Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko is enjoying an incredibly active season following his victory at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in June.
This latest achievement adds to his impressive accolades, which include first prize at the 2023 Montreal International Violin Competition and third prize at the 2022 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition. With competitions behind him, Udovychenko is now ready to embark on a dedicated musical journey.
Reflecting on his recent win, he expressed joy in bringing a moment of happiness to the people of Ukraine, who are enduring the hardships of the ongoing war with Russia. “Even for a short moment, I was happy to give some brief moments of happiness,” Udovychenko shared with reporters at a press conference in Seoul on Monday after arriving from Taiwan, where he had been on a recital tour.
He also addressed the controversy surrounding his decision to refuse a handshake with Vadim Repin, a Russian violinist and one of the judges at the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition. “I absolutely admire him as a violinist and have nothing against him personally. But he’s ruling a festival supported by the Russian government. It just was not the right thing for me to shake his hands,” he explained. Repin has been associated with the Trans-Siberian Arts Festival, established in 2014, which is funded by the Russian government.
Udovychenko emphasized that while being a Russian citizen is not a determining factor in personal relationships, participation in events endorsed by the Russian state is significant, especially given the current conflict. “The crucial thing is being part of events that Russia is supporting, a country that is killing Ukrainian people,” he remarked.
The impact of the war has also touched Udovychenko’s family. His mother, a viola player in the Kharkiv Opera Orchestra, fled to neighboring countries such as Lithuania and Slovakia when the war began but has recently returned to Ukraine, where his father remained alone.
It seems almost preordained that Udovychenko would become a musician, as both his mother and father, along with his younger brother, are violists. Initially aspiring to play the viola, he began learning the violin at age five, inadvertently moving away from his original goal. “Then, I forgot to switch to viola at some point,” he said.
After completing his studies at the Kharkiv Music School in Ukraine, Udovychenko moved to Germany in 2016 to study under Boris Garlitsky at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Since 2022, he has been studying at the Kronberg Academy with Christian Tetzlaff. “It is an honor to be one of the few students to receive guidance from Tetzlaff, one of the great violinists of our time. I’m thoroughly enjoying learning every aspect of his approach to music, performance techniques, and more,” he noted.
Udovychenko, alongside runner-up Joshua Brown from the Queen Elisabeth Competition, kicked off the Queen Elisabeth Competition Winners’ Concert on Tuesday in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province. Their performance schedule includes Gyeongju on Wednesday, Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, on Friday, and Seogwipo, Jeju Island, on Sunday. Additionally, he is set to perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by artistic director David Reiland, at the Seoul Arts Center on Thursday.
In November, Udovychenko will return to Korea to take part in the second DMZ International Music Festival at the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Complex, an event focused on the desire for peace. As a fitting performer for this festival, he will play alongside Korean pianist Youn Hong-Chu on Nov. 13, and on Nov. 16, he will collaborate with the DMZ Festival Orchestra to perform Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 during the closing concert.
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