Maja Bogdanovic / Maria Belooussova EASTERN WIND

Reinhold Glière was born in Kiev but was of German-Polish heritage; he changed his surname from Glier to Glière in 1900, giving rise to the notion that he was of Gallic ancestry. His education began in Kiev before he embarked on studies at the Moscow Conservatory in 1894, learning composition with the likes of Arensky, Taneyev, and Ippolitov-Ivanov (who in turn had been taught by Rimsky-Korsakov). A few years after graduation came a move to Berlin, in 1905, but Glière returned to his roots both at the Kiev Conservatory (between 1913 and 1920), and back at the Moscow Conservatory (1920-41). His teaching career spanned some 40 years, and his students included Aram Khachaturian and the conductor Serge Koussevitzky. Glière’s works found favour with the Soviet authorities owing to their blend of nationalism and conservatism. Today, he is generally best known for his sumptuous orchestral and ballet scores, but his chamber works reward closer attention. Indeed, the composer himself was a violinist, and a chamber musician of some note. (Joanna Wyld)

Following her recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall, The Strad hailed cellist Maja Bogdanovic for “an outstanding performance of exceptional tonal beauty and great maturity of interpretation.”

Born in Belgrade/Serbia, Ms. Bogdanovic began playing cello at a very early age, studying with Professor Nada Jovanovic at the Music School Kosta Manojlovic in Zemun. She graduated with the First Prize from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she completed her postgraduate course with Michel Strauss, and pursued further studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Professor Jens Peter Maintz.

Laureate of numerous international competitions, Ms. Bogdanovic won First Prize at the Aldo Parisot Cello Competition in South Korea, and received Second Prize and the Special Audience Award at the Gaspar Cassado International Competition in Tokyo.

The Russian-born pianist Maria Belooussova’s early soundscape was nourished by music and Russian folk-tales, leading her to embrace new and classical repertoires, expressed most profoundly by her extensive work as a chamber music and vocal accompanist.

Trained from the age of five at the musical school for talented children in her hometown, then at the Ural State Conservatory and later at Moscow’s prestigious Gnessin Institute under Vladimir Tropp, she furthered her studies with Christian Ivaldi at the Paris Conservatoire, eventually settling there.

Her poetic and inspired performances have led her to play with such leading artists as Gérard Jarry, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Ivry Gitlis, Vladimir Mendeslssohn, Michel Strauss, Bernard Greenhouse and Joseph Silverstein, and she is a favourite of the Austrian baritone Wolfganz Holzmair.  In so doing, she has performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertegebouw, and in leading European Festivals.

Maria Belooussova’s passion for the music of our time has led her to work with internationnally recognized composers, including Krzysztof Penderecki, Sofia Goubaïdoulina, Philippe Hersant and Thierry Escaich, to name but a few. She has been a member of the contemporary ensemble Musique Oblique since 1999.