Artist
"He's a brilliant artist, gifted by God." (Master Josef Suk)
"When he begins to play, it seems that the whole world is holding its breath and is disappearing somewhere...
He magically transforms any work into an unforgettable experience."
(The Bridge)
The violin virtuoso Alexander Shonert (*1972), winner of the prestigious Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler and Gold Hanukkah Berlin international awards, graduated from Novosibirsk State Conservatoire (named after Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka), where he also received his doctorate. He is an extraordinarily gifted musician with an exceptional ability to improvise, who avoids common theatrical gestures during his playing and lets the instrument speak for itself. His style and range of tones cannot deny the influence of the various Jewish-Russian cultural roots from which he grew up.
This discreet musician, being one of a few top class European violinists, has performed throughout Europe, both as a soloist and as a guest soloist together with symphony and chamber orchestras. He collaborated with outstanding musical celebrities (e.g. with Placido Domingo, or the composer Karel Svoboda in the Czech Republic). In 2005, he debuted with tremendous success in the US.
Since 1999, Alexander Shonert has permanently resided and worked in Prague, where for his significant contribution to cultural and charitable activities he earned the right to dual citizenship of the Russian Federation and the Czech Republic. In 2008, Czech Television filmed and put together a documentary about him entitled "The Life Pilgrimage of a Violin Genius". Alexander Shonert represents the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation in a variety of cultural events in countries across the European Union (in 2009 he represented Czech culture at the European Commission in Brussels).
The brilliant virtuosity, and the deep emotionality of Alexander's interpretation style as well as his charming improvisations make him an ideal interpreter of ethnically tinged music - his recitals feature hints and tones of Spanish, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian, Romanian, Armenian, Gypsy and Arabic music. Significant place in his work is devoted to Jewish music, for which interpretations he was awarded in Israel and at a world competition of Jewish artists in Berlin. Jewish melodies, which are his "pilgrimage with love, joy, tears and mystical ecstasy," were to be heard in his presentation during the filming of the solo parts of the Prague Golem musical.
During his performances, Alexander Shonert does not avoid large icons of classical music - his repertoire includes works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Bloch, Brahms, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Paganini, de Sarasate, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian.
In addition to his concert activities, Alexander Shonert has also served as a thriving and popular teacher. He has meticulously developed his own teaching methodology, which is based on the best traditions of the Russian violin school. Currently his students play in symphony orchestras in Russia, Europe and the US.
