1951–1957). In 1957–1959, the orchestra, led by Nathan Rachlin, was considered as one of the best in the USSR. In 1958, at the 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition, the orchestra, conducted by Kirill Kondrashin, accompanied a triumphant performance by Van Cliburn, and in 1960 it was the first Russian symphony orchestra to tour the USA.

Kirill Kondrashin led the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra for 16 years (1960–1976). Those years were important milestones in the ensemble's history: the maestro conducted the premieres of Shostakovich's 4th and 13th Symphonies, his poem The Execution of Stepan Razin, Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, performed and recorded many Mahler symphonies. In 1973 the orchestra was awarded the title of Academic. Under Dmitry Kitaenko (1976–1990) the orchestra extended its 20th century repertoire, premiering works by Khrennikov, Denisov, Schnittke, Butsko, and Tishchenko. Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, Stravinsky's King of the Stars (Zvezdoliki) and Requiem Canticles were performed for the first time in the USSR. The ensemble was subsequently led by Vasily Sinaisky (1991–1996) and Mark Ermler (1996–1998). 

The orchestra has collaborated with leading Russian and international conductors including André Cluytens, Igor Markevitch, Charles Munch, Zubin Mehta, George Enescu, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Dzhansug Kakhidze, Kurt Mazur, Evgeny Svetlanov and composers Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, and Krzysztof Penderecki. It is with this orchestra that Sviatoslav Richter made his sole appearance as a conductor. Virtually all major soloists of the second half of the 20th century have appeared with the orchestra, including Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould, Emil Gilels, David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Daniil Shafran, Yakov Flier, Nikolai Petrov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Krainev, Maurizio Pollini, Eliso Virsaladze, and Natalia Gutman. The orchestra has recorded over 350 LPs and CDs, many of which have received the highest international recording awards and are still in demand today. 

A new stage in the history of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra began in 1998, when it was taken over by People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Simonov. Under his leadership, the ensemble has achieved tremendous success. Today the orchestra is one of the mainstays of Russian philharmonic life, frequently performing in cities across Russia (over the last ten years they have appeared in more than 40 cities) and successfully touring Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Korea. 

In recent decades, the orchestra has played with such outstanding musicians as: Marc-André Hamelin, Valery Afanassiev, Yuri Bashmet, Boris Berezovsky, Yuja Wang, Maxim Vengerov, Stefan Vladar, Hibla Gerzmava, David Geringas, Barry Douglas, Lilya Zilberstein, Sumi Jo, Laura Kleikomb, Alexander Kniazev, Sergey Krylov, John Lill, Nikolai Lugansky, Konstantin Lifshitz, Oleg Maisenberg, Denis Matsuev, Ekaterina Mechetina, Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Pollak, Vadim Repin, Sergey Roldugin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Viktor Tretyakov; Conductors Luciano Acocella, Semyon Bychkov, Alexander Vedernikov, Michael Güttler, Alexander Dmitriev, Marco Zambelli, Thomas Sanderling, Alexander Lazarev, Andres Mustonen, Vasily Petrenko, Benjamin Pionnier, 

Gintaras Rinkevičius, Alexander Sladkovsky, Leonard Slatkin, Saulius Sondeckis, Antonino Fogliani, Mariss Jansons and many others. 

One of the orchestra's priorities is working with the new generation of musicians: as part of the Stars of the 21st Century series, the orchestra plays with gifted soloists entering the big stage and invites young performers to join its philharmonic subscription programmes. The orchestra is a regular participant of international and Russian master courses for young conductors by Yuri Simonov, organized by the Moscow Philharmonic society. 

The activities of Maestro Simonov and the orchestra also aim at educating young listeners. The subscription series Tales with an Orchestra, taking place in Moscow and many Russian cities and featuring theatre and film stars, has become hugely popular. Guest stars have included Marina Alexandrova, Maria Aronova, Alyona Babenko, Valery Barinov, Sergei Bezrukov, Anna Bolshova, Olga Budina, Valery Garkalin, Sergei Garmash, Nonna Grishaeva, Ekaterina Guseva, Evgenia Dobrovolskaya, Mikhail Yefremov, Evgeny Knyazev, Avangard Leontiev, Pavel Lyubimtsev, Dmitry Nazarov, Alexander Oleshko, Irina Pegova, Yulia Peresild, Mikhail Porechenkov, Evgeniya Simonova, Grigory Siyatvinda, Daniil Spivakovsky, Yuri Stoyanov, Evgeny Stychkin, Victoria Tolstoganova, Mikhail Trukhin, Gennady Khazanov, Chulpan Khamatova, Sergey Shakurov. This project brought Maestro Simonov the Moscow Mayor's Arts Award in 2008, while in 2010, Yuri Simonov and the orchestra received the National Newspaper Musical Review Award in the Conductor and Orchestra category. 

In recent years, the ensemble has presented several Moscow, Russian and world premieres of works by Andrei Eshpai, Boris Tishchenko, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Alexander Tchaikovsky, Sergei Slonimsky, Valentin Silvestrov, Eduard Artemyev, Gennady Gladkov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Alexei Rybnikov, Efrem Podgaits, Kuzma Bodrov and other composers.

"Daniel Raiskin is clearly a musician of sensibility, well versed in his craft; a further example perhaps of one last great gift of the old Soviet Union, the rigour and distinction of its conducting schools."

Gramophone

Daniel Raiskin soon became recognised as one of the most versatile conductors of the younger generation. He cultivates a broad repertoire, often looking beyond the mainstream in his strikingly conceived programmes. A son of a prominent musicologist, Daniel Raiskin grew up in St Petersburg. He attended music school from the age of six and went on to study at the celebrated conservatoire in his native city where he focussed on the viola and conducting. Inspired to take up the baton by an encounter with the distinguished teacher Lev Savich, he chose to make a gradual transition into a conducting career. At the age of twenty, Daniel Raiskin left the Soviet Union to continue his studies in Amsterdam and Freiburg, and was soon in demand as one of Europe’s leading viola players, both as a soloist and chamber musician. He also took classes with such maestri as Mariss Jansons, Neeme Järvi, Milan Horvat, Woldemar Nelson und Jorma Panula. 

Since 2005 Daniel Raiskin has been the Principal Conductor of the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie in Koblenz, and since 2008 he has held the same title with the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra in the Polish city of Łódź. His regular guest engagements across Europe and Asia include appearances with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Dalasinfoniettan, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the Estonian National Symphony, the Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Kraków, the Latvian National Orchestra, the Malmö Symfoniorkester, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, the Orkest van het Oosten, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, the Polish Radio Orchestra Katowice, the Prague Radio Symphony, the Prague Symphony, the Residentie Orkest Den Haag, the RTE Orchestra Dublin, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Bratislava, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Stavanger Symfoniorkester, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, the Ural Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic and the Zagreb Philharmonic.

His frequent appearances in opera houses have seen him conductCarmendirected by Calixto Bieito for the Dutch company Opera Zuid in 2006-2007, and also the following season at the Theater Koblenz where he conducted Shostakovich’sThe Nosein November 2010. In summer 2011 Raiskin conducted an acclaimed production of Mozart’sDon Giovanniat the St. Margarethen Opernfestspiele in Austria.

Daniel Raiskin’s engagements in the 2013-14 season include repeat invitations as a guest conductor to the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Dalasinfoniettan, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the Philharmonisches Staatorchester Mainz, the Slovak Philharmonic Bratislava, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, the Ural Philharmonic and the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. He will make his debuts with the Haifa Symphony, the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra in Moscow, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.

Daniel Raiskin has appeared with such renowned soloists as Martin Fröst, Alban Gerhardt, Natalia Gutman, Peter Jablonski, Janine Jansen, Kari Kriikku, Lang Lang, François Leleux, Alexei Lubimov, Mischa Maisky, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Midori, Shlomo Mintz, Daniel Müller-Schott, Steven Osborne, Enrico Pace, Ivo Pogorelić, Julian Rachlin, Vadim Repin, Benjamin Schmid, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Julian Steckel and Alexei Volodin.

Daniel Raiskin’s engagements in the 2014-15 season include debuts with Clásica Santa Cecilia in Madrid, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra in Moscow, the San Antonio Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony and return invitations as a guest conductor with the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and further afield with the Belgian National and Slovak Philharmonic Orchestras.

Recent recordings include the entire Brahms symphonies with the label TwoPianists and Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony with AVI, both to great critical acclaim. His recording of cello concerti by Korngold, Bloch and Goldschmidt with Julian Steckel with AVI received anECHO Klassikaward in 2012.