About
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Oleh is an excellent violinist. He is one of few, who truly plays with his heart.
Euhen Stankovich, Chief of Ukrainian National Union of Composers
Oleh Kurochkin
An award winning classical violinist based in Berlin
Principal violinist of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin), international competitions prizewinner, orchestra concertmaster, soloist and passionate chamber musician. Praised by Rheinische Zeitung as “Highest musical delight!” and by Kyiv Daily as a “True virtuoso”, widely recognised as one of the most sought after Ukrainian musicians of his generation.
As a soloist Oleh has toured in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Moldova, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, France, Czech Republic, Great Britain and the United States.
Being an orchestra concertmaster Oleh has performed at the world’s most important venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York, US), Berliner Philharmonie (Berlin, Germany), Royal Albert Hall (London, UK), Auditorio Nacional (Madrid, Spain), Palau de les Arts (Barcelona, Spain), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg, Germany), Tivoli Concert Hall (Copenhagen, Denmark) and regularly leads internationally acclaimed ensembles: Copenhagen Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Mannheim Chamber Orchestra, Filharmonia Franz Schubert, Basler Kammerorchester ‘I TEMPI’, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker, Sofia Philharmonic, Zermatt Festival Orchestra among others.
Over the past years Oleh has been performing at such festivals as BBC Proms, Grafenegg Festival, Zermatt Festival, Rheingau Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Baden-Baden Osterfestspiele, Festival de Paques in Aix-en-Provence, et cetera.
After the graduation from Karajan Academy, Oleh keeps close connection to the Berliner Philharmoniker, appearing with the legendary ensemble in more than a 100 concerts over the past years as well as taking part in numerous recordings.
In the recent years Oleh had a chance to work alongside such conductors as Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Andris Nelsons, Herbert Blomstedt, John Williams, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Kent Nagano, Antonello Manacorda, Gustavo Dudamel, Vladimir Jurowski.
As a dedicated chamber musician Oleh often collaborates with Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Nimrod Ensemble, Ensemble Mini, as well as members of Berliner Philharmoniker and renowned international soloists, such as Renaud Capuçon, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Claudio Bohorquez, Alexander Hülshoff, Pedro Halffter, Valery Sokolov, Tomáš Jamník, Martin Stadtfeld, Evgueni Sinaiski and Dmytro Udovychenko.
Important part of career as a soloist Oleh dedicates to popularisation of Ukrainian music, with an accent on late 20th century and contemporary authors. Being a 1st Prize winner of E.Stankovych International Competition, organized by a national composers society, Oleh on several occasions collaborated with some of the most prominent names in contemporary ukrainian music: Valentyn Silvestrov, Yevhen Stankovych and Myroslav Skoryk as well as many uprising stars of the next generation. In 2024 Oleh performed the German premiere of late romantic Violin Concerto by Ukrainian composer Viktor Kosenko alongside Bochumer Symhoniker under Tung-Chieh Chuang.
Over the past decade Oleh has appeared as a soloist with numerous Symphony and Chamber orchestras, among them nations leading ensembles such as Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, Kyiv Kamerata, Crimea Symphony, Kharkiv Philharmonic, Odesa Philharmonic as well as internationally renowned Bochumer Symphoniker, Brussels Festival Orchestra, Mannheim Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonie of the Nations.
Oleh is a prizewinner of multiple national and international competitions, including the Eugen Coca International Competition, the Ignatius Jan Paderevsky Chamber Ensemble Competition, Eugene Ysaye International Violin Competition.
During his professional studies Oleh has been awarded scholarships by the President of Ukraine, a German State Scholarship, DAAD-Prize, scholarships from the Lions Club, Villa Musica, Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. VERE Music Fund is supporting Oleh by providing a grant. In 2022 Oleh won the annual “Musik:Landschaft Westfallen Festival Award”.
Born in Yevpatoria (Crimea, Ukraine), in a family of musicians, he received first violin lessons at the age of 5.
Winning a Grand-Prix at the National Youth Violin Competition and making his debut as a soloist at the National Philharmonie in Kyiv at the age of 11, ever since Oleh regularly performs at the Ukraine’s most important venues, such as philharmonic halls in Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Lviv as well as numerous recital halls across the country.
Since 2006 Oleh studied at the Kyiv Mykola Lysenko Boarding School, in the class of Prof. Yaroslava Rivnyak. In 2012 he continued his studies at the National Music Academy of Ukraine.
From 2014 Oleh studied at the Robert Schumann High School of Music (Düsseldorf, Germany) in the class of Prof. Ida Bieler. In 2020, he received a Solo Master’s degree from the Folkwang University of Arts (Essen, Germany) in Prof. Boris Garlitsky’s class. Now Oleh is continuing his studies at Folkwang University’s Postgraduate “Konzertexamen” Programm.
Further important artistic impulses Oleh got at the Kronberg Academy and from masterclasses with Pavel Vernikov, Lothar Strauss, Noah Benedix-Balgley and Christophe Horak.
2018-2021 Oleh had a privilege to play a historical violin by Pietro Guarneri ‘Ex-Franz Schubert’ (1701, Mantua) on a loan from a collection of Rheinland-Palatinate Cultural Fundation.
Currently Oleh plays a rare Italian violin by Antonio Gragnani (1790, Livorno), on generous loan from an anonymous donor