About
Emil Israel Chudnovsky hearkens back to the grand romantic tradition of the golden age of violinists. His lush sound and inimitable ability to connect with audiences have garnered him accolades from listeners, presenters and critics alike. Recent seasons have been full of firsts, including his debut this season at the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea with the KammerSymphonie Berlin, and his recent inaugural recording with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Equally notable benchmarks include Chudnovsky’s debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in Mexico, when he replaced an indisposed soloist for a previously unknown concerto on ten days’ notice. Other recent appearances included Chudnovsky’s recital debut in Auckland, New Zealand, and concert debuts with the Macon Symphony, the Palm Beach Symphony and the Orquesta de la Ciudad de los Reyes in Lima, Peru. On radio, Chudnovsky has been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today”, Boston’s WGBH and the UK’s BBC3. His chamber music activity has also been intense, with repeated festival appearances at the famed Newport Music Festival and at Germany’s Henselt Festival, as well as concerts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, New York’s Merkin Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall.
A veteran of the competition circuit, Chudnovsky is the winner of top prizes from nine international competitions. He holds 1st Prize from the XI International Curci Violin Competition (Naples), 1st Prize from the Young Artists Competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs and, most recently, 1st prize from the Valsesia-Musica International Violin Competition (Milan). Twice a laureate of the “Premio Paganini” International Competition, he also holds 2nd Prize from the D’Angelo International Competition, as well as awards from the Rodolfo Lipizer, Szeryng and Enescu international competitions.
Chudnovsky has performed in Great Britain, Italy, Israel, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. In the United States, he has played recitals and concerts with orchestra in Washington DC, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, New York, South Dakota, Maryland, California and Florida, including multiple appearances at Carnegie Recital Hall, and a debut at the Encore Summer Festival in Ohio that gave him the unique distinction of being the only non-CIM student or alumnus invited to appear on the Festival’s Blue Ribbon series.
Releasing his first solo album, “So, What Have You Done Lately?” in 2000, Chudnovsky followed it in 2002 with a live concert recording of the Bruch and Saint-Saens #3 violin concerti. His third CD – “The Golden Age” (JB Records) – was released in 2005, making him the first American violinist to record in China for a Chinese label. As a frequent soloist with the Israeli chamber orchestra "The King David String Ensemble," Chudnovsky has also toured in Belgium, Turkey, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Burma, and Japan.
Chudnovsky began concertizing at the age of eleven with a solo performance on Uruguayan television and in concert with the Montevideo Chamber Orchestra. The same year, he was featured in a series of live radio broadcasts from the Mostly Mozart Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa. Since then, Chudnovsky has performed to great critical acclaim all over the world, having toured extensively in Europe, Asia, North and South America.
Emil Chudnovsky was born in Moscow, Russia to renowned violinist Nina Beilina and the late eminent opera conductor, Maestro Israel Chudnovsky. After immigrating to the United States, Chudnovsky began violin studies at the Mannes College of Music pre-college division. Having studied at The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, he holds degrees from the Mannes College of Music and Yale University.
Chudnovsky plays on a copy of the ex-Joachim del Gesu made for him in July 2010 by Howard Needham.