Edvard Tchivzhel

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Portrait of Tchivzhel

Edvard Tchivzhel (Russian: Эдвард Чивжель) (pronounced CHIV-gel) (b. January 29, 1944) is a

conductor and music director of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra[1], Greenville, South Carolina
.

Early life

Edvard Tchivzhel was born into a musical family in

Arvid Jansons (father of Mariss Jansons). Tchivzhel was the winner of the Third Soviet Conductor's Competition in Moscow, while still a student.[1]

Career

Tchivzhel was assistant conductor to conductor

Evgeny Svetlanov.[2]

In 1991, during a month-long tour with USSR State Symphony, Tchivzhel told his host in Greenville, South Carolina, that he wanted to defect to the United States. To insure that he would have a better chance at receiving political asylum, a local attorney arranged for him to make uncomplimentary public comments about the Soviet Union to an obscure agricultural newsletter. When the symphony left from its last stop in Washington, D.C., to return to Moscow, Tchivzel was whisked away by armed

Immigration and Naturalization Services agents. He and his wife became U.S. citizens in 1999.[3] At each symphony performance in Greenville, he faces the audience to conduct “The Star-Spangled Banner.”[4]

International conducting

Tchivzhel has conducted outside of the Soviet Union since the 1980s. He has performed in England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. He also served as artistic advisor for the Auckland Philharmonia. In 1986, he became the chief conductor of the Umeå Sinfonietta, Sweden, and frequently performed with the symphony orchestras of Helsinborg, Malmö and Norrköping.

Tchivzhel has recently performed in Venezuela (2002), with the Orquestra Sinfonica del Estado in Mexico in commemoration of the victory in World War II (2005), with the Orquestra Sinfónica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro (2004, 2007). He performed with the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra, Spain (2006, 2008) and in Romania (2008).

American conducting

Tchivzhel has debuted with the Baltimore Symphony (MD), the Indianapolis Symphony (IN) and the Grand Rapids Symphony (MI). He made his debut with the Dayton Opera in 2008.

Music Director

He has held permanent positions as music director with the Karelian Symphony Orchestra of National Television and Radio (1973–1991),[5] the Atlantic Sinfonietta (1992–1994), a small chamber orchestra in New York, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra (1993–2008) and the Greenville Symphony Orchestra (1999–present). He also serves as distinguished visiting professor at Furman University (Greenville, SC).[6]

References

  1. ^ "Greenville Symphony website". Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  2. ^ "Arscentrum". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  3. ^ "Spartanburg Journal Watchdog, October 11, 2011". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  4. ^ Magazine of Greenville, March 2009. Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Karelia, Russia website
  6. ^ "Furman University website". Archived from the original on 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
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