The Viola Behind the Iron Curtain: Original Viola Works from the Soviet Era.
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Being fascinated with my family’s Soviet past, my own journey with Soviet music for viola started during my Master’s studies at Juilliard, and was culminated during my DMA studies at the University of Miami. Today I keep conducting my research independently, present on conferences across the world, and publish in different journals such as the Journal of the American Viola Society.
To delimitate the scope of my research, Soviet music refers to works that were composed between the years 1917-1991 in one of the 15 republics that constituted the USSR. My focus is on works that were originally written for the viola (no arrangements or transcriptions), and feature the viola as a solo instrument, with the addition of one or two more instruments, or as soloist with a larger ensemble.
The main component of my dissertation is an annotated catalogue that currently lists more than 320 original works—concerti, sonatas, short works: in various styles and musical languages—and provides as much information as possible on each composition. The two other core chapters of the dissertation include the first detailed historiography in English of the Soviet viola community, and a guide for western performers on how to obtain, study, and interpret Soviet music. In these unpeaceful times in the ex-Soviet part of the world, and elsewhere, this preservation project is an act of rescue for hundreds of works and composers—many of which belong to underrepresented minorities—that are in a risk of falling into irreversible obscurity and vanish from history.
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Recent Publications and Presentations:
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“Underrepresented Twice: Spotlighting Unknown Soviet Viola Repertoire by Female Composers and Ethnic Minorities” – paper presentation at the International Rast Music Congress, Pristina, Kosovo, November 2025
“Pamyati Shostakovicha: Soviet Works for Viola in Memory of Shostakovich, and in Light of his Deathbed Sonata” – paper presentation at the conference of the Institute for Russian Music Studies, Tyrol, July 2025
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“Revealing A New Corpus Research of Original Viola Works” – Journal of the American Viola Society, Summer 2025
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“Internal and External Conflicts in ‘Three Ricercars for Solo Viola’ (1971) by S. Kallosh” – paper presentation at the Music Biennale Zagreb Conference, April 2025
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“The Viola Behind the Iron Curtain: A Survey of Original Viola Works from the Soviet Era” – DMA Dissertation, 2024
“Red Ties Trumpets and Balalaikas” Parts I & II - Journal of the American Viola Society, 2022
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“Silenced Voices” - Soviet music for viola and piano presentations at Yale University and The Juilliard School, 2018
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For selected abstracts please click here.