Photo by Bauwerks Photography Studio
Violinist Igor Kalnin has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and an orchestra leader. A native of Russia, he started his professional career as a faculty member at Glinka State Conservatory in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and later joined Chamber Orchestra Kremlin in Moscow. After relocating to the United States in 2004, he served as Violin Instructor at Yale University and Assistant Professor of Violin at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, as well as a leader for several orchestras on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Presently, he is Artist-Teacher of Violin/Assistant Professor at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. During the summer season, he teaches at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, where he also serves as Concertmaster of Blue Lake Festival Orchestra and conducts Advanced Chamber Orchestra.
As a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, he performed in various venues around the world, including the Golden Hall at Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and DiMenna Center in New York, Slovak National Theater in Bratislava, Slovakia, Rachmaninov Hall at Moscow Conservatory in Russia, and the Grand Hall at Uzbekistan State Conservatory in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The News-Gazette praised his performance of “The Lark Ascending” by Vaughan Williams with Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra for the “full rich tone, ... exquisite taste, and admirable skill.” The Uzbekistan News (www.nuz.uz) described his performance of Sibelius Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan as “fresh, natural, and impeccably virtuosic” and noted his interpretation for “flexible phrasing, clarity of articulation, ... and the sense of unity with the conductor and orchestra.” His solo collaborations included Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Kostroma Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Sinfonia da Camera, Jackson Symphony (MI), Salisbury Symphony (MD), Chamber Orchestra Turkistan, Blue Lake Festival Orchestra, Rose Chamber Orchestra, Michigan State University Symphony, and Luther College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, among others. His live solo and chamber music performances have been broadcasted on radio and TV stations in Russia and the United States, including numerous live performances on Blue Lake Public Radio.
An avid proponent of modern music, he commissioned and premiered works by composers from various cultures and backgrounds, including prominent African American composers Jeffrey Mumford and James Lee III, celebrated Uzbek woman composer Dilorom Saidaminova, prolific Spanish composer Salvador Brotons, and rising award-winning Russian composer Anton Prischepa, among others. Together with pianist Rochelle Sennet, he founded Duo MemDi, a forefront chamber group, which focuses on performing repertoire by memory and increasing diversity in the world of classical music by commissioning and performing music of underrepresented composers. Their first recording project “Gathering Shatters” was released on Albany Records in the Fall of 2018. The recording highlights a few of the many approaches to incorporating folk music elements in modern classical music, featuring works from the standard repertoire and newly commissioned compositions. He was also a member of Luther College Piano Quartet for seven years, where he was performing and giving masterclasses in the Midwest area.
Throughout his career, he has been passionate about teaching students of all ages. His college and pre-college students have won regional, state, and international competitions, and were accepted to prestigious music programs. As a clinician, he has given masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the United States and internationally. He is a co-founder of the educational project “The Art of Orchestral Playing” at Glinka State Conservatory in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The original idea of the project was to introduce undergraduate and graduate Russian students to the requirements and standard repertoire for auditions in American orchestras, but the range and focus of topics expanded quickly and has included the place of classical music and musicians in the twenty-first century, outreach, and psychology of public performance. He has been giving lectures, masterclasses, and recitals for the project since 2012. He is also serving on the advisory board at the Community Center for the Arts in Urbana, Illinois.
An experienced orchestral musician, he performs regularly as Concertmaster of Blue Lake Festival Orchestra in Michigan and Associate Concertmaster of Sinfonia da Camera in Illinois. Previously, he has served as Concertmaster of Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, Rose Chamber Orchestra, Blue Lake Opera Orchestra, and The Prairie Ensemble, as well as Principal Second Violinist of Lansing Symphony and Waterbury Symphony Orchestras. In addition, he performed as Guest Concertmaster for a number of professional orchestras in Russia and the United States.
Dr. Kalnin holds an undergraduate diploma with distinction from Balakirev Music College, as well as graduate and post-graduate diplomas with distinction from Glinka State Conservatory in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. In the United States, he has earned an Artist Diploma from Yale University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. His teachers include Felix Forschtock, Galy Afanasiev, Hyo Kang, and Walter Verdehr. He is a prizewinner of several international and national violin and chamber music competitions in the United States, Europe, and Russia.