Orest Smovzh — violin
Ukrainian-born violinist Orest Smovzh is taking most interest in artistic collaborations, recital repertoire, creating unusual programs, and solo violin performances. In addition to performing – Orest is dedicated to organizing festivals, promoting contemporary music, historically informed
performance, music journalism, and conducting. For the last few years, he works under the mentorship of Midori.
Orest collaborated in chamber performances with the members of Orchestre des Champs- Élysées, Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy, pianists Thomas Hoppe, Albert Tiu, Fazıl Say, cellist Michael Kannen, violinist Vadim Gluzman. He recently received most memorable coachings from pianists
Ferenc Rados, Leon Fleisher, Jeffrey Kahane, Ellen Mack, conductor Gyorgy Takacs-Nagy, baritone Thomas Hampson and lute player Nigel North. As a soloist, he took part in historically informed performances with Masaaki Suzuki in Singapore and USC Baroque Sinfonia in Los Angeles, as well as participated in several outreach projects in Mexico, USA, and Japan.
Orest commissioned and premiered around 40 works from the leading composers of Ukraine, as well as Singapore and USA. He is a co-founder of Dzenzelivka Classical Week – the first Ukrainian chamber music festival in a village, where he was the Artistic Director for 8 years; Collegium Musicum Lviv – one of the most vibrant concert organizations of Ukraine; Melaka Classics – an innovative project in Malaysia, as well as a member of Kyiv Contemporary Music Days where he forms concert programs and writes program notes.
Winner of 2015 Tadeusz Wroński Violin Solo Competition and the finalist of 2018 George Enescu Violin Competition, Orest has performed on instruments by Guarneri del Gesù, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, and others, loaned by late Mr. Rin Kei Mei and private collections. He appeared as a soloist with George Enescu Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra, Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra, Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ukrainian Festival Orchestra, in such iconic halls as Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Hitachi Systems Hall in Sendai among others. His performances were broadcasted by Medici, Danish Broadcast Corporation, Kol Ha Musica, WXQR, and The National Radio Company of Ukraine.
Orest holds degrees from the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, and Peabody Institute in Baltimore, where he studied with Yaroslava Rivnyak, Dmytro Tkachenko, Qian Zhou, Midori, and participated in masterclasses by Vadym Repin, Ilya Gringolts, Ivry Gitlis, Pierre Amoyal, Nam Yun Kim, Pinchas Zukerman, Petru Munteanu, Kszysztof Węgrzyn, and David Takeno.