Quartetto Virtuosi
Next Concert: April 30, 2023
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Listen to Quartetto Virtuosi performing Beethoven's Sonata No 8 Allegro Vivace.

{s5_mp3}Quartetto Virtuosi Beethoven Sonata no 8 Allegro Vivace.mp3{/s5_mp3}

Performing the finale concert of the 2014-2015 Season are the international piano & string quartet from Ft. Worth Texas known as Quartetto Virtuosi. Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 7:30 PM!

Quartetto Virtuosi is an amalgamation of cultures resulting in a single statement of four voices communicating as one...

Comprised of Daredjan Kakouberi, piano, Gary Levinson, violin, Michael Klotz, viola and Dmitry Kouzov, cello they represent a unique set of skills to interpret a variety of musical styles in the most authentic manner possible.

Kakouberi and Kouzov were trained in Russia. They embody the discipline which gave us the art of Richter and Rostropovich coupled with stunning colors which bely their native countries of Georgia and Russia respectively.

Levinson and Klotz are products of the legendary pedagogues Zvi Zeitlin and Dorothy DeLay. Carrying on the best of their tradition, their playing is exemplified by variety, virtuosity and boldness. They firmly hold one foot in the Golden Age of string playing and another in versatility of the 21st century.

This is a group of musicians who, as individuals, have captured the imaginations of audiences on five continents. Combining their collective powers they are looking for the next chapter of music making as Quartetto Virtuosi.

 

Daredjan KakouberiDaredjan Baya Kakouberi, pianist, has been hailed as a “treat to watch and hear” was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and made her debut at the age of eleven. After graduating from Tbilisi Special School of Music for the Talented and Gifted, she entered the Moscow Conservatory, where she continued her studies on the Master’s and Doctoral levels under the tutelage of Sergei Dorenski, and Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medalist, Vladimir Krainev.

In December 2011, Dr. Kakouberi was honored with the 2011 Women Extraordinaire award. This prestigious award given by Business Leader Magazine recognizes women executives who have made a significant contribution to their community. In March 2010, Dr. Kakouberi was the recipient of the coveted International Ambassador for Cultural Exchange Award. Awarded by the Russian Winter Festival at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, this award recognizes outstanding achievement in performing and teaching disciplines domestically and abroad. In 2009, Ms. Kakouberi was engaged to tour China a soloist. Due to her much sought after teaching skills, she is also rounding out the cultural event by presenting master classes in the leading conservatories in mainland China. In 2008, she collaborated with violinist Gary Levinson in the recording of the complete sonatas for piano and violin by Beethoven. The project was spearheaded by the Classical Music Recording Foundation. The four CD set is slated for release n 2012. Ms. Kakouberi has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Moscow, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Italy and the United States.

In 1996, she was among the “World’s Ten Most Distinguished Pianists” chosen by the Palm Beach Invitational Piano Competition. In the summer of 2000, Ms. Kakouberi was chosen as recipient of the “Most Outstanding and Distinguished Pianist” award in the IBLA International Competition in Italy. In addition to her solo recitals, she has appeared as guest soloist in concerts throughout the US and Europe, including performances at Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, Steinway Hall in New York, and the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts in California.

As a chamber performer Ms. Kakouberi made her debut at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York in February 2002. Ms. Kakouberi returns to that venue in a scheduled appearance on the CMRF annual gala concert in the fall of 2012 at Weill Hall.
Noted as an outstanding Chamber Music Artist, Ms. Kakouberi is the Artistic Director of the Blue Candlelight Music Series in Dallas, Texas, www.bluecandlelight.org where she enjoys collaboration with internationally renowned artists. As a noted chamber musician she has appeared numerous times at the Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, CO, where she was also a frequent soloist. She is a household name at the major venues in North Texas, such as the University of North Texas in Denton, TX, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts where she has appeared as a concerto soloist. Ms. Kakouberi regularly appears with her most gifted students at the Giovanni Adulti Concert Series held at the Piano Gallery in Dallas. In an unprecedented project in the spring of 2009, Ms. Kakouberi has recorded the three books of the Russian Piano Technique, based on the teachings of Professor Nikolaev, to be used in practice and performance techniques for students of all levels. 

 

 

Dmitry KouzovA versatile performer, cellist Dmitry Kouzov has performed worldwide with orchestras, in solo and duo recitals, and in chamber music performances. He has appeared with such orchestras as the St. Petersburg Symphony (Russia), as well as National Symphony of Ukraine, and the South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic (Czech Republic), to name a few. He has awarded First Prize at the International Beethoven Competition in the Czech Republic and he is a two-time laureate of the International Festival-Competition “Virtuosi of the Year 2000” in Russia and is winner of the New York Cello Society Rising Star Award. His credits include numerous performances at many prominent concert venues throughout his native Russia, including both St. Petersburg Philharmonic Halls, the conservatoire halls of Moscow and St. Petersburg, respectively, and the Mariinsky Theater. Mr. Kouzov made his New York orchestral debut at Alice Tully Hall in 2005, under the baton of Maestro Raymond Leppard. Since that time, he has also made recital appearances in New York at 92nd Street Y and Bargemusic.

Highlights of Mr. Kouzov recent seasons include his debuts with the the Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic, recordings with the Sinfonia Varsovia and St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestras, solo appearances with the chamber orchestra “Soloists of St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society”, duo recitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg with all Brahms and Beethoven Sonatas with the prominent Russian pianist Peter Laul, and chamber music appearances at the Ravinia and Caramoor Festivals Rising Stars Series. As a recording artist, Mr. Kouzov is featured on Naxos, Marquis Classics, Onyx and Albany recording labels.

Mr. Kouzov has appeared in command performances before Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. In 2005 and 2006, he was a guest artist at the Verbier Festival, International Bach Festival (Switzerland) and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany). Additionally, he has performed at the “May of Janacek” International Festival (Czech Republic), and at the “Art-November” International Festival (Russia), and the “Kiev Summer Music Nights” International Festival, amongst others.

A consummate chamber musician, Mr. Kouzov has collaborated with Joshua Bell, Yuri Bashmet, Krzysztof Penderecki, Evgenii Sudbin, Nichloas Angelich, Ilya Gringolts, and Pacifica Quartet among others. Mr. Kouzov is a founding member of the Manhattan Piano Trio, with whom he has toured extensively throughout United States and captured First Prizes at the Plowman and Yellow Springs National Chamber Music Competitions.

In addition to his concert activities, Mr. Kouzov is a devoted teacher. Currently Mr. Kouzov is an Assistant Professor of Cello at the University of Illinois. Prior to this appointment he was on faculty at the Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory. Mr. Kouzov holds Bachelors & Masters of Music degrees from the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, and Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School in New York. His principal teachers have included Professors Mark Reizenshtock, Victoria Yagling, Joel Krosnick, and Darrett Adkins.

 

Gary Levinson

Gary Levinson enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician and a pedagogue. In 2013 he accepted the prestigious post of Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. Praised for his intense musicality and adroit technique by American and European critics, he has served as the Senior Principal Associate Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony since 2002. He was chosen by Zubin Mehta to join the New York Philharmonic before the completion of his undergraduate degree from the Juilliard School in 1988. Mr. Levinson then made his New York Philharmonic solo debut in 1991, under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf , coinciding with the completion of his Master’s of Music degree at the Juilliard School, where his teachers included Dorothy DeLay, Glenn Dicterow and Felix Galimir. 

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Levinson began studying the violin at the age of five with Professor Sergeev at the Leningrad Special Music School. After immigrating to the United States in 1977, he won the top prize at the 1986 Romano Romanini International Violin Competition in Brescia, Italy, as well as becoming the top American Prize winner at the 1987 Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competition in Paris, France.

As a soloist, Mr. Levinson has collaborated with Erich Leinsdorf, Jaap van Zweden, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and others. Much sought-after as a chamber musician, Mr. Levinson has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Eugenia Zukerman, Lukas Foss, Carter Brey, Christopher O’Riley and Adam Neiman. Along with Ms. Zukerman and Mr. Neiman, they perform as Trio Virtuosi internationally. In March 1998, Mr. Levinson was appointed as the first violinist of the Elysium String Quartet. He led the inaugural season of the Mykonos International Music Festival in August 1998 as well as a gala concert honoring the Elysium String Quartet at the United States Ambassador’s Residence in Athens, Greece.

The summer season takes him to various music festivals, such as the Strings Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the Sunflower Music Festival, the Florida Music Festival in Sarasota, Florida, the Utah Music Festival in Park City, Utah and the Arcady Music Festival in Maine. He served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival from 2001-2010. Abroad, he was featured in the Banhoff Rolandseck Festival, Germany in 1990 and South Korea in 1990 and 1994.

A champion of contemporary music, Mr. Levinson recorded the Margaret Brouwer Violin Concerto under the baton of 2012 Musical America’s Conductor of the Year, Jaap van Zweden in 2012. He premiered and recorded several works dedicated to Mr. Levinson by award winning Iranian composer, Behzad Ranjbaran. In 1996 he, along with his father, renowned double bassist Eugene Levinson, recorded the world premiere for CALA Records of Dances of Life, a bass and violin duo, written for and dedicated to the Levinsons. Mr. Levinson also collaborated with New York Philharmonic Principal English Hornist Thomas Stacy in a CD for CALA’s New York Legends series. He recorded mixed ensemble chamber works of George Tsontakis, with a recording to be released under the E1International label. In it he is collaborating with Lawrence Dutton, Melvin Chen, Robert Jolley, Sophie Shao and others.

The complete Beethoven Violin and Piano Sonatas with acclaimed pianist Daredjan Kakouberi were released in August, 2011. The Vivaldi Four Seasons and the Brouwer Violin Concerto are due out in 2013. His CD, “My New York Years”, debuted to critical acclaim in January 2007. In the summer of 1999, Mr. Levinson completed a critically acclaimed all Mozart CD, featuring the Elysium String Quartet and three New York Philharmonic principals – Stanley Drucker, clarinet, Joseph Robinson, oboe and L. William Kuyper, French Horn. The American Record Guide hailed it “utterly Mozartean…full of good spirits and a real sense of occasion”. The CD is currently available. In the summer of 1999, Lucas Foss chose Mr. Levinson and the ESQ to collaborate with him on an all-Bach CD of works never before recorded in that artists’ distinguished career.

Mr. Levinson performs on an Antonio Stradivari violin, crafted in 1726. It is graciously made available for his use by the Dallas Symphony Association.

 

 

Michael Klotz

Born in 1978 in Rochester, NY, Michael Klotz made his solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic at the age of 17. He has also appeared as soloist with the Miami Symphony, Boca Raton Symphonia, FIU Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, Mannes Bach Festival Orchestra, Bowdoin Festival Orchestra, and the World Youth Symphony in London, England. Of a recent performance of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with violist Roberto Diaz, the Portland Press-Herald proclaimed, “this concert squelched all viola jokes, now and forever, due to the talents of Diaz and Klotz.”

Michael Klotz joined the Amernet String Quartet in 2002 and has toured the US, Canada, Mexico, Israel, Japan, Korea, Romania, Colombia, Belgium, and Spain with the ensemble. Klotz has performed at some of New York’s most important venues, such as Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, MoMA, Bargemusic, and the Kosciuzsko Foundation. His festival appearances have included Seattle, Newport, Caramoor, Festival Mozaic, Great Lakes, Skaneateles, Virginia Tech Vocal Arts and Music Festival, Beverly Hills, Music Mountain, Bowdoin, Madeline Island, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, and Miami Mainly Mozart.

Mr. Klotz regularly performs with many of today’s most esteemed artists, appearing as guest violist with Shanghai, Ying, and Borromeo String Quartets, and collaborating with artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Arnold Steinhardt, James Ehnes, Vadim Gluzman, Gary Hoffman, Michael Tree, Robert DeMaine, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, James Tocco, William VerMuelen, Joel Smirnoff, Marc Johnson, Clive Greensmith, Fred Sherry, Toby Appel, Anthony McGill and Alexander Fiterstein, as well as with principal players of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, MET Orchestra, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, he was was invited by Maestro Jaime Laredo to perform with distinguished alumni at the 30th anniversary concert of the New York String Orchestra Seminar in Carnegie Hall.

Michael Klotz is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate. In 2002 he became one of the few individuals to be awarded a double Master’s Degree in violin and viola from the Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the Tokyo Foundation and Gluck Fellowships. His teachers and influences include Zvi Zeitlin, Lewis Kaplan, Toby Appel, Peter Kamnitzer, and Shmuel Ashkenasi. Also a dedicated teacher, Mr. Klotz is Artist-in-Residence at Florida International University, where he teaches viola and chamber music. He has also been a member of the artist faculty of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, and the Killington Music Festival. His former students currently attend and are graduates of prestigious conservatories, including the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music and are already achieving leading roles in the music world. Michael was featured in the November 2013 issue of the “Alumni Spotlight” in the Juilliard Journal and as the subject of Strad Magazine’s “Ask the Teacher” column in the November 2013 issue. Michael Klotz resides in Hallandale Beach, FL with his wife Kelly and sons Jacob and Natan, as well as three dogs and two cats.

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