lullaby for sophie

PROGRAM NOTE.

When Igor Yuzefovich, Concertmaster of the BBC Symphony, asked me to write an encore for an upcoming performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Singapore Symphony, I asked him whether he preferred a fast or a slow encore. "Fast, fast!" he said. "Hold on", I replied. "I have it on good authority that your wife is about to have your first child, so you're getting a lullaby. A nice, schmaltzy, haunting lullaby." And he agreed and so it was written. Sophie was just two weeks old at the premiere, but she slept through the run-through at the dress rehearsal, so this lullaby has been successfully road-tested. Sophie and her lullaby were well-received by the public and the press, and she's since grown into one of the most beautifully wide-eyed and expressive children I've ever known.

commissioner biography.

Violinist Igor Yuzefovich has most recently been appointed as concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He previously served in the same role with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, The Hong Kong Philharmonic, and prior to that, as Assistant Concertmaster with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to a busy orchestral performing calendar, Igor Yuzefovich continues to be an active chamber musician, often reuniting with the Monument Piano Trio which he co-founded in 2004. The trio made its concert debut in the US to critical acclaim and has since captivated audiences across the United States and in China. Its debut recording, featuring works by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield received high praise from critics and audiences alike.

While Mr. Yuzefovich’s concerts and recitals have taken him from Carnegie Hall to the Cairo Opera House, across Europe and throughout Asia, he has been equally committed to educating the next generation of musicians as an Artist Faculty at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore and is sought after for solo and chamber music masterclasses around the world.

Born into a musical family in Moscow, Russia, Mr. Yuzefovich began his violin studies at the age of 5, and soon after enrolled at the Gnessin Music School, studying with Irina Svetlova. In 1991, Mr. Yuzefovich moved to the United States where he continued his violin studies and later earned advanced degrees from The Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of world renowned pedagogue Victor Danchenko. When he is not leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Yuzefovich can be seen and heard in his frequent appearances as guest concertmaster with many of world’s well-respected orchestras.