Home BGR Artists Sergei Kvitko | Sergei Kvitko |
 Sergei Kvitko's career is as diverse as it is successful. His appearances as a pianist, although rare, generate excitement and critical acclaim. A voting member of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (GRAMMY), he is a much sought-after recording engineer and producer. As a composer he gathered multiple awards for his incidental music for the production of Steven Dietz's play "Dracula." In addition, for the last ten years Mr. Kvitko has held the position of organist at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Lansing, Michigan, where he organizes Fine Arts Concert Series - open to public outstanding performances by local and visiting artists.
Mr. Kvitko's piano engagements range from solo concerts, lecture-recitals, and appearances with orchestras to accompaniment and collaborative work. Among many others, the highlights of these engagements include performance of Rachmaninoff's Paganini Rhapsody with Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra; accompanying participants at The World Saxophone Congress in Montreal, Quebec; world premiere performances of contemporary compositions on tour with the acclaimed Canadian mezzo-soprano Patricia Green; lecture-recital on Shostakovich's piano music as part of Shostakovich Festival at the University of Western Ontario. In The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) article headlined "Russian Pianist Dazzles St. Mary's Audience" Stephen Pedersen praised his "warm, round sound... luminous touch... plenty of brilliance" stating that "Kvitko played everything with a natural, appealing musicality and sensual understanding of piano tone." A computer audio wizard, Mr. Kvitko has produced and engineered CDs for such labels as DUX, Goldenrod, Naxos, and Crystal Records, as well as his own independent label Blue Griffin Recording (www.bluegriffin.com). His work has been praised by Fanfare Magazine ("excellent ... the sound is sumptuous and rich") and American Record Guide ("the recording is close to ideal - rich but clear, truthful, and immediate."), among others. Recordings produced by Mr. Kvitko have been favorably reviewed in such international publications as Gramophone, Stirngs, Clavier, All Music Guide and can be heard on radio stations throughout the world. Sergei is very active in many of the area's theater productions, each year earning multiple awards for "Best Sound Design" and "Best Original Music." The Dracula CD, his biggest success so far, was praised by critics for being "gorgeous and frightening", "clearly a major composition", and "film quality score". Lawrence Cosentino of City Pulse wrote: "Kvitko wove a borderline insane level of care and sophistication into every bar of his score even when you can barely hear it." Sergei Kvitko was born in Russia and began studying music at the age of six. After receiving the highest musical education there, he came to the United States to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University, where he studied with Ralph Votapek. In his first year at MSU he won the school's two most prestigious contests: The Honors Competition and The Catherine Herrick Cobb Scholarship Competition, the latter of which earned him the etching of his name into a golden plaque at the entrance to MSU's School of Music.
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