Vera Zhuk – violin
Vienna-based Ukrainian violinist Vira Zhuk, is proudly continuing the rich traditions of the Ukrainian school of violin performance, that have been passed down to her directly from the great David Oistrakh via her mentors in Ukraine and Austria. Zhuk effortlessly combines the Ukrainian virtuosity and deep melancholic tone with the finesse of Viennese musicianship. As a soloist and a chamber musician she has performed in 30 countries on five continents, at prestigious venues such as the Musikverein Wien, Konzerhaus Wien, Flagey in Brussels, ORF RadioKulturhaus, Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid, Danish Royal Opera, Süreyya Opera in Istanbul, and many others. Vira Zhuk is a founding member of the Trio Immersio, that has been distinguished with a number of awards and prizes including the Brivio Sforza Award of Le Dimore del Quarteto as one of the best ensembles, the prestigious New Sound of Austrian Music award of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs given to selected musicians to bear the honor of representing the musical culture and traditions of Austria all over the globe. Trio Immersio is also the winner of Bank of Austria Prix d’Arts.
Іn the last seasons Vira Zhuk was invited as a jury member of Shenzhen International String Competition in China, as a violin instructor at Vienna Workshop and gave master classes at Tarapaca Musica Festival in Chile, Clasclas Festival in Spain and Morelia Music Festival in Mexico. Vira has been in the spotlight of the national musical arena from a very early age. Her extraordinary talent has led to appearances in the biggest concert venues in Ukraine such as the Grand Hall of National Philharmonie at the age of seven and a debut as a soloist with the J. S. Bach concerto when she was ten. After several years of guidance from Lyobov Marinenko, Vira entered the Lysenko Music School for gifted children in Kyiv to continue working with the famous Yaroslawa Rivnyak. In her school years Vira has been invited to perform at various national and international festivals such as Kunst verbindet, New names – young stars of Ukraine, Vladimir Horowitz Foundation Festival, Festival di Spoleto, Festival di Musica di Portogruaro, Eilat International Chamber Music Festival, Festival Lucca Estate just to name a few.
Immediately after graduating from the Music Gymnasium in Kyiv, Vira moved to Vienna to continue her studies with the legendary violinist Pavel Vernikov at the Musik und Kunst Universität der Stadt Wien. Also, Vira won the scolarschip of the International competition training course at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence. Vira’s musical development has been influenced by artistic impulses from Mauricio Fuks, Alfred Brendel, and Menahem Pressler.