Kolchinskaya, Camilla Alexandrovna

Born in Moscow on December 25, 1937 ^{[1] [2]} , in a family with Jewish roots. From the age of 6 ^[4] she studied violin under Elizabeth Gnesina . In 1951 she graduated from the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory ^[5] . In 1958 she graduated from the orchestra faculty (majoring in “first violin”) and the theoretical and composer's faculty of the Moscow Conservatory ^[1] . During her studies, she became interested in conducting, which was influenced by the 1949 film “ ” about the geek Roberto Benzi , shot by Georges Lacombe ^[1] .

An attempt to enter the conducting faculty of the Moscow Conservatory failed: there was a belief that women should not be conductors ^{[1] [4]} .

In 1958-1959 she worked in the group of the first violins of the symphony orchestra of the Dnipropetrovsk Philharmonic , then as the conductor of the student orchestra of the Dnipropetrovsk Music College . They managed to enter the conductor department at the Leningrad Conservatory , in a class with Ilya Musin , who also, among others, studied Yuri Temirkanov , Valery Gergiev and Vasily Sinaisky ^[1] .

Since 1960, she has conducted concerts in the student symphony orchestra of the Leningrad Conservatory and the symphony orchestra of the opera studio - with the latter she also conducted operas Faust by S. Gounod , Mermaid by A. S. Dargomyzhsky , Carmen by J. Bizet and others. ^[1] , in 1963 toured in Novgorod and Petrozavodsk . In 1963, she attended master classes by I. B. Markevich (in Moscow), later - Herbert von Karayan (in Leningrad).

In 1964 she graduated (in absentia) from the conducting faculty of the Leningrad Conservatory ^[1] . In the autumn of the same year, she was competitively accepted as an assistant conductor of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR; she completed her annual internship with concerts at the Palace of Congresses, as well as the opera Werther by J. Massenet and the ballet Tsvetik-Semitsvetik E. P. Krylatova ^[1] .

In 1965 ^[6] she took the vacant position of conductor of the symphony orchestra of the Yaroslavl State Philharmonic . She expanded her repertoire (more than 70 symphonic works, about 100 accompaniments), toured with the orchestra in the cities of the Soviet Union. The orchestra was performed by Emil Gilels , Bella Davidovich , Leonid Kogan , Mstislav Rostropovich , Galina Vishnevskaya , Gidon Kremer , Natalya Gutman , Josef Palenicek ^[1] .

At the end of 1972 she returned to Moscow. In 1973-1975 she directed the symphony orchestras of the Central House of Scientists ^{[1] [7]} and the Teacher’s House ^[8] . In addition, she performed in subscription symphony concerts of the Moscow State and Regional Philharmonic, in the Great Hall of the Conservatory , in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall , in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses ; in 1967-1973 gave 11 concerts only with the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra .

In the spring of 1976 she emigrated to Israel ^{[3] [4]} . In the same year, after successfully auditioning with Zubin Meta , the main conductor of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra , she was invited to conduct this orchestra ^[8] . In the same year, being the second conductor of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra ^[9] , she began to regularly perform with other Israeli orchestras: the Jerusalem Symphony , , led by Rudolf Barshai , the symphony orchestras of Beersheba, Netanya, etc. ^[8]

In 1977, she organized a chamber orchestra in Petah Tikva , which, under her leadership, began regular concert activities ^{[8] [3]} . She also performed with famous soloists such as Ida Handel ^[8] , Gary Carr and others.

In 1978, she participated in master classes by composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein in Tangliwood (Massachusetts, USA). Has toured in Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Germany ^[8] .

In 1981, she lived in Norway ^[8]. She was invited to conduct the Stavanger Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as to work as a conductor in the music department of the University of Oslo.

In 1982, she was invited to the conductor's place in the Oslo Chamber Orchestra and in the brass symphony orchestras of Drammen and Kolboten, very popular in Scandinavia.

While working in Norway, Camilla Kolchinskaya performs in Europe with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Brussels Radio and Television in Liege with the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Swedish Radio in Stockholm. In Hamburg (Germany), she conducted the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, and also performed with the famous soloist Vladimir Ashkenazi in Brussels with the Belgian National Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.

During his work in Europe from 1981-89. and further in the 90s, Camilla Kolchinskaya became a guest conductor in various orchestras, including youth orchestras. So, in 1983 she was invited to seminars and concerts at the School of Music in Stockholm, (Sweden), as well as to the International Academy of Music I. Menukhin in Gstaad (Switzerland).

As a guest conductor, she conducts seminars at the Danish Royal Conservatory and performs with a chamber orchestra there. In 1985, Camilla accepts an invitation to the Lund University Music Academy in Malmö (Sweden). She is a guest conductor in summer and winter seminars and concerts of student symphony and chamber orchestras in Oslo (Norway), as well as a member and jury member at international symphony wind orchestra competitions.

In 1988, Camilla Kolchinskaya conducted several concerts with the Norwegian Symphony Orchestra, performing works by female composers of Scandinavia at the Northern Forum in Oslo - Nordic Forum 88.

In 1989 she moved to the USA ^[3] . She continued to work as the music director of professional and university symphony orchestras. She also teaches at conservatories, in music schools, at universities. Camilla Kolchinskaya works with string, wind, percussion groups, achieving the best results from musicians. She also works with choirs, soloists and ballet dancers. Camilla, as a professional violinist, gives violin and viola lessons, conducts and plays in chamber ensembles.

In 1989-1991. Camilla Kolchinskaya is the founder and conductor of the chamber orchestra, as well as a teacher and instructor in violin and music theory at the Academy of String Instruments in May (New Jersey, USA). During these years, she is the second conductor of the Tenafly Symphony Orchestra (New Jersey, USA), music director and chief conductor of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in West Orange (New Jersey, USA). Camilla is a guest conductor at the Steambod Spring Summer Festival of String Ensembles (Colorado, USA).

In early 1991, Camilla Kolchinskaya became a guest conductor of the Austrian Women's Chamber Orchestra in Vienna. In memory of Leonard Bernstein, his magnificent Serenade was performed with the soloist, the wonderful violinist Nina Beilina, a student of David Oistrakh, in the Schubert Hall of Vienna. In 1991-1993, Camilla Kolchinskaya won a competition for the director and conductor of a symphony orchestra and opera at the music department of the University of Santa Barbara (California, (USA). The university administration signed a contract with her for two years. During this time, she increased the composition of the symphony orchestra from twenty-four to eighty-five people, she expanded her repertoire, bringing to ten orchestra performances a year.

She began to invite the best students and teachers, as well as musicians well-known in the USA, as soloists. She revived the opera, staging four opera performances in two years of the contract: “The Bat” by Strauss, “All Women Do” by Mozart, “Traviata” Verdi, “Carmen” Bizet (in concert).

In 1994-2014, he was the chief conductor and music director of the El Camino Youth Symphony Symphony Orchestra in Palo Alto (California) ^{[1] [10] [11]} , in which he additionally created three groups - a brass band and 2 preparatory ones ^[3] ; Conducted by the “Senior Symphony”, “Sinfonietta Orchestra” and “Galbraith Honor Strings” orchestras ^[10] . Since 2003, on her initiative, an international tour of the Senior Symphony has been held once every two years ^[11] . In 2011, the orchestra created the Kolchinskaya Scholarship Fund, which aims to support students of the “Senior Symphony” in the international tour ^[11] . Honorary Director of the El Camino Youth Symphony Orchestra ^[12] .

She gave master classes at the Tanglewood Festival, organized by the Boston Orchestra ^[3] . She was a regular guest conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra ^[4] .

Family

Father - Alexander Ilyich Kolchinsky, a Bolshevik engineer, was the scientific secretary of Academician G. M. Krzhizhanovsky ^{[1] [13]} . Mother - Raisa Leopoldovna Kolchinskaya, nurse ^{[1] [8]} .

Sister - Tatyana ^{[1] [13]} .

She lived with her husband in Mountain View (California) ^{[4] [11]} .

In 1970, the Leningrad documentary studio commissioned by the Committee of Soviet Women made a film about K. A. Kolchinskaya “A Woman of a Rare Profession” ^[8] (directed by I. Gershtein) ^[3] , which was screened on the screens of the Soviet Union on Central Television and abroad .

In 1987, the Swedish film studio Hagafilm directed the documentary (directed by ) about six female conductors: , , , Ortrud Mann , Veronica Dudarova and Camille Kolchinskaya ^{[8] [14] [15]} .

When I conduct, I am not a woman. I don’t think about what I’m going to do later, or who will come for dinner. I think about the design of music, and how to discover such beauty for the human soul. When I see people leaving [after the concert] with shining eyes, I am happy ^[4] .

Original text

When I conduct, I am not a woman. I am not thinking about what I am going to do later, or who is coming for dinner. I think about the construction of the music, and how to open such beauty for the human soul. When I see people leaving with their eyes shining, then I am happy ^[4] .

She has a huge influence, real power of influence and true musicality ...

- Leonard Bernstein (cited from: ^[1] )

Camilla Kolchinskaya not only has a wonderful technique as a conductor, but uses it, revealing great musical talent.

- Mstislav Rostropovich (cited from: ^[1] )

• Diploma and Certificate of Merit of the II All-Union Competition for Young Conductors (1967) ^[1] .
• Smetana Diploma and Medal - for the performance of modern Czech music ( Prague , 1975).

• Moscow, st. Vakhtangov ^[13] .

• Miller A. In memory of the conductor Camille Kolchinskaya (Russian) . At the Gulf (March 11, 2016). Date of treatment November 14, 2017.
• Yurganov O. Symphony of Fate (Russian) . Kackad.com: American Internet newspaper in Russian (July 26, 2012). Date of treatment November 16, 2017.
• Yurganov O. Symphony of Fate (ending) (Russian) . Kackad.com: American Internet newspaper in Russian (August 9, 2012). Date of treatment November 26, 2017.
• Kaye m . People: Camilla Kolchinsky: life on the stand . Palo Alto Online (February 1, 1995). Date of treatment November 16, 2017.
• Kolchinsky Scholarship Fund . El Camino Youth Symphony. Date of treatment November 13, 2017.