ENCINITAS — Irina Tseitlin was only 12 when she began studying with Yuri Yankelevich at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory. She went on to graduate at the top of her class.
After fleeing Russia in 1975 with new husband and fellow violinist, Michael Tseitlin, Irina received critical acclaim on the world stage as a violin virtuoso, winning top prizes in the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal and Munich international music competitions.
Subsequently, she performed as a soloist with the Munich Radio Orchestra with Rafael Kubelik, the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Pinchas Zukerman, the Montreal Symphony with Charles Dutoit and the BBC Symphony.
She garnered rave reviews from The London Times, which described her performance with the BBC Symphony as “ …Full of Passion and Truth” and The Los Angeles Times that spoke of her talent as the, “Sound of rare beauty.”
At 8 p.m. June 29, Irina will perform at the Encinitas Library.
Tickets are $15 and will be sold at the door.
The concert is the first of The Art of Recital Series sponsored by the local nonprofit, Friends of Musical Arts.
Also performing is Belgium pianist Patrick Dheur who has played with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists with Yuri Bashmet, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Jerusalem Philharmonic Wiener Sinfonietta, Caracas Symphony, Grenoble Symphony, Bucharest Symphony and Belgian National Orchestra.
Dheur has appeared locally at the Sherwood Auditorium at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Arts.
The program at the Encinitas Library will include “Suite in Old Style” (Schnittke), “Children in Yad Vashem” (Tseitlin), “Visions des Ames” (Dheur), “Suite from ‘Circus 1937” (Tseitlin) and “Polonaise Brillante” in A major (Wieniawski).
“It’s very exciting to be performing in Encinitas and I hope we will have more and more venues in San Diego for great artists to play here because we need it,” Irina said. “Unlike larger venues, the Encinitas Library provides an intimate concert setting that creates a one-on-one relationship between the performer and the audience.
“I know there are a lot of people interested in this and I think it’s very important for our younger generation to have access to world-class performers.”
The Tseitlins have lived in North County since 1980 and raised their sons here: international concert violinist, Paul “Pasha” Tseitlin; and violinist, conductor and composer, Alexander Tseitlin.
In 1990, Irina and Michael founded the California Institute of Music, which has become the pre-eminent center for pre-college professional education in music.
Alumni include David Chan (violist, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; professor, The Juilliard School), Igor Gruppman (concertmaster, San Diego Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra), Erik Ulman (composer and lecturer, Stanford University) and Francesca Dego (violinist, Milan Conservatory Philharmonic).
Throughout the year Irina and Michael travel across the United States and abroad, offering concerts and teaching master classes to talented students.
At 6 p.m. June 23, Irina will perform with pianist Kevin Fitzgerald at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Leo S. Bing Theatre. The concert will be broadcast live on KUSD classical music radio.
In August the Tseitlins will travel to New York where they will perform and teach master classes at the Summit Musical Festival. They will do so again in the fall when they embark on a tour that will take them to Europe and Israel.
In addition to being a violin virtuoso, Michael is a world-renowned visual and multimedia artist.
“We also write children’s books together,” Irina added. “It’s very much the story of our family.”
The Tseitlins continue to be active in the local arts scene, and were part of a group of residents who came together in 2002 to form Friends of Musical Arts.
“FOMA’s goal was and remains to support music and art in San Diego,” Michael explained. “Over the years the organization has donated a number of music instruments to local schools and financially supported California International Young Artists Competition. Our CEO is Danny Dabby, a resident of Del Mar.”
Michael added that The Art of Recital Series 2013-14 season will be announced in September.
The Encinitas Library is located at 540 Cornish Drive. For more information about the Tseitlins, visit michaelandirinatseitlin.com or YouTube.
