dr hab. Viktor Kuznetsov

He was born in Taganrog, Russia. He began learning to play the violin at the age of four under the guidance of his father, the eminent teacher Mikhail Kuznetsov. After graduating from primary music school and then music high school, in 1981 he was accepted to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kiev, where he studied under Prof. Bogodar Kotorovich. During his studies, he participated in numerous festivals and competitions: he won the Lysenko National Violin Competition (1983) and was a laureate of the H. Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań (1986) and the N. Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa (1987). In 1991, after completing his postgraduate studies, he accepted an invitation to join the Wrocław Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, where he worked for the next seven years. At the same time, he took up a position at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where he still works today as an assistant professor. In 2000, he founded his own ensemble (the RICORDANZA Soloists), which consisted mainly of his students and with which he gave concerts in Poland, Germany, Austria, France, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and Spain. Over the course of 10 years, the ensemble gave around 400 concerts, including performances at the Berlin Philharmonic and the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg.

His artistic achievements include participation in recordings of A. Vivaldi's concerts (DUX) and performing the first violin part in J.S. Bach's concerto for two violins with J. Stanienda (DUX) while still working in the Leopoldinum orchestra. In 2004, he recorded N. Paganini's Concerto No. 2 “La Campanella” and the variations “Nel cor piu...” (DUX), released by the Wratisławia Cantans label.

During his stay in Poland, he performed as a soloist, playing concertos by P. Tchaikovsky, N. Paganini, J. Sibelius, L. van Beethoven, W. A. Mozart, A. Vivaldi, and J.S. Bach under the direction of Jerzy Salwarowski, Wojciech Michniewski, Paweł Przytocki, Marek Pijarowski, Stefan Bevier, etc. Even earlier, in Russia, with Eduard Serov and Veronika Dudarova.

Abroad, he has mainly performed with his own ensemble, playing concertos by J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, A. Vivaldi, and F. Mendelssohn.

Since 2002, he has been vice-president of the Concert Society and organiser of two editions of the International Festival “PAGANINI” and the International Violin Competition “YOUNG VIRTUOSO” (46 violinists from 10 countries took part in the competition, and one of the winners was Robert Bachara, a student of W. Kuzniecow).