NATCHITOCHES – Violinist Andrej Kurti will present a recital at Northwestern State University on Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. A livestream will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream.
Kurti will play approximately half of Bach’s entire opus for violin, six sonatas and partitas for solo violin during the concert. He will play Bach’s “Sonata No. 1,” (BWV1001), selected movements from “Partita No. 1,” (BWV 1002) and “Partita No. 2” (BWV 1004). Kurti will play the other half of the opus in a concert at NSU on April 10, 2023.
Kurti’s next recording project will be a double CD of Bach’s violin solo music which will be recorded with Dr. Sergei Kvitko, president, sound engineer and producer of Blue Griffin Recording, a classical label based in Lansing, Michigan. Kurti has recorded three CDs for Blue Griffin.
An internationally acclaimed violinist Kurti, was born in Belgrade, Serbia, where he began his violin carrier in the studio of professor Djula Tešenji. He continued his studies in Moscow “Tchaikovsky” Conservatory in studios of professors Levon Ambartsumian and Zorya Schikmurzaeva. Kurti finished his graduate studies in the University of Georgia, where he received a doctorate degree in violin performance.
He was a recipient of five first prizes in competitions in Yugoslavia, four first prizes in competitions in Georgia and Florida, and a finalist of the MTNA (Music Teacher National Association) Competition in 1998.
In 2000, Kurti became a recording artist for Blue Griffin, for which he later recorded “Six Sonatas for Violin Solo” by Eugene Ysaye, Op. 27. Classics Today and American Record Guide wrote…”his near-perfect intonation, assured technique (check out the Third Sonata’s climactic double stops), and intelligent shaping of polyphony”…”Kurti is an excellent violinist and musician, very musical and stylish, and these are some of the better performances of these sonatas that I have heard…you couldn’t go wrong if you had this disc as your only recording of these works.”
In 2004, Kurti became a professor of violin at Northwestern State. He has appeared as a soloist with many symphony orchestras in the United States, Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Russia, France, and Colombia. He also appeared as a chamber performer in Spain, France, Latvia, Canada, Colombia and South Korea.
In the non-classical music world, Kurti performed and arranged on more than 40 albums of popular and modern music, which he recorded for many different music labels in the United States. In November 2019, Kurti was invited to Nashville, to perform live in concert with several rock and roll legends, such as guitarist James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley, Dr. Brian May (Queen), Micky Dolenz (The Monkees), Joe Walsh (Eagles) and Sammy Hagar (Van Halen).
Kurti has been invited to several international music festivals where he most often performed music written for solo violin. In 2015, Kurti performed Ysaye’s op.27 in a Road to Carnegie nation-wide recital series, culminating with his Carnegie Hall debut.
In October 2019, Kurti recorded “Twenty-Four Caprices for Violin, Op. 1” by Nicolo Paganini. The CD was released in the fall of 2021 by Blue Griffin. Fanfare Magazine wrote: “The famously difficult Paganini Caprices seem to hold few terrors for Kurti. His intonation is impeccable, his double stops are secure, and he has a strong internal rhythmic pulse. Kurti masters all of the challenges brilliantly, and it is the brilliance that impresses throughout.”
