Violinist Vadim Gluzman stands firmly in support of Ukraine, his homeland

For violin virtuoso Vadim Gluzman, now based in the Chicago area, all roads lead to Ukraine.

Born there in 1973, Gluzman grew up in Latvia and Israel, but still feels a bond to his homeland, now under attack by Russia. “My whole family, for centuries, came from Ukraine, and I do feel very strongly the fight of Ukrainian people today,” he said in an interview with the site the Violinist.com. “I very much support them as much as I can emotionally.”

He also promotes Ukraine’s cultural legacy. When he appears Nov. 19-21 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Jaap van Zweden, Gluzman will perform the Violin Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Prokofiev, born in 1891 in Sontsivka, Ukraine. Meanwhile, Gluzman’s latest studio disc, released in May by Onyx, features works of Ukrainian composer and pianist Valentin Silvestrov. Now 88 years old, Silvestrov has written nine symphonies and many other works, especially chamber music. 

Gluzman showcases J.S. Bach’s violin concertos on his new disc; he paired them with works by Silvestrov because he believes the composer’s music has “the same kind of purity and cleanliness of message” as the works of J.S. Bach. “And Silvestrov is indeed influenced by Bach,” Gluzman said. After deciding on Bach, "Silvestrov was almost an immediate choice for me, simply because I’m absolutely in love with his music.”

Since war erupted in 2014 (after Russia annexed Crimea, formerly part of Ukraine) and then again in 2022, Silvestrov’s music has attracted more attention. The Russian invasion forced him flee from Ukraine in 2022; he now resides in Berlin. Due to the war, he has become a leading musical voice for his country, through works such as his Prayer for Ukraine.

Gluzman points out that “it is unfair that [Silvestrov] has become famous, thanks to the war. He is a great composer. Period. No matter war, no matter politics. It is wonderful that we are playing his music now, but it should have come earlier.”

Silvestrov has written “an enormous amount of music, in every genre imaginable,” Gluzman said. Throughout his career, Silvestrov’s music “has gone through phases and stylistic changes,” and now in the 21st century, the composer has arrived at a style that Gluzman calls “disarmingly beautiful.” 

Recorded with the chamber orchestra COmpass REsonance of Boulder, Colorado, Gluzman’s new disc features two Silvestrov serenades for solo violin that are “little musical moments that are basically as good as what he improvises,” he said. (When Gluzman performed with the CSO in 2023, he offered a Silvestrov serenade as an encore.)

Gluzman recalled a festival in Germany where the composer was honored. “You would see Silvestrov wandering around the hotel lobby and noticing a keyboard,” Gluzman said. “He would just sit down and start noodling. This little serenade that you hear on my recording — the same kind of music would come out of thin air. People would just stand there, mesmerized, listening to him, this elderly man sitting at the piano. He was like a little miracle, emanating light.”