Press Comments

Press comments on Shcherbakov

"The music by Evgeny Shcherbakov makes you cry and makes you happy".
Vladimir Klyenov "Nizhegorodskiye Novosti" February, 9, 1993

"How precisely echoed the music by Evgeny Shcherbakov in the souls of listeners which have overcrowded the concert hall. It was not a composition on the topical subject, it was really contemporary, well recognizable searches, moral, spiritual impulse towards the lost ideal".
Vladimir Oskin, Nizhegerodskiye Novosti" June, 17, 1997 (from the review on the cello concerto)

"Both styles and epochs run into each other in his talented composition creating one unity".
Galina Zaitseva, "Nizhegorodskiye Novosti", June, 9, 1999 (from the review on the flute concerto)

"The art of the composer from Nizhny Novgorod Evgeny Shcherbakov made a great impression on me. Lofty feelings and broad sonority of his deeply sincere piece called "Mood"(for violin and strings) captured the audience".
Taisia Zykova, "Vechernyaya Odessa", April, 20, 2000

"The music by Evgeny Shcherbakov reminds us that God's time is not only the best but it is totally different from ours. This music teaches us to be gentle and to resist the temptation".
Nikolaus Cybinski, "Basel-Land", December, 5, 2000

“Among all heard during the passed festival I would like to point out the “Five spiritual chants” by Evgeny Shcherbakov ( Russia), which strike by their inner depth, lucidity and sincerity.”
Iliy Ir, "Vechernyaya Odessa", April, 19, 2001 (from the article “New Music Festival Sights”)

- “Bad physical and psychological illnesses result for patients and people surrounding them into problem situations which cannot often be solved by traditional means of therapy. The “Five spiritual chants” by Evgeny Shcherbakov, in which the composer touches upon the eternal questions of attitude to grief, people’s sufferings, the aim of life, of death can be used in treating diseases where traditional methods proved to be ineffective.”
Prof. Dr. Udo Rauchfleisch, “Prevention and Treating Diseases” (an extract from the report at the forum “Music and Medicine”, Basel, June, 6, 2002.

- “The composer Evgeny Shcherbakov is well - known around the world. His music is notable for great emotion and intensity. The religious themes sound again and again. One can hear bell - motif penetrating all through his creation”.
From the article “ Im musikalischen Dialog mit Bach und Mozart”, Schwarzwalder Bote, Calw, Germany, June, 18, 2004.

- The E. Shcherbakov's music paves the way to middle - european musical tradition in which the unlimited possibilities for improvisation are laid.
From the article “ Im musikalischen Dialog mit Bach und Mozart”, Schwarzwalder Bote, Calw, Germany, June, 18, 2004.

- “His creation is irreproachable connecting of the mind and heart. Stefan Abels noted his works as the best music from Russia for the last time”.
From the article “ Tiefe Einblicke in die Weite der russische Seele“, Schwarzwalder Bote, Calw, Germany, June, 21, 2004.

- “His emotional compositions is the fairy window into russian soul”.
From the article “Das Fenster zur russischen Seele”, Journal Calw, Calw, Germany, June, 25, 2004.

- „The cellist Emil Rovner brightened us all up with movements from the Nizhny Novgorod composer Evgeny Shcherbakov’s Trio for Two ( without piano) in which the debutante cellist revealed that he is also the proud possessor of a mellifluous, resonant true Russian bass voice. Emil Rovner accompanied himself on his cello whilst singing Gebet, a prayer, and then let his hair down for a riotous Tango which reflected the festival’s overall theme of Freedom and its Denial. A violinist appeared playing from the back of the hall, coming on stage to complete the Trio for Two; wild music, with Rovner’s uninhibited singing reflecting the miseries and tensions of Russia’s pre- 1918 social upheavals”.
From the article “ Music Theatre”, Alexa and Peter Grahame Woolf, Lucerne Festival, Lucern, Switzerland, September, 14- 18, 2004

- "Evgeny Shcherbakov is an outstanding Russian composer and conductor ..."

Jon Washburn,Conductor, NOVA Rising Choral Stars, October 15, 2010

 

- You just never know who might be working at a Waldorf school. Take, for example, world-renowned composer and conductor Evgeny Shcherbarkov, from the Vancouver Waldorf School, whose latest composition received a standing ovation during its world premiere at the 2017 International Festival of Contemporary Music Yuri Lanyuk and Friends, in Lviv, Ukraine.

The festival at the Lviv Philharmonic is considered one of Europe’s centres for arts and culture and has gathered some of the finest and most prominent musicians from Germany, Ukraine, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain, Canada and more.

In Memory of Boris Nemtsov Kyrie was conducted by the composer and performed by award-winning cellist and singer Emil Rovner (Germany), the Galician Academic Chamber Choir and Lviv Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra, and was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. For Evgeny Shcherbakov, who was granted a special leave by his school, it was a uniquely meaningful experience to be able to attend and conduct his own world premiere: "It was such an honor to me and great responsibility to be invited in Lviv, Ukraine to represent Canada as a Canadian composer and conductor," said Evgeny.

In Memory of Boris Nemtsov Kyrie has a profound and deeply dramatic meaning, as it reflects Mr. Shcherbakov’s deep sorrow, despair and feelings of helplessness towards the state of global international relations. This concerto-cantata for cello/bass voice, mixed choir, and symphony orchestra was inspired by drastic changes in some parts of the world and the seeming loss of humanity and compassion. However, in the end there is always hope, as the listener can hear the performers come together in harmony and unity in the latter part of the performance—like a burst of sunshine after a storm...

This dramatic but hopeful masterpiece can be heard by clicking here.

Evgeny Shcherbakov (b. 1958) is a Russian-Canadian, Vancouver-based composer and conductor whose portfolio of genres ranges from chamber music to instrumental concertos, symphonies, cantatas and oratories: www.shcherbakov-evg.com 

He has been awarded numerous grants and residences for his work, including grants from Prohelvetia Reseaux Est-Ouest | Antenne Budapest, the Canada Council for the Arts, composer-in-residence with international cultural festival “RESONANZEN,” the “Pro Musica e Cultura” Foundation among others. His compositions are performed internationally on stages in Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, France, Belgium, Canada and Macedonia.

From the article Waldorf piano accompanist and composer/conductor premieres masterpiece in Lviv, Ukraine

AWSNA, Waldorf Education, 5/25/2018