Valeriy Sokolov

Born in 1986 in Kharkov, Ukraine, Valery Sokolov began the violin when he was five. Aged nine, he was admitted into the Class of Professor Sergueï Evdokimov at the Kharkov “Secondary Special Music School”.

He was just 11 when he appeared as soloist with orchestra for the first time, performing Vieuxtemps’ 5th Concerto. In 1999, just two years later, and following successes at home in Ukraine and... in international competitions in Eastern Europe, he was awarded the Study Grant Prize at the Pablo Sarasate Competition in Pamplona, Spain. Funded by Vladimir Spivakov, the prize provided a scholarship for Valery to pursue his studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. The same year he also appeared as a soloist in a concert given by the Moscow Virtuosi, conducted by Spivakov. Valery has taken part in Masterclasses given by Mstislav Rostropovich, Zvi Zeitlin and Dora Schwarzberg, Zakhar Bron, Ruggiero Ricci and Igor Ozim (1999).

In 2001 and the following years, he studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Natalia Boyarskaya’s class, and featured in the numerous concerts given by the school, either as soloist or as chamber musician. He performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto for the first time in Britain, in July 2003. He now studies at the Royal College of Music in London.

He has continued to win prizes, both in England and abroad. In 2003, he was awarded Third Prize at the Liana Issakadze International Violin Competition in St Petersburg, and in September 2005 he not only won the “Grand Prix of the George Enescu International Competition” in Bucharest, but also the award for “Best performance of Enescu’s Third Sonata, as well as the “Enescu Foundation Prize”

Recent performances have included recitals at the Louvre and Radio France, Paris, Auditorium, Lyon, Ginza Yamaha Hall, Tokyo and Lincoln Theater, Miami as well as concert performances with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Ivor Bolton, Orchestre National de Bordeaux/Hannu Lintu and Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Walter Weller. During the 2006/7 season Valery's concert appearances included concerts with the Tonhalle Orchestra/David Zinman and the Gulbenkian Orchestra/Rudolf Barshai as well as recitals at the Chatelet, Paris and Gstaad Festival and return visits to Orchestre de Bordeaux/Kirill Karabits and Auditorium, Lyon. Valery is generously supported by the Accenture Foundation for a period of three years and is part of their young musician scheme.

Virgin Classics, with whom Valery will be signing an exclusive recording contract, have released on DVD A Natural Born Fiddler, a film by renowned film director Bruno Monsaingeon, who presents his film in these terms: "It was in Britain, in the spring of 2003, at the Yehudi Menuhin School, that I first had the opportunity to hear Valery Sokolov play. I had only just learned of his existence when he offered to play me the Ysaÿe Sonata. As he did so, not the slightest tension marred the impression he gave of total ease with his instrument, absolute control of technique, a musical maturity which made the fact that he was only sixteen completely irrelevant, and above all an utter abandonment to the flow of the music… I was seized by a compulsion to try and capture Valeriy Sokolov in all the freshness of his youth as soon as possible. And I did this film… It seems almost superfluous to add that Valeriy is also gifted with unusual charm, spontaneity and ardour. Whatever the future holds in store for him, I am convinced that his radiant personality will come over on the screen and win the hearts of all those who watch him playing."

Bruno Monsaingeon