“The astounding collaboration of two strong individuals of the
Duo Trouvaille duet yielded a superior integrity of sound.
We were able to admire not only the uncompromising virtuosity
and discipline of this musical dialogue,
accompanied by a sense of style and artistic unity,
but also the magnetic personality of the performers,
which kept us on the edge of our seats.”
(Sabina Nemtusiak for KurierPlus)
Duo Trouvaille was founded by Yulia Dusman and Krzysztof Kuznik with the intention of bringing unknown, rarely performed and new compositions along with western classical masterpieces. They focus on curating thematic concerts that link diverse musical ideas. Examples include “Caravanserai” , a contemporary classical journey through Asia and Middle East, and “The Tales of the Last Century “, a 20th Century musical meditation on fairytales. Duo Trouvaille selects music based on its emotional potency. They invest significant time searching for art that calls listeners to both feel and discover. They want their concerts to create a specific emotional environment and to bring new sensory dimensions into the performances. At the heart of Duo Trouvaille’s mission is artistry and community, accomplished through the medium of small, intimate concerts, which always feature meet-and-greet receptions. Duo Trouvaille seeks to bring diverse audience members and artists together to strengthen the music lovers community in the city and beyond. They don’t want their shows to be isolated artistic events, but rather catalysts for new projects between friends and audience members.
A native of Russia, Ms.Dusman received a Bachelors Degree from Moscow College of Music and Masters Degree from Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory. She continued her education at Mannes College of Music in NYC where she studied piano with Dr. Arkady Aronov and Irina Morozova and chamber music with Leon Pommers (piano), Edna Michell (violin), Thomas Stacy (oboe), Judith Mendenhall (flute), Antonia Lavanne (voice), David Jolley (french horn) and Joel Lester (violin). There she received a second Masters Degree and Professional Studies Diploma.
Ms.Dusman was the recipient of the Chamber Music Pedagogy Grant and Newton Swift Piano Award in 1999. Ms.Dusman also was a winner of New Triad Foundation Competition in 2002 .
In Russia, Ms.Dusman was a featured soloist and staff harpsichordist with “Sophia”chamber orchestra and appeared in Russia’s major concert halls, including the Rachmaninoff Concert Hall and the Concert Hall of Moscow Conservatory.
In New York, Ms.Dusman has performed at the Russian, Greek, French and German Consulates; Metropolitan, Union, Century and Harvard Clubs; Nicholas Roerich and Juwish Musiums; Donnel Library Center; CUNY Graduate Center; Goethe-Institute; Trinity Church; Symphony Space; Steinway Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall among others. She has also been frequently featured as a soloist and chamber musician on 96.3 FM, WQXR.
Ms.Dusman has been a featured soloist in many concerts and festivals at Mannes College of Music, including the performances with “Chopin at Mannes” Festival Orchestra, “The Schumanns and Their Circle” Festival Orchestra and “Mannes Bach 2000” chamber ensemble.
As a collaborative pianist she appeared in concerts with Colorado String Quartet, Duo A Corda, Alexander and Albert Markovs, Frank Morelli, Leonard Hindell, David Jolley.
Ms Dusman is correctly serving on the piano faculty at Thurnauer School of Music at JCC on Palisades. She is also maintaining the private studio. For more information go to
www.yuliadusmanpianostudio.com
Polish-born violinist Krzysztof Kuznik is a graduate of Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he was a recipient of the Whittaker Scholar Career Grant. His teachers include Krzysztof Jakowicz, Glenn Dicterow, Sheryl Staples, Yoko Takebe, and Lisa E. Kim. As a founding member of the Elsner String Quartet, he has performed at MerkinHall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the 92nd Street Y, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, among other venues.
Mr Kuznik made his US solo debut at Symphony Space in November 2002 and has been praised by the Strad magazine for his “…honest and musical account of the Bruch Concerto in G minor…” Among his numerous awards are Tadeusz Wronski Solo Violin Competition, the Young Concert Artists European and the Coleman competitions.
In August 1998 he was invited by members of the Amadeus Quartet to perform at the Quartet’s fiftieth-anniversary gala concert in London. Krzysztof has appeared in television and radio broadcasts in both Europe and the United States, including regular live broadcasts on WQXR in New York City. He has participated in New York Philharmonic’s Latin American, Asian and East Coast tours since 2001.
Mr. Kuznik was the violinist of the Paderewski Trio, which won the 32nd Artists International’s New York Debut Award Auditions and as the result performed at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall on November 7, 2004.
Krzysztof serves on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division since 2003 and Thurnauer School Of Music at JCC on Palisades since 2017.
The New York music lovers belong to a privileged class of their kind. In a city described as the cultural capitol of the world, inhabited and yearly visited by a stream of thousands of artists, it is not difficult to attend a fantastic concert, not to have contact with outstanding individuals of the music scene.
During the concert season, on almost any day, one can listen to remarkable performers, thus, music aficionados stand before a difficult decision – which concert will deliver the most profound emotion and top notch esthetic sensibility.
The constant presence of various social media does not make this choice any easier by engulfing us in an avalanche of notices to a must - attend musical event. Anyone, who on a spur of the moment bought a ticket to a concert or a presentation that left him or her un-impressed, will admit that the disappointment can be acute. However, how awesome, when following a suggestion, we take part in an unforgettable happening, one that will move us esthetically, inspire artistically, or, simply, allow us the pleasure of listening to beautiful music performed by most talented people.
It is just such a concert that I had the opportunity to attend several weeks ago at the Kaufman Music Center. Not far from Lincoln Center, this hall, comprised of several auditoriums, offers a fine venue for local as well as visiting artists during the musical season, and offers a rich variety of solo performers, as well as chamber and orchestral presentations.
Last Sunday in June, one of the rooms was graced by a very interesting performance of a violin and piano duet.
Although Duo Trouvaille is a fairly recent collaboration, both artists are fine and matured musicians, who have been active on the New York music scene for years. Russian born pianist, Yulia Dusman, and violinist, Krzysztof Kuźnik from Warsaw, Poland, both began their musical education in their homelands, but decided to continue their studies in New York. After completing them, both began an intensive performing as well as pedagogical schedule. You can find detailed biographies on the Internet site of their duet: duotrouvaille.net. They accidentally met almost a year ago, but that meeting yielded a superior musical collaboration.
The evening’s concert began with Alfred Shnittke’s “Suite in the Old Style”, a composition written originally for violin during the mature period of his creativity, and showing a distinct baroque influence in both form and elements. It possesses a simple body of work, which does not allow for an overly stylized presentation, but at the same time, it does not lack finesse. Therefore it demanded certain elegance and controlled emotion, which was well delivered with an additional dose of humor and charm, and made for a fine start of the concert.
Three of George Gershwin’s Preludes were next on the program. Originally composed for piano solo, they were presented in an arrangement by Jascha Heifetz. These compositions were considered quite innovative in their time. Abundantly drawing inspiration from the New York jazz clubs of the prohibition, they shocked with their bold rhythmic shapes, parades of chords and octaves, and melodies that were snatched directly from scales of popular jazz and blues compositions. Even today, the music of the Preludes maintains the varnish of freshness, especially when played with zest and aggressiveness of the Duo Trouvaille musicians. Complicated rhythms and cascades of octaves became a canvass for humorous musical pictures, easily compared to fireworks.
Bela Bartok’s “Rumanian Folk Dances” were the last entry of the 1st part of the program, a series of six miniature compositions based on Transylvania’s folk music. Originally written for a piano solo performance, later re-orchestrated by the composer himself, the “Dances” for violin and piano, are unusually often performed at concerts. These pieces are exceedingly popular, no doubt due to an excellent arrangement by Zoltan Szekely. It explores all the technical possibilities of a violinist by implementing two-tone progressions, artificial flageolets, and a virtuoso worthy command of the bow. Duo Trouvaille was very effective in picturing the folk color of the pieces. It presented a scale of different moods- from focused and lyrical to comically rustic, finishing the last dance in a very lively manner.
The second half of the concert was wholly comprised by a monumental piece of work – Sergei Prokofiev’s violin and piano Sonata, No. 2, opus 94bis. Original version was composed for flute and piano. but the composer himself re-arranged it at the request of his friend, a famous violin virtuoso, David Oistrakh. The work is evolved on a classical four-part sonata, in which quick movements based on the composer’s technical ability to transform contrasting musical themes surround the different moods and tempos of central links. The layers of sounds are permeated by showiness and ornamentation, elements that are synonymous with compositions created especially for ostentatious instruments such as flute or violin. There is a perfect balance of lyricism and bravura, as well as elegance and humor, and that is exactly why the sonata is so popular. It would be difficult to find a better culmination of a concert, whose purpose was to present a tribute to musical humor, than this brilliant sonata, especially in the worthy interpretation of the Duo Trouvaille.
From the first measures of Allegro Moderato, it was easy to surmise that we were witness to an excellent collaboration of two musical individuals. The finesse and cheerfulness of the first part was replaced by an exuberant scherzo during which the artists engaged in a contrary exchange of musical motifs, never once loosing control of the breakneck speed. The third part brought a momentary respite – a moody and pastel colored Andante, during which the musicians had an opportunity to show subtler emotions, initiating a refined dialogue in the soft sounds of the piano dynamic. The Finale, Allegro con Brio, showed a true apotheosis of vitality and musical humor. A stacking of technical difficulties and a specific touch of mannerism in the composer’s musical language presented the musicians with a great challenge, rarely met by even seasoned performers. Duo Trouvaille conquered the work with vitality and greatness of sound, never neglecting the humorous tone nor subjugating the interpretation to undue pathos. The final coda, full of cascading ornamentallity and fanfares, brought to mind a spectacular firework show, providing a worthy conclusion to a concert abounding in humor and joy.
The astounding collaboration of two strong individuals of the Duo Trouvaille duet yielded a superior integrity of sound. We were able to admire not only the uncompromising virtuosity and discipline of this musical dialogue, accompanied by a sense of style and artistic unity, but also the magnetic personality of the performers, which kept us on the edge of our seats.
This was only the second concert of the duet, but it was well thought out and quite intelligent, bringing a specific vision, which is often missing in today’s performers. The two hours spent in Ann Goodman Hall provided the audience with inspiring emotions. Undoubtedly, the New York musical scene is enriched by this new and fascinating violin and piano duet, the Duo Trouvaille. We should all look forward to its progress with great expectations. Personally, while awaiting future concerts, I wish the musicians great success.
https://www.kurierplus.com/2018/07/6294/nowy-duet-na-nowojorskiej-scenie/
