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Biography Alexander Shchetynsky (born in Kharkiv in 1960) is a Ukrainian composer of contemporary classical music. His work list includes compositions in many forms ranging from solo instrumental to chamber opera. Since the late 80s, they have been presented at prestigious festivals and concerts in Europe and America, performed by internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles, such as the Moscow opera house Helikon-Opera, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, children's choir Maîtrise de Radio France, the Arditti String Quartet, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ensemble Wiener Collage, Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, Mark Pekarsky Percussion Ensemble, pianist Ivar Mikhashoff, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, a.o. Among the publishers of his music are Alain Van Kerckhoven Editeur, Boosey & Hawkes, Le Chant du Monde, and Gerard Billaudot Editeur S.A. Shchetynsky received awards at five international composer's competitions: In 2000, his chamber opera Annunciation was awarded Russian National Theatrical Prize, Gold Mask, in the category of innovation, as part of the performance of Voices of the Invisible - The Bible Triptych at the Helikon Opera in Moscow. In 2002 this work will be released on CD at the TNC Recordings. Shchetynsky graduated from the Kharkiv Art Institute in 1983. Although he studied composition officially with Valentyn Borysov, another Ukrainian composer, Valentyn Bibik, strongly influenced him in those formative years. The next important source of inspiration was so called Soviet musical avant-garde: E. Denisov, A. Schnittke, A. Pärt, S. Gubaidulina, V. Silvestrov. Later Shchetynsky participated in master classes with E. Denisov and P. Ruders in Denmark, and summer courses in Poland, where he attended lectures by L. Andriessen, W. Lutoslawski, K. Penderecki, B. Schaeffer, and M. Lindberg. Music by the Second Viennese School, Messiaen, and Ligeti had a significant impact on Shchetynsky's music. At the age of about 30, he developed his personal post-serial style based on combination of quasi-serial procedures and special attention to attractiveness of sound material and to melody as a source of expression. Another fundamental feature of his music is its rhythmic, structural, and formal flexibility which provokes feeling of "self-development" of initial micro-thematic patterns. The idea of modern spirituality became an impulse for many his vocal and instrumental compositions. A well-known Moscow critic Alexey Parin has characterised him "a consequent stickler for avant-garde" and stated that "his spirituality reveals in strict, ascetically beautiful sounds that impress with their hermetism, within the context of up-to-date musical language." Shchetynsky taught composition, instrumentation and techniques of contemporary music at the Kharkiv Art Institute (1991-5). In 1995, he delivered a cycle of lectures on modern and contemporary music at the Ukrainian National Music Academy in Kyiv. Since then, although being a free-lance composer, he regularly lectured on Ukrainian music, gave master classes, and presented own works at international festivals and symposia in Austria, Germany, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ukraine. In 1989-90, he was among the organisers of several contemporary music festivals in Ukraine and Russia. Later he founded and ran concert series New Music in Kharkiv. Since 1997, he has been a member of the Art Council of the Festival Contrasts in Lviv - the biggest and most prestigious international contemporary music festival in Ukraine. In 2000, he jointed the organizers of the Moscow festival Ernst Krenek in Helikon Opera, and in 2001, he was program coordinator of the International Youth Music Forum in Kyiv. Alexander Shchetynsky may be contacted at: Copyright © 2002 Alexander Shchetynsky |
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