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Fedotov wins Fulbright for research in Russia

Sept. 20, 2006

KALAMAZOO--Violist Igor Fedotov, associate professor of music at Western Michigan University and principal violist of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and conduct research in his native Russia.

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Fedotov leaves today for Russia and expects to return in July 2007. He says the primary objective of his travels to Russia is to continue research on music written for viola and piano by twentieth-century Russian-Soviet composers.

"This music represents a vital part of the Russian musical legacy, but has been lost or become inaccessible due to a scarcity of reprints and recordings," says Fedotov.

While in Russia, Fedotov will perform three programs compiled from the best examples of that music in a series of lecture-recitals in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the performances will be recorded on a Russian music label. He will conclude his residency by presenting a multimedia performance in collaboration with faculty and students of the Moscow M. Balakirev School of the Arts.

In addition, Fedotov will teach orchestral excerpts based on the unique method of Ellen Rose, principal violist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and will give master classes to the students of A. Shnitke Moscow State Institute of Music and St. Petersburg Conservatory.

"Even though these lectures are not part of my research project, I feel that while I am in Russia, it is important for me to introduce this method to my Russian colleagues and their students and share with them my experience of using it with the students at Western Michigan University."

Fedotov joined the WMU School of Music faculty in 1998. He has performed solo recitals throughout the United States and abroad, including the world premiere of Swedish composer Otto Freudenthal's Suite for Viola and Piano at the 1997 International Viola Congress. He also presented a solo performance and conducted master classes at the 1996 IVC in Germany and a solo recital at the 2000 IVC in Sweden. He was the featured soloist in a Kalamazoo Symphony performance of "Harold In Italy" by Hector Berlioz this past April.

As a chamber musician, he has performed with Anner Bylsma, Martin Lovett, Ivan Monighetti, Sally Chisholm, Charles Pikler, the Lemmov Trio, Thouvenel String Quartet, Camerata Boccherini Baroque Ensemble and Veronica String Quartet.

Fedotov earned a bachelor of music degree from Azerbaijan State Musical College and a master of music degree from Azerbaijan State Conservatory, both located in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.

WMU has the state's largest number of Fulbright Scholars this year, with six out of Michigan's 26 for the 2006-07 academic year. A total of 14 Michigan schools had faculty members awarded Fulbrights, with the University of Michigan and Michigan State University each receiving three awards and the remainder spread out around the state.

Media contact: Thom Myers, (269) 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu

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