One of the worlds most highly acclaimed chamber ensembles, the Moscow Soloists were founded by Yuri Bashmet in March 1992. Comprised of leading young graduatesall under 30 from the Moscow Conservatory, the orchestra made its debut in May 1992 at the main hall of the Conservatory. Two days later, the ensemble made a highly successful Paris debut at the Salle Pleyel.

Since that time, the Moscow Soloists have performed in many other prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican Centre in London, the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, the

Philharmonie in Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Additionally, tours have taken the orchestra to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Greece and Turkey. Its festival appearances have included concerts at the BBC Proms, the Evian Festival, the Montreux Music Festival, the Sydney Festival and the annual December Nights Festival in Moscow.

The Moscow Soloists have worked with such celebrated soloists as Sviatoslav Richter, Gidon Kremer, Mstislav Rostropovich, Viktor Tretyakov, Maxim Vengerov, Barbara Hendricks, Lynn Harrell and James Galway. In 1994 the Moscow Soloists recorded the Schnittke Triple Concerto with Kremer, Rostropovich and Bashmet himself as soloists for EMI Classics. As part of Mr. Bashmets exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical, they made their first recording for that label in 1998. Featuring works of Brahms and Shostakovich, the disc was nominated for a Grammy award. The Moscow Soloists have also recorded programs for broadcast by Russian television and on the many of the worlds major radio networks, including the BBC, Bavarian Radio, Radio France and the NHK in Japan.

The original Moscow Soloists were founded by Yuri Bashmet in 1986. After several years of touring and recording, the musicians in the orchestra emigrated from Russia, while Mr. Bashmet remained in Moscow and re-established the ensemble with an entirely new group of virtuoso players.

The groups most recent tour of the United States, in March 2000, included performances at Carnegie Hall in New York and Orchestra Hall in Chicago, as well as stops in Los Angeles, Seattle and Fort Worth, among other cities. In June 2001 the ensemble participated in the Festival Casals in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Moscow Soloists will return to the United States in the spring of 2003.

Biographical Information on Yuri Bashmet

Violist Yuri Bashmet is widely recognized as one of the leading string players in the world. He launched his international career in 1976 when he took first prize at the International Viola Competition in Munich and has since performed in recital and with the foremost orchestras and conductors in nearly every major European and North American music center. In a review of his 1989 recital at Londons Wigmore Hall, The Times described him as without doubt, one of the worlds greatest living musicians.

Mr. Bashmet has appeared as soloist with such prestigious ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. In 1993 the London Symphony Orchestra presented a four-concert Yuri Bashmet Festival at the Barbican. He was also the International Artist in Residence at the 1998 Bath International Festival.

Mr. Bashmets exceptional artistry has inspired many composers to write for him. He enjoyed an especially close and productive relationship with Alfred Schnittke, who wrote his Viola Concerto for Mr. Bashmet. This work has become firmly established in the repertoire since its premiere in 1986 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Other works written for Mr. Bashmet include Georgian composer Giya Kanchelis Viola Concerto, given its premiere at the Berlin Festival; The Myrrh Bearer by John Tavener; a concerto by Paul Ruders; and Sofia Gubaidulinas Viola Concerto, first performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Kent Nagano in April 1997. Mr. Bashmet also gave the world premiere of Benjamin Brittens recently edited Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra with Gidon Kremer and the Hall Orchestra conducted by Mr. Nagano in Manchester in February 1998.

As a recitalist, Mr. Bashmet was the first violist to give a solo performance at such leading halls as La Scala in Milan and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He appeared on many occasions with Sviatoslav Richter and has performed chamber music with many other distinguished artists including Natalia Gutman, the Borodin Quartet, Gidon Kremer, Viktoria Mullova, Mstislav Rostropovich and Maxim Vengerov.

In 1992 Mr. Bashmet began working with a new ensemble, the Moscow Soloists, which he directs himself. Its players were nominated by professors at the Moscow Conservatory as the most promising talents among the new generation of string players. The Moscow Soloists have given triumphant performances in Moscow, Athens, Amsterdam, Paris and London (at the BBC Proms), and the ensemble returned to the United States for a tour in March 2000 that included a concert at Carnegie Hall.