Concertmaster
HSO Concertmaster Leonid Sigal has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as recitalist, chamber musician and orchestra leader. Since early performances he was praised by audiences and critics for his virtuosity and musical sensitivity. Miami Herald wrote: “Sigal demonstrated what a fine violinist he is, playing passionately and cleanly with a soaring tone”; and Hartford Courant echoes: “His tone was consistently sweet. He brought a clear sense of phrasing, articulation and effortless virtuosity”.
Born in Moscow, Russia, he began violin studies at the age 5, and later was accepted to the renowned Gnessin School. He went on attending and graduating with excellence from Moscow Conservatory. Later he had also studied with Erik Friedman, and had taken masterclasses with Isaac Stern.
Winner of several violin competitions and recipient of 1993 Meadows Artistic Scholarship Award, he moved to the US, where in 1995 he was invited by Michael Tilson Thomas to a prestigious fellowship at the New World Symphony. One of the concertmasters, he also studied conducting with Mr. Thomas. His has performed in the US, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Japan, South Korea.
A devoted chamber musician, he collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich, Evgeny Kissin, Edgar Meyer, Joseph Silverstein, James Ehnes, Roberto Diaz among others. He appears with the Miami Friends of Chamber Music and is a frequent guest with the Avery Ensemble. In 2007 he inaugurated and became Artistic Director of the highly praised Sunday Serenades chamber music series at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
After acclaimed performances of Bruch’ Scottish Fantasy and Bernstein’s Serenade, as well as concertos by Mozart, Brahms and Sibelius with the HSO, he will be featured as a soloist at the Talcott Mountain Music Festival this summer, performing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. In May of 2011 Mr. Sigal will perform world premiere of Stephen Michael Gryc’ Violin Concerto “Harmonia Mundi”, written for him and commissioned by the HSO.
Previously Associate Concertmaster of the Florida Philharmonic, Mr. Sigal had also performed with the San Diego Symphony. He serves as concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, as well as a faculty member at University of Hartford’s The Hartt School. He had served as Artistic Director of the Miami Chamber Symphony. He frequently returns to the podium, most recently conducting the HSO in works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Poulenc, Prokofiev and Schnittke; as well as such crossover projects as Stan Getz Tribute and Classical Mystery Tour – Music of The Beatles .