Aleksey Igudesman

Aleksey Igudesman
Aleksey Igudesman
Born (1973-07-22) July 22, 1973
Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation Violinist, composer, conductor and actor

Aleksey Mikhailovich Igudesman (Russian: Алексей Михайлович Игу́десман; born 22 February 1973) is a Russian-German violinist, composer, conductor and actor. He performs in the duo Igudesman & Joo.

Biography

Igudesman was born in Leningrad, then in the Soviet Union, to a musical Jewish family.[1][2] At the age of 6 he and his family immigrated to Germany. At the age of 12 he was accepted at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. From 1989 to 1998 he studied violin with Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatory.

Igudesman has several books published by Universal Edition, including Style Workout, The Catscratchbook and Pigs Can Fly, as well as violin duet books Klezmer & More, Celtic & More, Latin & More and Asia & More.[3]

He has published three violin sonatas, the second dedicated to Julian Rachlin and the third to Viktoria Mullova, who also played the world premiere of the piece. Igudesman's compositions have been performed worldwide by soloists, ensembles and orchestras, often with Igudesman as a solo violinist and conductor, including New York Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Kremerata Baltica, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, Virtuosi Italiani, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Belgrade Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Ducale and many others.

In a project named Violins of the World, Igudesman has performed his violin duets with Gidon Kremer, Julian Rachlin, Janine Jansen, Vadim Repin, Pavel Vernikov and Alexandra Soumm. Igudesman's poems have been recited by Roger Moore.[4] With his string trio Trilogy, he has given concerts all over the world, as well as recording several CDs for Sony BMG.

Igudesman has written for and performed as a soloist on several movie soundtracks and has worked closely with Academy Award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer on numerous movies, such as Sherlock Holmes, which received an Oscar nomination for the Best Original Score. The soundtrack received critical acclaim for its use of several strange instruments, the Experibass, and incorporated sounds of "hideous things being done to a piano". Igudesman has co-written the soundtrack for Jealous of the Birds with Hans Zimmer, which won the Grand Prize for Best Original Score in the Rhode Island International Film Festival. In 2016, Igudesman appeared alongside Hans Zimmer as a soloist on his world tour.

In cooperation with violinist Sebastian Gürtler, Igudesman has created Tandem, a music and comedy show for two violins and Sebastian, The Cyberconductor for two violins and symphony orchestra. He also works with well-known classical and pop musicians, as well as actors to create special shows that combine music, theatre and comedy. His solo shows Fasten Seat Belts and MAD – Music & Dance regularly feature guests such as Manaho Shimokawa, Kristina Suklar and Leah Zeger.

Igudesman tours the world together with pianist Hyung-ki Joo, as the music and comedy duo Igudesman & Joo. In April 2012, they gave their Carnegie Hall debut in New York City with special surprise guests Joshua Bell and Billy Joel. Excerpts from their hit show A Little Nightmare Music have been watched over 40 million times on YouTube. They also have a show called Big Nightmare Music, which they perform with orchestras around the world, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2012.

Igudesman regularly performs his numerous shows with various orchestras, such as Vienna and I, Waltz of the World, and The Other Seasons. His program The Music Critic features John Malkovich as leading actor and evil critic who believes the music of Beethoven, Chopin, Prokofiev and the likes to be weary and dreary.

Igudesman is also an actor and film director. His directing debut Noseland, a feature-length mockumentary about classical musicians such as Julian Rachlin and Mischa Maisky and actors John Malkovich and Roger Moore, premiered at the Transylvanian International Film Festival in Romania in June 2012, and won "Most Entertaining Documentary" at DocMiami 2012 and has had a cinematic release in Germany.[5] Igudesman stars in an Austrian TV series, broadcast by ORF, entitled Du Kunst mich, where he features talents from the fields of music, dance, photography and fashion.

CD's

  • 1998: Triology – Triology Plays Ennio Morricone[6]
  • 1999: Triology – Who Killed the Viola Player?[7]
  • 2003: Triology – Around The World In 77 Minutes[8]
  • 2015: Aleksey Igudesman – Fasten Seat Belts[9]
  • 2016: Igudesman & Joo – You Just Have to Laugh[10]

References

  1. ↑ How Alexey and Hyung Created Claughical Music
  2. ↑ Playing jokes The Jerusalem Post 09/02/2010
  3. ↑ Universal Edition catalogue listing
  4. ↑ "Roger Moore's website". Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  5. ↑ Official Movie Website
  6. ↑ "Triology - Triology Plays Ennio Morricone". Discogs (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  7. ↑ "Triology - Who Killed the Viola Player?". Discogs. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  8. ↑ "Triology - Around The World In 77 Minutes". Discogs (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  9. ↑ "Fasten Seat Belts". Orlando Records. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  10. ↑ "You Just Have to Laugh (CD) Igudesman & Joo". hoanzl.at (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-05.
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