Eugene Astapov has enjoyed an unusually busy career for such a young composer. First coming to Canada at age 14 from Crimea USSR, he quickly established himself as a composer with big aspirations, particularly in orchestral music.
He received a bachelor of music in composition from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Liptak. He compleated a masters in composition at Juilliard, studying with Robert Beaser and Christopher Rouse, and received a diploma in piano performance the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. Most recently, he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Toronto.
His music has been performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Espirit Orchestra, the Penderecki String Quartet, and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne, and featured in concerts at Lincoln Center in New York, the Salle Cortot in Paris, the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Sejong Hall in Seoul, the Banff Center (where he was 2014 Composer in Residence), and the Ravinia Music Festival.
We caught up with Astapov to chat about his work, general tastes, and learn more about his day-to-day:
You can hear his latest work, “Emblem” performed by the Esprit Orchestra at New Wave Reprise at Trinity St. Paul’s Centre on Friday, April 5, 2019, at 7 pm.
Full details and tickets here: www.espritorchestra.com
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Read more Q&A’s HERE.
