Summary
Described as "splendid, elegant cellist, with a gorgeous sound" ( Mundo Clasico), Dmitri Atapine has been hailed as a performer with "brilliant technical chops" ( Gramophone), whose playing is "highly impressive throughout" ( The Strad). As an avid soloist and recitalist, he has appeared on some of the world's foremost stages, including Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Zankel and Weill halls at Carnegie Hall, and the National Auditorium of Spain, to cite but a few. His performances have been broadcast on radio and TV in the USA, Spain, Mexico and South Korea.
Highly in demand as a chamber musician, Atapine regularly performs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where he has been a CMS Two member. His multiple festival festival appearances have included Music@Menlo (California), Chamber Music Northwest (Oregon), La Musica Festival (Florida), Nevada Chamber Music Festival, Cactus Pear Music Festival (Texas), Banff (Canada), Great Mountains Music Festival (South Korea), Malaga Clasica (Spain), Miguel Bernal Jimenez Festival (Mexico), the French Academy in Rome (Italy), Aldeburgh (England), Aix-en-Provence (France) and Pacific Music Festival (Japan). He collaborated with such eminent artists as the Tokyo String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Wu Han, Ani and Ida Kavafian, David Finckel, David Shifrin, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Bruno Giuranna and Peter Wiley, among many others.
As a soloist, Atapine has performed as a soloist with the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the Leon Symphony Orchestra, the Gijon Chamber Orchestra, the "Arche" Chamber Orchestra, the Yale Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as with Michigan State University Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras.
Atapine's many prizes and awards include the First Prize at the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition and the Second Prize at the Vittorio Gui Chamber Music Competition. Other accolades include Top Prize and Yamaha Special Prize at the Florian Ocampo Spanish National Cello Competition, First and Second Prizes at the 2008 New England International Chamber Competition, the Grand Prize at the 2007 Plowman Competition, the 2005 Presser Foundation Award, the First Prize and Asturias Symphony Special Prize at the 2003 Llanes International String Competition (Spain), the Yale Woolsey Hall Competition and the First Prize at the Sahagun International Music Competition at age 13.
His keen interest in contemporary music produced fruitful collaborations with several distinguished composers, among them Ezra Laderman, Jennifer Higdon and Martin Bresnick. In partnership with pianist Hyeyeon Park, Atapine recently released a critically acclaimed world-premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann's complete works for cello and piano on BlueGriffin label, leading to their presentation in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. Other recordings can be found on Naxos, Albany, Urtext Digital and Music@Menlo LIVE labels.
Born into a family of musicians, Atapine began his musical education with his parents at the age of five and soon thereafter entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory School of Music. After his family moved to Spain, Atapine graduated with honors from the Asturias Conservatory under Alexander Fedortchenko. He came to the U.S. and received his bachelor's and master's degrees with high honors from Michigan State University under the tutelage of Suren Bagratuni. Atapine continued his studies with the legendary cellist Aldo Parisot at Yale University School of Music, where he completed the Master of Musical Arts degree, obtained the Artist Diploma and since 2010, holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
Currently, he is the cello professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. Since 2007, he has served as the artistic director of the Ribadesella International Music Festival (Spain). He is also the founder and has been the artistic director of Apex Concerts since 2010.
Recordings
- Cello Sonatas: Bridge, Barber & Rachmaninoff. Dmitri Atapine, cello; Adela Hyeyeon Park, piano. Released April 2014. Sonatas for cello and piano by Frank Bridge, Samuel Barber and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Label: Blue Griffin Recording.
- Lowell Liebermann: Sonatas for Cello and Piano. Dmitri Atapine, cello; Adela Hyeyeon Park, piano. World-premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann's complete (until 2011) works for cello and piano. Label: Urtext.
- Cello Capriccioso. Dmitri Atapine. Cello Recital: Locatelli/Chopin/Tchaikovsky/de Falla/Cassado/Popper. Label: Urtext.
Education
- DMA, Yale University School of Music