Eugene Ugorski This phenomenally gifted 21-year-old Russian violinist, introduced by Gergiev at the Moscow Easter Festival when only 15, claims a direct link to Heifetz and the Russian school of great violinists through his teacher. This is made apparent by his distinctive rich dark sound, which sets him apart from many of his contemporaries. Ugorski has already performed throughout Western Europe, Russia, Canada, the USA, South America, Australia and the Far East, working with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Hans Graf, Andrey Boreyko, Roberto Minczuk, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Kirill Karabits and Robin Ticciati.

Following his performance at the 2005 Moscow Easter Festival Gergiev immediately invited Ugorski to appear with the Rotterdam Philharmonic that season. Since that time, Ugorski has gone on to work with, amongst others, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Dortmund Philharmonic and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras.

Highlights of the 2009/10 season included debuts with the London Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Vienna Kammerphilharmonie at the Vienna Konzerthaus, RTE National Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony and Columbian National Symphony Orchestras, as well as a return to the Rotterdam Philharmonic where Ugorski performed the Stravinsky Concerto stepping in at short notice for an indisposed Leonidas Kavakos with Robin Ticciati.

In the 2010/11 season and beyond, orchestral engagements include debuts with the Euskadi Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Galicia Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, and Moscow State Symphony Orchestras as well as a return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras.

As a recitalist Ugorski regularly collaborates with pianist Konstantin Lifschitz. They made their debut together at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany to great acclaim in August 2008, and have since appeared at the Enescu Festival in Romania, Seoul Arts Centre and Perth International Arts Festival in Australia. In January 2010, the duo released a recital DVD for VAI of works by Bach, Brahms, Strauss, Szymanowski, Ravel and Tchaikovsky. Future engagements together include debuts at the Wigmore Hall in London, Lucerne Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen and a number of concerts in China.

Born in 1989 in St Petersburg, Russia, Eugene Ugorski moved with his family to San Diego at the age of five. He began studying the violin at the age of six with Professor Vesna Gruppman and made his orchestral debut with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra at the age of eight. He continues to study with Vesna as well as with Igor Gruppman, one of the world’s most respected concertmasters.