Background
Ignat Solzhenitsyn was born in Moscow in 1972, the middle son of the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Ignat Solzhenitsyn was born in Moscow in 1972, the middle son of the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
He studied piano in London with Maria Curcio, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel, and then with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute, where he also majored in conducting under Otto-Werner Mueller.
As conductor, Solzhenitsyn has led the symphonies of Baltimore, Buffalo, Dallas, Indianapolis, Nashville, New Jersey, North Carolina, Seattle, Toledo, and Toronto, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, as well as many of the major orchestras in Russia including the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Saint St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Moscow Symphony, and the Ural Philharmonic. He has partnered with such world-renowned soloists as Richard Goode, Gary Graffman, Steven Isserlis, Leila Josefowicz, Sylvia McNair, Garrick Ohlsson, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Mitsuko Uchida. In recent seasons, his extensive touring schedule in the United States and Europe has included concerto performances with numerous major orchestras, including those of Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Los Angeles, Seattle, Baltimore, Washington, Montreal, Toronto, London, Paris, Saint St. Petersburg, Israel, and Sydney, and collaborations with such distinguished conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, James Conlon, James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, Lawrence Foster, Valery Gergiev, Krzysztof Penderecki, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, Gerard Schwarz, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jerzy Semkow, Maxim Shostakovich, Yuri Temirkanov, and David Zinman.
In addition to his recital appearances in the United States at New York"s 92nd Street Y, Philadelphia"s Kimmel Center, Ann Arbor"s Hill Auditorium, Saint Paul"s Ordway Theatre, Salt Lake City"s Abravanel Hall, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, and many others from coast to coast, Solzhenitsyn has also given numerous recitals in Europe and the Far East in such major musical centers as London, Milan, Zurich, Moscow, Tokyo, and Sydney.
An avid chamber musician, Solzhenitsyn has collaborated with the Emerson, Borodin, Brentano, Saint St. Petersburg and Lydian String Quartets, and in four-hand recital with Mitsuko Uchida. He has frequently appeared at international festivals, including Salzburg, Evian, Ludwigsburg, Caramoor, Ojai, Marlboro, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow’s famed December Evenings.
He has been featured on many radio and television specials, including Columbia Broadcasting System Sunday Morning and American Broadcasting Company’s Nightline.