Aleksey Semenenko
Born1988 (age 35–36)
Odesa, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
(now Ukraine)
EducationHochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln
Occupations
  • Classical violinist
  • Academic teacher
OrganizationsFolkwang University of the Arts
Websitewww.aleksey-semenenko.com

Aleksey Semenenko (Ukrainian: Олексій Семененко, romanized: Oleksiy Semenenko; born 1988) is a Ukrainian and German classical violinist. He won second prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2015, and has performed in Europe and the U.S. as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been teaching at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany's Ruhr Area.

Career

Semenenko was born in Odesa.[1] He studied violin and chamber music, first in Ukraine,[2] then at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Zakhar Bron and Harald Schoneweg,[2] graduating with the concert exam.[1] He won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York City in 2012, and second prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2015[2] which won him international recognition. He has performed at Wigmore Hall in London, the Berliner Philharmonie, Seattle's Benaroya Hall,[1] Washington's Kennedy Center,[2] the Kölner Philharmonie, the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, Alice Tully Hall in New York City, the Philharmonie in Moscow, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.[1]

Semenenko plays in a duo with his wife, pianist Inna Firsova.[3][2] He founded the Stolyarsky Quartet, playing in France, Malta, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine.[2] He became a German citizen,[4] and since 2021 has been teaching violin at the Folkwang University of the Arts.[1]

Semenenko, a holder of both German and Ukrainian passports, played a concert in Kyiv on 23 February 2022, the day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[3][5] Because he had entered the country with his Ukrainian passport, he was prevented from leaving the country after the invasion because he was "able-bodied".[3][5] He made it as far as Lviv by train;[6] there he played a charity video concert on 23 March 2022, together with pianist Antonii Baryshevskyi and others, to help colleagues who were bombed out.[4] He also played at the music school for students and their parents.[5][6] His wife submitted his German passport, and after four weeks, he and seven other musicians were permitted to leave the country.[5]

He was soloist in a series of concerts in Germany of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Luigi Gaggero, the program focused on music by Ukrainian composers, combining Berezovsky's Symphony in C major with Chausson's Poème, Skoryk's Melody in A minor (1982) and Lyatoshynsky's Symphony No. 3, Op. 50 (1951), with a program "Peace will conquer war" in the last movement.[7] Semenenko gave the Poème the contours and the intensity of existential questioning ("die Konturen und die Intensität existenziellen Fragens"), according to FAZ reviewer Doris Kösterke.[8] After the solo in the Melody, he played for an encore a Serenade for violin solo by Valentyn Silvestrov, with at times an extreme mesmerising pianissimo ("bis zu einem extremen, in höchstem Maße magnetischen Pianissimo").[8]

He and Baryshevskyi accompanied the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine's tour of the United Kingdom in October 2023 as alternating soloists.[9][10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Folkwang Universität / Aleksey Semenenko" (in German). professionals.klassik.com. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Folkwang Universität / Aleksey Semenenko". Queen Elisabeth Competition. 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "Musikfreunde: Krieg stoppt Auftritt von Aleksey Semenenko" (in German). werne-plus.de. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 Willer, Monika (23 March 2022). "Folkwang Professoren spielen für die ausgebombten Kollegen". WAZ (in German). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Reckmann, Madeleine (8 April 2022). "Symphonieorchester aus Kiew kommt nach Wiesbaden". FR (in German). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 "The Strad - Analysis June 2022: The high cost of conflict". The Strad. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Kyiv Symphony Orchestra / Luigi Gaggero, Leitung / Aleksey Semenenko, Violine". Rheingau Musik Festival. 2022. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  8. 1 2 Kösterke, Doris (30 April 2022). "Musik, die etwas bewegen will". FAZ (in German). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  9. ↑ National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine announces UK tour, Rachel Hall, The Guardian, 12 October 2022
  10. ↑ After rehearsals interrupted by air raids, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine embarks on UK tour, Owen Mortimer, Classical Music Magazine, 16 October 2023 (subscription required)
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