BRASLAVSKY - FINDLAY DUO
Canadian cellist Jeremy Findlay and Russian pianist Elena Braslavsky are a
dynamic duo of two accomplished soloists who found a mutual love of
chamber music when they met in Prague in 1994. They have performed in
numerous prestigious venues and festivals including the Beethoven Festival
in Cracow, International Musicians Seminar in Cornwall England, the
International Chopin festival in Duszniki Poland, the Rudolfinum in Prague,
the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Warsaw
Philharmonic, Izumi Hall in Osaka, St. Lawrence Center in Toronto, Melba
Hall Melbourne, the Coliseo Theatre in Buenos Aires, and Alice Tully Hall
in Lincoln Center, New York.
In
addition to the standard repertoire for cello and piano, they take an
active interest in contemporary music. The Czech composer Jiri Gemrot
dedicated his Sonata for Cello and Piano to the Braslavsky-Findlay Duo and
recently wrote them a Double
Concerto for Cello, Piano, and Orchestra which they premiered at the
Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with the Prague Philharmonia.
Elena
Braslavsky began her studies in her native Moscow at the age of five. In
1979 she graduated Summa Cum Laude from the famous Gnesin School of Music.
After emigrating with her family to the United States, she continued her
studies at the Juilliard School with Leonard Eisner, Nadia Reisenberg, and
Oxana Yablonskaya until receiving her Doctoral Degree in 1991. She
also studied at the Staatlische Hochschule for Music in Cologne, Germany,
as a Fulbright- DAAD scholar.
Braslavsky
has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Salzburg Chamber
Soloists, the Prague Philharmonia, the North Czech Philharmonic, the
Cracow Philharmonic, the Warsaw Camerata, the New Jersey Symphony and also
appeared as a soloist in the German première of the composition
“Alleluia” by Sofia Gubaidulina conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich.
In
addition to her active concert schedule Braslavsky has served on the
faculties of the Juilliard School of Music and Mannes College in New York.
She is currently on the faculty of the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Jeremy
Findlay began cello lessons with his father, William Findlay, as a
scholarship student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
He continued his studies with Daniel Domb at the University of
Toronto where he graduated in 1992. Canada
Council and Ontario Arts Council grants provided the opportunity for
further studies with Josef Chuchro at the Academy of Performing Arts in
Prague and later with Christoph Richter in Germany. Findlay studied
chamber music at the European Mozart Academy under the direction of Sandor
Vegh and also participated in the masterclasses of Steven Isserlis, Boris
Pergamenschikow, and Yo-Yo Ma.
Featured
as a soloist, Findlay has performed and recorded with orchestras including
the Warsaw Radio Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the Cracow
Philhamonic, the Poznan Philharmonic, the North Czech Philharmonic, The
National Orchestra of Malta, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. His most
recent CD of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 was praised
by Sir Roger Norrington: “The whole recording breathes fire, accuracy
and musicality”.