<p><strong><em>"Musician of the first rank."</em> — The New York Times</strong></p><p>The Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa is long esteemed in the former USSR as a distinguished soloist, chamber musician and teacher. A prominent student of David Oistrakh, Oleh Krysa won major prizes in such international competitions as the Wieniawski, Tchaikovsky and Montreal, and was the outright winner of the Paganini Competition.</p><p>Oleh Krysa began his teaching career as chairman of the Violin Department at the Kiev Conservatory. In 1973 he took the same position at the Gnesin Musical and Pedagogical Institute in Moscow and, two years later, returned to the Moscow Conservatory as Professor of Violin, where he remained until 1988. Currently he is Professor of Violin at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.</p><p>Oleh Krysa has performed in major music centers throughout the world (including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Teatro alla Scala, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, etc.) with leading orchestras and conductors and ensembles. He has also appeared at major festivals in Europe, North America, the Far East and Australia. In addition to his thriving solo career, Mr. Krysa was the leader of the celebrated Beethoven String Quartet 1977-87.</p><p>Oleh Krysa is also a champion of contemporary music and has worked closely with Alfred Schnittke, Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Krzsyzstof Penderecki, Sydney Hodkinson, Virko Baley, Valentin Silvestrov and Myroslav Skoryk. He has premiered a number of their works and many have been written specifically for him. Mr. Krysa has recorded on the Melodiya, BIS, Triton, Olympia, Amadis, Polskie Nagranie, TNC and Russian Disc labels.</p><p>Oleh Krysa has served on the jury panel of the International Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Paganini, Kreisler, Joachim, Oistrakh, Lipizer, Quingdao, Sarasate and Montreal Violin Competitions.</p><p>Mr. Krysa is married to pianist Tatiana Tchekina who has been his partner in most of his recitals and recordings over the years.</p><p><strong><em>"...distinguished musician herself and a pianist of a notable talents..."</em> — Canberra Times</strong></p>
<p>The pianist Tatiana Tchekina was born in Moscow into a family of singers. She studied at the Kiev and Moscow Conservatories with Vsevolod Topilin and Boris Zemlyansky. Since 1967, Ms. Tchekina has been performing with her husband, the violinist Oleh Krysa, in solo and chamber music recitals in major concert halls throughout the former Soviet Union (including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory), Europe (including Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and Semper Oper), the United States (including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea and Japan and has received world wide critical acclaim.</p><p>Tatiana Tchekina also appeared at major music festivals in Russia (“Moscow Stars”), Czechoslovakia (“Prague Spring”), Austria (Wiener Fest), Finland (Kuhmo, Korsholm), USA (Oregon Bach Festival, The Lake Winnipesaukee Music Festival, Park City International Chamber Music Festival) and Australia (Townsville).</p><p>She has recorded on the Melodiya, BIS, Triton, Olympia, Amadis, Polskie Nagranie, TNC and Russian Disc labels with violinist Oleh Krysa.</p><p>Ms. Tatiana Tchekina taught Chamber Music at Kiev Conservatory and Accompanying at Gnesin Musical and Pedagogical Institute in Moscow. Currently she is Assistant Professor of Accompanying at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.</p>
Edwin London, founder of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, has won Columbia's 2001 Ditson Conductor's Award for his commitment to the performance of American works. Composer/conductor London received the award at a performance of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, which he conducted, at Cleveland State University on November 5. The Ditson Conductor's Award, the oldest honoring conductors for their commitment to American music, was established in 1945 by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia. Past recipients include Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, Michael Tilson Thomas and James DePriest.
Described as a "champion of new American music," London has been a major figure in the contemporary music field for more than 40 years, forming two highly acclaimed ensembles: Ineluctable Modality, a new music choral ensemble, in 1968 and the award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony in 1980.
Born in Philadelphia in 1929, London began his career as a horn player in both symphony orchestra and the Oscar Pettiford jazz band, demonstrating early on his ease in moving between the worlds of "concert hall" and "popular" music.
After graduating from Oberlin Conservatory (BM, 1952), London received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa (1961). At Iowa he studied composition with Philip Greeley Clapp. Subsequent teachers have included Luigi Dallapiccola, Darius Milhaud and Gunther Schuller.
London was composer-conductor for the Toledo/Antioch Shakespeare and Lyric Theater Festivals (1956-57) and later toured with the Armando Trovajoli Orchestra in Rome as a French horn player and composer. He taught at Smith College (1960-68), the University of Illinois (1973-83) and the University of San Diego (1972-73), before being named chairman of the music department at Cleveland State University in 1978.
The Cleveland Chamber Symphony is dedicated to supporting the creative work of "emerging" composers by the presentation of semi-annual concerts and recordings of competitively selected new works chosen from leading colleges, conservatories and universities. Under the leadership and artistic direction of London, the CCS has received recognition over the years for its excellence. ASCAP has awarded the Cleveland Chamber Symphony five John S. Edwards awards, the country's most prestigious honor recognizing an orchestra's commitment to showcasing American music. Other honors include the American Music Center Letter of Distinction and the Laurel Leaf Award from the American Composers Alliance.
As a composer, London has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Fromm Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, ASCAP and Meet the Composer. He has received the Cleveland Arts Prize and was named Individual Artist of the Year by the Ohio Arts Council.
