38 | OCTOBER 14 • 2021

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

W

ith the same intensity shown
while fronting esteemed
orchestras at celebrated
venues, violinist Yevgeny Kutik has per-
formed in solo programs before small
Jewish congregations in remote meeting
halls.
Born into a family of classical musi-
cians who left the Soviet Union to
escape antisemitism, Kutik is motivated
to bring treasured music to those of
shared religious background assembled
in places experiencing limited live enter-
tainment.
Kutik’s in-person appearances,
exchanged for Zoom opportunities
during the pandemic, are starting to
resume as he takes the stage at Detroit’s
Orchestra Hall and joins Leonard Slatkin
conducting the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra. Three performances, with the

last available digitally, run Oct. 15-16.
Kutik will be premiering Joseph
Schwantner’s Violin Concerto in a pro-
gram that will include Tchaikovsky’s
Symphony No. 5 and Samuel Adler’s
Mirror Images, another world premiere.
“This will be my first time work-
ing with Leonard Slatkin, so I’m very
excited,” says Kutik, 36, and based near
Boston. “I have played in Michigan quite
a bit over the years, and I’m going up to
Traverse City in a couple of months.
“I got to know Joseph Schwantner
about 10 years ago, when he wrote a
small work for violin and string orches-
tra called The Poet’s Hour. I recorded
and filmed that with Gerard Schwarz
and the All-Star Orchestra and got to
know Joseph’s music.
“The first movement of the concerto is
based on The Poet’s Hour, but it’s much

Violinist Yevgeny
Kutik joins
conductor
Leonard Slatkin
at Orchestra Hall.

Making
the Violin

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Details
Yevgeny Kutik will perform at
10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday,
Oct. 15, (in-person only) and
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16,
(in-person and free online) at
Orchestra Hall in Detroit. $15-
$105. (313) 576-5111, dso.org.
Audience members must
provide proof of full vac-
cination for COVID-19 or a
negative test (48-hour PCR
or 6-hour antigen). Everyone
must also wear a mask while
inside regardless of vaccina-
tion status.

Yevgeny
Kutik

Sing
Sing

RACHEL TINES