Goldsmiths - University of London

Professor Alexander Ivashkin M.M., D.M.A., PhD, DMus

Personal website: www.alexanderivashkin.com

Alexander Ivashkin is a cellist, conductor and writer. He also plays electric cello, viola de gamba, sitar and piano. His recitals, radio and TV recordings, and appearances with orchestras have included performances in more than 40 countries. Alexander Ivashkin has been a regular guest at important music festivals in Europe, Britain, the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. He appears regularly as soloist with some of the world's leading orchestras.

Alexander Ivashkin has published eighteen books, on Schnittke, Ives, Penderecki, Rostropovich and others, and more than 200 articles in Russia, Germany, Italy, the US, the UK and Japan.

Since 1995 Ivashkin has been Artistic Director of the Adam International Cello Competition and Festival. He is also artistic director of annual festivals in London, including The VTB Capital Prize for Young Cellists. In 1999 he founded a series of Research and performance seminars and symposia at the Centre for Russian Music. He is the curator of Alfred Schnittke Archive at Goldsmiths.

Alexander Ivashkin has been the first performer and dedicatee of many works by great contemporary composers. Along with Mstislav Rostropovich and Natalia Gutman, he is one of the cellists for whom Alfred Schnittke composed. He has actively collaborated with composers such as John Cage, George Crumb, Mauricio Kagel, Krzysztof Penderecki, Peter Sculthorpe, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, Rodion Shchedrin, Nikolai Korndorf, Alexander Raskatov, Vladimir Tarnopolski, Augusta Reid Thomas, James MacMillan, Lyell Cresswell and Gillian Whitehead.

A recording artist for the Chandos, BMG and Naxos labels, Ivashkin has award winning recordings of the complete cello music by Rakhmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Roslavets, Tcherepnine, Schnittke and Kancheli to his credit.

He has taught at schools of music in Russia, the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and conducted masterclasses in many countries. Alexander Ivashkin is also well known as a conductor. He conducts orchestras and choruses in Great Britain, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Armenia, and Azerbajan.

Academic qualifications

MMus in performance (distinction), Russian Academy of Music, Moscow;

MA in historical musicology (distinction), Russian Academy of Music, Moscow;

D.M.A., Russian Academy of Music, Moscow;

Ph.D., Russian State Institute for Arts Studies, Moscow;

D.Mus, Russian State Institute for Arts Studies, Moscow

Teaching

Strategies in Performance (MMus Performance and Related Studies)
Tradition of Practice (MMus Performance and Related Studies)
Soviet Music and Politics (MA)
Advanced Classical Music Performance
Soviet Music and Beyond
Russian Musical Traditions
Chamber Music (UG and PG students)
Goldsmiths Sinfonia
Cello Performance (PG students only)

Areas of supervision

Current PhD students and their fields of study

Alex Eichenberger: Extended cello technique and Hommages a Paul Sacher

Manolis Neophytou: Russian school traditions

Magdalini Nikolaidou : Rakhmaninov and old Russian church traditions

Elena Nalimova ( with Craig Ayrey): Piano music by Galina Ustvolskaya

Drosostalitsa Moraiti: 'Evolution of Alfred Schnittke’s piano style

Rachel Foulds: The Paradox of Galina Ustvolskaya

Elena Artamonova: Twentieth-century Russian music for viola

Cameron Pyke: Britten’s creative response to Russia

Rebecca Turner: Modern technique and aesthetics in the twentieth-century solo cello music

Alex McIntyre ( with Craig Ayrey): Music and ideas of Nikolai Roslavets

Research interests

Music performance, twentieth-century Russian music (particularly Alfred Schnittke), American music (particularly Charles Ives).

Selected publications

Selected books:

(M)other Russia : After Shostakovich. Bloomington-Indianapolis: Indiana University Press in progress)

Dmitri Shostakovich: A Life in Music and  Documents . Edited by Alexander Ivashkin and Andrew Kirkman. Farnham: Ashgate (in progress)

Schnittke Studies . Edited by Alexander Ivashkin. Bloomington-Indianapolis: Indiana University Press (in progress).

Rostropovich. Tokyo: Shunjusha Publishing Company, 2007. 280 pp.

Alfred Schnittke: Stat'I o muzyke [Articles on music] . Edited by Alexander Ivashkin. Moscow: Compozitor, 2003. 407 pp.

A Schnittke Reader. Bloomington /Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2002. 352pp.

Rostrospective (On the Life and Achievement of Mstislav Rostropovich). Frankfurt-Schweinfurth: Reimund Maier Verlag,1997 . 142 pp.

Alfred Schnittke. London: Phaidon Press, 1996, 240 pp.

Besedy s Alfredom Schnittke [Conversations with Alfred Schnittke ]. Moscow: The Culture Publishers, 1994. 304pp. Second, revised edition: Moscow: Klassica-XXI, 2003, 316pp. German Edition: Munich: 1999. Japanese Edition: Tokyo, 2002.

Charles Ives i muzyka XX vieka [Charles Ives and the Twentieth-century music]. Monograph. Moscow, Soviet Composer, 1991. 464pp.

Krzysztof Penderecki. Moscow: Soviet Composer, 1983.  126pp.

Selected articles

Cooling the volcano: Prokofiev’s Cello Concerto Op. 58 and ‘Symphony-Concerto’ Op. 125 . Three Oranges, Journal of the Serge Prokofiev Foundation, No. 18 (November 2009), 7-14.

Podsolnukh [Sunflower]. Rostropovich in memoriam. Muzykal’naya Academia. Moscow , 2007/3: 1 – 16. Short English version: Radius Solis. Three Oranges, Journal of the Serge Prokofiev Foundation, No. 14 (November 2007),., 25 – 27.

Dvoinaya pererabotka otkhodov v sovetskoi muzyke [Double recycling in Soviet music]. In:  Iskusstvo XX veka : elite i massy [ The twentieth-century Art: Elite and Masses]. Nizhny Novgorod: The Glinka Conservatoire Press, 2005: 12- 18.

Logic of Absurdity or Taste of Freedom? Alexander Knaifel and his opera 'Alice in Wonderland'. Tempo, 219 , 2002: 34-35

Alfred Schnittke.  New Grove Dictionary. London: Macmillan. 2001 ( with Ivan Moody)

‘…und wenn es mir den Hals bricht’.  Zum Gedenken an Alfred Schnittke. MusikTexte. Heft 78, March 1999: 27- 31.

Shostakovich and Schnittke: the erosion of symphonic syntax. In D.Fanning (ed.) Shostakovich Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995: 252-268.

The paradox of Russian Non-Liberty. The Musical Quarterly, vol.76, no.4, 1992: 543-556.

Die Musik als grosse Buhne.  In  Kagel . . .1991.   Köln: DuMont Buchverlag, 1991:110-119.

Charles Ives : Otkrytie Ameriki. In  Zapadnoye Iskusstvo. XX vek. [ Charles Ives: discovery of the America.  In  Western Art. XX Century].  Moscow: Nauka, 1991: 222-247.

Sowietische Musik.  Von der Struktur zum Symbol.  In Sowietische Musik im Licht der Perestroika.  Berlin: Laaber, 1990:109-117.

Post-October Soviet art: canon and symbol. The Musical Quarterly, vol.74, no. 2,1990: 350 - 368.

Music Scores Edited

Sergei Rakhmaninov. Melody on a Theme for cello and piano. First publication. Edited and prefaced by Alexander Ivashkin and Rustem Hayroudinoff. Hamburg: Hans Sikorski Musikverlage, 2010  (in preparation).

Alfred Schnittke . Collected Works. Critical Edition in sixty three volumes.  Compiled and prefaced by Alexander Ivashkin. St.Petersburg: Compozitor,  2009 - .  Alexander Ivashkin, Editor-in-chief (in progress).

Alexander Grechaninov. Cello Concerto ( 1895). Performance edition from the manuscript.  Moscow: State Symphony Capella, 1998.

Frangiz Ali-Zade. Habil-Sayahy  for cello and piano. Edited and  prefaced by Alexander Ivashkin.  Hamburg, Hans Sikorski Internationale Musikverlage, 1991.

Twentieth-century American piano music. Compiled, prefaced and commented by Alexander Ivashkin. Moscow: Muzika State Publishers, 1991.

Charles Ives. Works for Orchestra. Critical Edition. Compiled, prefaced and commented by Alexander Ivashkin. Kiev, 'Muzychna Ukraina', 1990.

Selected recordings

Alexander Gretchaninov. Cello Concerto, op . 8 ( 1895). Discovered and edited by Alexander Ivashkin. Chandos, 1997 CHAN 9559. World premiere recording.

Unknown Shostakovich: Schumann - Shostakovich .Cello Concerto, op.129/126; Tishchenko-Shostakovich. Cello Concerto No.1. with Russian State SO. Chandos, CHAN 9792 England.World premiere recording.

Under the Southern Cross. New music for solo cello from Australia and New Zealand. BMG,1999. Recording Industry Award, 1999.

Unknown Prokofiev : Concerto for cello &orchestra op.58, Concertino op 132, orchestrated by V.Blok, Cadenza by A.Schnittke, with Russian State SO Chandos,CHAN 9890 , 2001. World premiere recording. The Strad Selection, July 2001.

Nikolai Roslavets . Complete Music for cello and piano. Alexander Ivashkin, Tatyana Lazareva. Chandos, CHAN 9881, 2001. World premiere recording. 'CD of the month', BBC Music Magazine, April. 2001.

Gubaidulina and Cello. Chandos, CHAN 9958. 2001. World premiere recording.

An Introduction to Nikolai Korndorf : Passacaglia for cello solo ( dedicated to Alexander Ivashkin), String Trio, Piano Trio (with Patricia Kopachinskaya, Daniel Raiskin, Ivan Sokolov). Megadisc 7817 (Belgium), World premiere recording.

An Introduction to Dmitry Smirnov: Sonata for cello and piano, 'Postlude' for cello solo (dedicated to AI), Piano Trio (with Patricia Kopachinskaya, Ivan Sokolov). Magadisc 7818 (Belgium), 2001. World premiere recording.

Myaskovsky.. Cello Concerto (+ Symphony No 27). With Russian State SO,. Chandos, CHAN 10025, England, 2002.

Rakhmaninoiv. Complete Cello/piano Music ( with Rustem Hayroudinoff), including two world premiere recordings. Chandos, England, CHAN 10095, 2004.

Kancheli. Simi; Mourned by the wind , for cello and orchestra. Chandos, CHAN 10297, 2005.

Shostakovich. Cello Concertos, Nos 1 and 2. With Russian State SO. Brilliant Classics 7620, Holland, 2006.

Alexander Ivashkin plays Schnittke ( Double CD). Complete Concertos and Sonatas for cello by Schnittke. Chandos, England, CHAN 241-39, 2007. Best Re-issue of the month – Gramophone.

Due Celli ( Music by Pergolesi, Vivaldi, Boccherini, Boismortier, Mozart, Schnittke and Hindemith) with Natalia Pavlutskaya. . Alma Classics , New Zealand/Australia, 2007.

Alexander Ivashkin plays Prokofiev ( Double CD). Complete Concertos and Sonatas for cello by Prokofiev. Chandos, England, CHAN 241-41, 2008.

Pacific Voyage . Improvisations with Fijian and Maori musicians . Alma Classics, Auckland, New Zealand, MANU 5028, 2009.

Grants & awards

Bronze Medal at the International Competition in New York , 1994
Diapason D'Or Award, France, 1994
Georges Soros Foundation Grant, 1994
National Award of Excellence, for the achievements in performance, education and research, New Zealand, 1996
Eva Janzer Cello Society Award , from the Indiana University School of Music, USA, 1997
The International Recording Industry Award, 1999
Best CD in the last 5 years - 'Fanfare', USA, 2000
Best CD of the year, BBC Music Magazine, December 2001
The Leverhulme Trust Award, UK, 2001
International Who is Who in Music , 2001
Russian Oil Company ‘Lukoil’ Award, Russia, 2003
British Academy Award, UK, 2007, 2003
Arts and Humanities Research Council Award , UK, 2007, 2005
The VTB Capital Grant, London, 2008
Fine Violins Grant, London, 2009
J@A Beare Grant, London, 2009
Russian Government Grant, Russia, 2009