Valeriy Sokolov, Violin

The Ukrainian violinist, winner of the George Enescu International Violin Competition in Bucharest, Valeriy Sokolov is one of the most outstanding artists of his generation.

Working regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, he has enjoyed collaborations with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre de Paris, Cleveland Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.

Valeriy Sokolov works frequently with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Zinman, Susanna Malkki, Andris Nelsons, Charles Dutoit, Cristian Macelaru, Peter Oundjian, Rafael Payare, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Juraj Valčuha and Kirill Karabits. He has appeared in many major European festivals including Verbier and Lockenhaus, and in 2017 made his recital debut at the Lucerne Festival. Valeriy regularly performs in the major concert halls around the world with highlights including regular Sunday Morning series appearances in Theatre du Chatelet as well as at theprestigious Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, Mariinsky Theatre, Prinzregenten Theatre in Munich and Musikverein in Vienna. As an active chamber music performer Valeriy has collaborated regularly with Gary Hoffman, Gerard Causse, Lisa Batiashvili, Francois Leleux, Nelson Goerner and others.

In the 2023/24 season Valeriy returns to the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover conducted by Stanislav Kochanovsky for Bartok 2 violin concerto, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under the baton of Eivind Gullberg for Sibelius violin concerto, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Guer Aykal for Prokofiev 2 violin concerto, and will make a comeback as a violist performing with the Bournemouth Symphony for Giya Kancheli’s Styx under Kirill Karabits’ baton in his final year as Music Director of the orchestra. Additionally, Valeriy is set to make appearances with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, conducted by Sascha Goetzel for Tchaikovsky violin concerto, as well as with the Houston Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra, both led by Thomas Wilkins, for Barber violin concerto.

The 2022/23 season saw Valeriy return to Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra to deliver several concerts of Sibelius violin concerto and a CD recording of the concerto under the baton of Santtu-Matias Rouvali, to Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo twice – with Kazuki Yamada and Stanislav Kochanovsky, to Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic with Karel Deseure. In addition, Valeriy was Artist in Residence with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, which resulted in a number of orchestral and chamber projects with the orchestra and collaborations with Stanislav Kochanovsky and Roberto Abbado.

The 2021/22 season saw Valeriy return to the SWR Symphonieorchester and Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo with Juraj Valčuha, to the Orchèstre de la Suisse Romande with Charles Dutoit, to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with Kirill Karabits, and give debut performances with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Nicholas Collon, with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala and Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI alongside Valeriy’s close collaborator Juraj Valčuha, and with Kristiansand Symfoniorkester under the baton of Lina González-Granados. Valeriy Sokolov regularly performs with Evgeny Izotov in recital as well as with his own piano trio alongside cellist Gary Hoffman; last season they returned to perform at La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Valeriy has developed a strong and varied catalogue of recordings with Erato Records (formerly EMI Classics), releasing Enescu’s Sonata No. 3 in 2009. His first concerto DVD was of the Sibelius Violin Concerto under Vladimir Ashkenazy and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Bruno Monsaingeon’s film “un violon dans l’âme / Natural Born Fiddler”, a record of Valeriy’s recital in Toulouse in 2004, received much praise from the critics and continues to be frequently broadcast on ARTE TV. In 2010 Valeriy recorded violin concertos of Bartok and Tchaikovsky under the direction of David Zinman and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.