Alexander Bedenko, Kyril Zlotnikov, Itamar Golan
Biography Alexander Bedenko, Kyril Zlotnikov, Itamar Golan
Alexander Bedenko
The multi-award-winning clarinetist Alexander Bedenko is one of the most prolific artists of his generation and has performed with major conductors of leading orchestras, ensembles and festivals in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Born in Ukraine, into a family of musicians, Alexander Bedenko graduated from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied clarinet with Donald Montanaro and chamber music with Pamela Frank, Peter Wiley and Joseph Silverstein.
Alexander Bedenko has won first prizes at the || Moscow International Young Artist’s Competition in 1994, the Interlochen Center for the Arts “Concerto Competition” (1995-1996), the Grand-Prix and Laureate at the International Selmer Clarinet Competition in Kiev, (1999) and was a recipient scholarship of the "New Names" Charity Foundation, Vladimir Spivakov’s Foundation and the named scholarship of The President of Ukraine, from (1997-1999).
In the past seasons, Alexander Bedenko has appeared in such recital venues as the Carnegie's Weill recital Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Steinway Hall in New York City, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C, the Great Hall at Moscow Conservatory and UNESCO in Paris. He has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Vladimir Spivakov, Christoph Eschenbach, Nikolai Lugansky, Elena Bashkirova, Kirill Gernstein, Itamar Golan, Daniel Hope, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Frans Helmerson, Nobuko Imai, Eugenia Zukerman, Maxim Rysanov, Gautier Capucon and worked with the Borodin, Jerusalem, Ying, Alma, Endellion and Orion string quartets.
Alexander Bedenko has also performed as a soloist with Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, Romanian National Radio Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Ukraine, the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and appearanced at the Colmar, Verbier, Spoleto, Sarasota, Miami and Schubertiade music festivals.
Mr. Bedenko has also been broadcast on television in France, Sweden, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and has been featured on RAI Radio Classica, on WQXR Radio (New York), WRTI Radio (Philadelphia), and the “Voice of America” in Washington D.C.
In 2007, Alexander Bedenko appeared together with Richard Stoltzman on a recording of the music of J.S. Bach for the RCA/BMG Japan label.
As an orchestra musician, Mr. Bedenko was invited by Riccardo Muti to perform as principal clarinet on a highly acclaimed European tour with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (in 2014) and has also performed as guest principal clarinet with the London Symphony Orchestra, both at the Barbican Centre and on tour in Germany under the baton of Daniel Harding, with the Philharmonia Orchestra (London) and with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Franz Welser Most.
From (2008 - 2018) Alexander Bedenko has served as a co-principal clarinetist with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, directed by Gabor Takacs-Nagy.
Alexander Bedenko plays on Selmer Signature clarinets and became Selmer Paris Artist in 2015, as well as D'Addario woodwinds Artist in 2019.
Kyril Zlotnikov
Born in Minsk, Belarus to a family of professional musicians, Kyril Zlotnikov began his studies at the Belarusian State Music Academy with Prof. Vladimir Perlin. He continued his studies in Israel with Prof. Uzi Wiesel and Hillel Zori, completing his musical education under the direction Prof. Michael Khomitzer in Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance. While a student, Kyril Zlotnikov participated in master classes and courses with such prominent musicians as Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma,Natalia Gutman, Boris Pergamenschikov, Aldo Parisot and Georgy Kurtag.
Since 1991 Kyril Zlotnikov was a recipient of a scholarship for musical achievements from the America-Israel Culture Foundation, won prizes in many contests including the Clairmont Competition, the Braun-Roger Siegl Competition, the Pierre Tarcali Prize is the most recent one.
He is a founding member of the recognized for its artistic creativity, one of the most dynamic and exciting young quartets currently performing - The Jerusalem Quartet. The musicians have been giving multiply performances all over the world and become the Israel''s leading string quartet. Since 2002 the Jerusalem Quartet records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi.
Along with his extensive chamber music appearances Kyril Zlotnikov has performed and been broadcast as a soloist with internationally renowned orchestras, such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Ludwigsburg Symphony Orchestra, The Gulbenkian Orchestra, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Jerusalem Camerata and enjoys artistic collaboration with acclaimed conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Lawrence Foster, Asher Fish, Simone Young. He has a wide repertoire covering the important cello works of the baroque, the classical period, romantic and the contemporary music.
Kyril Zlotnikov is a regular guests at major chamber music festivals such as the Proms Festival, the Bartok Festival, the Vancouver, the Menton, the Ravinia "Rising Stars", the Schleswig-Holstein, the Jerusalem and the Scwetzingen Festivals. A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Zlotnikov has shared the stage with the foremost artists of today such as Daniel Barenboim, Jessye Norman, Pierre Boulez, Elena Bashkirova, Mitsuko Uchida, Natalia Gutman, Tabea Zimmerman, Miriam Fried, Hagai Shaham, Michael Tree, Asher Fish, Nikolaj Znaider, Lang Lang and Richard Stoltzman.
Since 2003 Kyril Zlotnikov has been a principal cellist and a teacher of the cello group at the "West-Eastern Divan Orchestra" under Maestro Daniel Barenboim. He also frequently takes part in special projects and tours of the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra as a principal cellist.
Zlotnikov has recorded the complete Mozart piano trios with Maestro Daniel Barenboim and violinist Nikolaj Znaider. The two CDs were released by EMI in April 2006.
Kyril Zlotnikov plays a 1710 Giovanni Battista Ruggieri cello which was loaned generously to him from a private collection.
Itamar Golan
was born August in 1970 in Vilnius, and is of Israeli parentage. Golan immigrated to Israel with his parents when he was one. He studied piano with Lara Vodovoz and Emmanuel Krazovsky and gave his first recital at the age of seven.
From 1985 to 1989, a scholarship awarded by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation enabled him to continue his education in the United States at the New England Conservatory, where he was taught by Leonard Shure and Patricia Zanda. He also studied chamber music with Chaim Taub.
Golan then launched his career as a soloist and chamber pianist in the United States and Israel. His fame has grown as he has established himself as a chamber musician in high demand, paired with the virtuoso Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov, as well as Barbara Hendricks, Shlomo Mintz, Mischa Maisky, Matt Haimovitz, Tabea Zimmermann, Ida Haendel, and Julian Rachlin, among others. He is regularly invited to perform at the most famous concert halls and festivals, including those at Ravenna, Chicago, Tanglewood, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Verbier, and Lucerne. He also plays as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic under conductor Zubin Mehta. Between 1991 and 1994, Golan taught at the Manhattan School of Music. Currently, he is professor of chamber music at the Paris Conservatoire.
