ALL TRACKS ON THIS PAGE
PRODUCED BY SAMSONOV
SAMSONOV MUSIC About:
Born in Moscow, Andrei began his studies at the Gnessin School of Music, where he started playing the clarinet in 1984. In the same year, he also appeared on stage at the prestigious "Sovremennik", Moscow Contemporary Theatre as a dramatic actor. Samsonov continued to tour with the company until he was 16, when he opted for a musical career. Samsonov performed his first concerto as a soloist whilst at Gnessin, at the age of 10. By the time he was 14, he had toured more than fifty cities in Europe and Asia. He made his English debut at Cambridge University Hall and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1989. In 1990 (the 300th anniversary of the clarinet) he won first prize at the Russian National Competition of woodwind players and in 1991 was awarded the last Grand Prix of the USSR Woodwind competition. Since that time, Samsonov has taken part in the organisation of the annual musical festival "Just Friends" in St. Petersburg. He has performed as soloist with such artists as Vladimir Mischuk, Vadim Repin, Anton Barakhovsky, Kiril Kravtsov, Aleksandr Melnikov, Dmitry Bashkirov, The St. Petersburg Quartet, The St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Moscow soloists (with Yury Bashmet). In 1992, Samsonov moved to London to study at the Royal College of Music as a Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholar. He played his London debut in March 1993 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, performing Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, and during this time he had studied with Colin Bradbury, Gervase de Peyer, Ivan Mozgovenko and Nikolai Volkov. For the past few years, Samsonov has performed as a soloist in Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Greece, including recitals at the Bath Music Festival, Sintra Festival, and the Bolshoi Hall of Moscow Conservatory, concentrating especially on contemporary works for solo clarinet. Determined to undertake a different kind of musical and artistic journey of his own creation, Samsonov joined the Parallel Series of Mute Records in 1997 and released his "Void In" album, an electro-acoustical study of subconscious sensations and emotions experienced through sound. The release of the album coincided with a performance at London's Purcell Room, in February, 1997. In the same year Samsonov had an exhibition of his paintings and collages at the South Bank Centre in London. Andrei has now recorded two new works: "Polusa", a piece for synthesisers and solo orchestral instruments; and "The Red Desert", a piece for synthesisers, chamber orchestra, soprano and bass. He is also working on an exhibition of his paintings at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Other recent work includes a series of concerts and radio programmes with electronic and acoustic instruments entitled "The Pre-Dawn Poetry of Ancient China", collaboration on an album and tour with the distinguished Tuvian singer Sankho Namtchuak, and a three CD project of music to compliment a special edition of Russian contemporary poetry.
Andrei Samsonov
Producer/Mixer
YogoYogo
