Ensemble

The stepping off point of the QuARTet’s, success began with their first performance together as participants in the “Ventus Temporis” project in 2004 – while constituting an extremely short “probation period” – offered the ensemble an unqualified success, as evidenced by the rapturous praise of both audiences and critics alike.
Through this project’s particular angle on experimental techniques and tendencies in the contemporary sphere of music, QuARTru were fed with the desire to continue their unique direction and pursuit of experimentation in performance - sounding within the XXI Century, but not constrained by any one epoch or style.

Notwithstanding the relative youth of the ensemble, QuARTru has already been presented in prestigious halls, on radio and television, CD release.

V. Orlov

A. Ivanov

P. Grigorieva

R. Rakov

Vladimir Orlov was born in St. Petersburg in 1976. He began to study accordion at age 8. Already by age 15 appeared as soloist in concert at The Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Сapella.
He graduated with honors from Music School in 1991 and from the Rimsky-Korsakov Musical College in 1995. In 2000 he received his Bachelors degree and in 2003 his Post Graduate degree from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory.
He is a laureate of 9 national and international competitions taking place in St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Murmansk, Hannover, Chengdu (China) and Castelfidardo (Italy). To date, he has regularly played in all the best halls in his native St. Petersburg, throughout Russia and in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania.
In 1998 Vladimir Orlov began his teaching activity and is today the teacher in both the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory and Musical College. His students regularly concertize and take prizes in both national international competitions.
His virtuosity and inclination towards new music has won him dedications in the accordion repertoire by Russian composers Ivanoff, Sinyakova and Svetlov.
He is a published author of a methodology and performance practice history of the accordion and of research on the history of push-button instruments from the XVI – XVIII Centuries.
Vladimir Orlov is a creative organizer of the Harmonic Club which seeks to support and advance the performance activity of gifted young accordionists.
In 2004 he created the project, Ventus Temporis which directly led to the formation of QuARTru.

Andrey Ivanov was born in St. Petersburg in 1980. At age 4 he began special musical instruction. In 1988 he entered the Middle Music School of The St. Petersburg Conservatory. Since 1994 he began to regularly perform in Europe and in America, not only as a member of the orchestra and in ensembles, but as a soloist as well.
In 1995 he became a “Diplomat” of International Youth Competition, Virtuosi 2000 and already by 1996 his Piano Trio had come laureates of the radio competition, “Concertino Prague”. Upon entering the St. Petersburg State Conservatory he immediately began participating in conservatory competitions there having been awarded the Silver Medal of Excellence from music school in 1999. He simultaneously majored in Cello and Composition and after having graduated With Honors in 2004 he entered into the Post Graduate program in the same year. In 2006 he finished his compositional studies and, likewise, With Honors.
Parallel to his studies Andrey Ivanov managed his performing career with characteristic success. Beginning in 2000 he played in the ensemble, St. Petersburg Soloists under the direction of Mihkail Gantvarg. In 2002 he and his piano quartet became laureates of the International Taneyev Competition in Kaluga and in 2003 as a member of a piano-cello duo became a “Diplomat” of the Maria Yudina International Chamber Music Competition of St. Petersburg.
As a member of the ensemble QuARTru Andrey Ivanov not only apprears as cellist, but as composer and author of the majority of the quartet’s transcriptions.

Grigorieva Polina was born in St. Petersburg in 1976. She began studying the piano at age 4 and graduated from Musical School with honors in 1990. In 1995 she graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Musical College and from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in 2000 and there finished her Post-Graduate Studies in 2002 in the Department of Chamber Music.
She is laureate of 7 national and international competitions for piano duet, including those in St. Petersburg, Kaluga, San Marino and Jurmala.
She has an active career in Russia, performing a large repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary works, and has appeared often in the most prestigious halls of St. Petersburg and Moscow. For her excellence as accompanist she has been awarded diplomas from national and international competitions in St. Petersburg and Krasnodar.
Since 1995 Grigorieva Polina has been an active accompanist in the Rimsky-Korsakov Musical College.
In 2000 she began her pedagogical work and in the present is a Teacher of Chamber Ensembles at the Rimsky-Korsakov Musical College where her students took first place in the Maria Yudina International Competition and where she continues to achieve tremendous success from her pupils.

Renat Rakov was born in 1983 in St. Petersburg. By the age of seven had begun to sing in the choir of the Glinka Music School. He made several tours with this choir and then joined the prestigious Capella of St. Petersburg where he was featured as soloist. Simultaneous with this he began his studies on clarinet.
In 1995 he entered the Middle School of Music continuing studies and in the process became a laureate at several international competitions including the Mravinsky Competition of St. Petersburg (1998) and “Virtuosi of the 21 Century” in Moscow (1999). In 2001 he entered the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and in the same year became a member of the State Academic Capella of St. Petersburg. Following from his extensive work as a soloist and intensive work in ensembles, Rakov became a laureate of the Maria Yudina Competition (2003) and a laureate of the Rimsky Korsakov Competition (2005).
Since 2003 he has been a member of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic.