Belgian violinist Marc Bouchkov continues packed 2023 season following performance of Alexey Shor's music at InClassica 2023

First prizewinner at the Montreal International Violin Competition and silver medallist of the Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition, violinist Marc Bouchkov has long been one of Belgium’s biggest cultural exports.

The artist (pictured above) currently serves as professor at the Conservatoire Royale de Liège. He frequently gives audiences all around the world a taste of Belgian classical musical heritage. 

And 2023 has so far been no different, with two concerts at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt in January, before a further two performances in Amsterdam’s renowned Concertgebouw in February, where the violinist is currently the artist-in-residence.

Bouchkov then left Europe to visit Dubai at the end of February where he delivered a concert within the 2023 InClassica International Music Festival, alongside the Italian pianist Giuliano Mazzoccante.

Eliciting raucous applause from the Middle Eastern crowds in attendance, the duo took to the stage of Dubai’s illustrious Coca-Cola Arena, where they presented works from Ludwig van Beethoven as well as a contemporary piece from the pen of the festival’s composer-in-residence Alexey Shor (pictured below), entitled Verdiana. 

“It is a fun work”, the violinist remarked, “and it was a really warm welcome. I heard very good positive feedback from the audience, so I guess they liked the piece and they liked the performance”.

Bouchkov’s colleague on stage shared these sentiments, and also commented on how much fun he had performing with the Belgian violinist, noting that “it was a very fun evening, and such a joy to play with Marc, he’s a really amazing musician as one expects, and we had very good communication and understanding from the beginning”.

Following the concert in Dubai, Bouchkov also spoke about the many exciting events spread out across the remainder of this concert season, starting with a busy March that saw him deliver an astonishing seven concerts over three weeks, including stops at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Barcelona’s L'Auditori, Ingolstadt’s Stadttheater Ingolstadt, and the Teatro Civico in the Italian city of Vercelli. 

At the beginning of April, the violinist appeared at Schloss Elmau in Germany for a recital in collaboration with the acclaimed pianist Evgeny Kissin, with two further dates coming up on the 23rd and 24th at the Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Halle in Halle, Germany, alongside the Staatskapelle Halle orchestra and conductor Fabrice Bollon.

Bouchkov will then present four concerts across May and June, starting with a trip to Hungary on 12 May  for an evening at Budapest’s Liszt Academy Grand Hall with the MAV Symphony Orchestra, who will be led by Péter Csaba. This is followed by a performance at the Stadthalle Hagen in Germany where the violinist will team up with conductor Joseph Trafton and the Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen.

In June, the Belgian musical virtuoso is set to appear at the Concertgebouw once again on the 3rd and 4th of the month, along with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest under the baton of Hannu Lintu, before making his return to Schloss Elmau on 24 June to present a recital with Julien Quentin, as well as a number of chamber works with Misha Maisky and Lukas Geniusas. This venue will also mark the location of Bouchkov’s final appearance for the 2022/2023 season, which will take place on the 15th of August and feature the additional talents of Tsotne Zedginidze. 

For more details about Marc Bouchkov’s upcoming engagements, as well as further information about his plans for the 2023/2024 season, please visit his official website here. 

Photo: Marc Bouchkov performing at Coca Cola Arena at InClassica in Dubai 2023 ©InClassica Festival; Alexey Shor ©InClassica Festival