Six 'Musical Wunderkind' Win Chance to Perform with Moscow Ballet's NUTCRACKER

Six 'Musical Wunderkind' Win Chance to Perform with Moscow Ballet's NUTCRACKER In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Great Russian Nutcracker, five hand-selected "Musical Wunderkind" in cities across the country open performances accompanying a Moscow Ballet ballerina with St Saens The Dying Swan.

The six, each in their respective cities, perform "Dying Swan" from Carnival of the Animals, prior to the curtain rising. Moscow Ballet created the cross discipline program, "Musical Wunderkind," as a salute to talented young Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition winners across the country. Unique to Moscow Ballet, the program is an unprecedented cooperation between the internationally renowned ballet company and up and coming musicians.

Los Angeles Philharmonic winner Edvard Pogossian's reaction to performing with Moscow Ballet is, "Of course I would love to do it…I am very much looking forward to…this incredible opportunity!" The experience develops young musician's interpretation skills in a way practice cannot.

From Washington D.C. to Los Angeles: see Dallas' Xavier Wilson, Cleveland's Fedor Amosov, Chicago's Ben Solomonow, Minneapolis' Rachelle Smith, Los Angeles Edvard Pogossian, and in Betheda and Fairfax' Fedor Ouspensky. Go to www.nutcracker.com/education/musical-wunderkind to read more about the new program.

"The Dying Swan," originally choreographed at the turn of the last century by legend Mikhail Fokine for Russia's prima ballerina assoluta Anna Pavlova, is also known to dance audiences as the iconic dance from Swan Lake.

Dallas - Xavier Wilson and Moscow Ballet soloist present a special collaboration at the November 16 performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker at SMU's McFarlin Auditorium... Child prodigy cellist, Xavier Wilson will open the performance playing Saint Saens' "Dying Swan," accompanied by a Moscow Ballet ballerina dancing the time-honored choreography. Moscow Ballet celebrates Xavier Wilson and his many achievements! Xavier Wilson has placed in several cello competitions including the Friedlander Concerto Competition for which he received 3rd place the first year and 2nd the following. He sat as Co-Principal with the Dallas Symphony and performed with Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Orchestra summer 2012. His teachers include Mildred McShane, recently retired from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra after 52 years, and Andres Diaz. Read more about Xavier.

Cleveland - Fedor Amosov and Moscow Ballet soloist present a special collaboration at the December 1 performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker at Cleveland's Music Hall... Fedor Amosov, an exceptionally talented young Russian cellist, was born in 1988 into a musical family in Moscow. He started playing the cello at the age of six and was soon accepted as a student at Moscow Conservatory's Central Music College. His first public performance took place when he was seven years old and now he performs regularly as soloist and recitalist in Russia, Europe, Japan, USA and elsewhere. Fedor was awarded First Prize in Concertino Prague 38th International Competition, with a special prize for the best performance of Sonata No.3 by Martin?. In 2010 Fedor received a Performance Diploma from Michigan State University. Fedor has studied with renown cellists including Stephen Geber, Suren Bagratuni, Lev Evgrafov, and Natalia Gutman and released his first CD in 2010 with the program of Six Sonatas of Luigi Boccherini. Read more about Fedor A.

Chicago/Rosemont - Ben Solomonow and Moscow Ballet soloist present a special collaboration at the December 2 performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker at the Akoo Theatre... Ben Solomonow is a student of Hans Jensen and is currently playing on a cello made by William Whedbee in 1998. Ben, in 2009 and 2010, was a scholarship student at the Meadowmount School of Music. Ben performed a recital for the Steinway concert series and was invited to play in the Schubertiade concert series in January of 2010. Also in 2010 he won the top prize of the senior division in the Walgreen National Concerto Competition, and played the Piatigorsky "Variations on a Paganini Theme" with the MYA Symphony Orchestra. He repeated the same work with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony Orchestra in October. Other than the time Piatigorsky played this piece himself, Ben's performance was the first played with an orchestra in the United States." He is currently a sophomore in high school in Evanston, IL. Read more about Ben.

Minneapolis - Rachelle Smith and Moscow Ballet soloist present a special collaboration at the December 7 performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker at the Orpheum... Rachelle has received several honors including winning the National Fine Arts Festival in the String Division in 2009 and being a finalist in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies Concerto Competition (GTCYS) in 2010 and 2011, winning first place in 2011 and the honor of performing the Elgar Cello Concerto with the GTCYS. She also won First Place in the Thursday Musical Competition in the High School Division in 2012, and was a finalist in the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition in 2012. Rachelle is a freshman at the University of Minnesota and is studying Cello Performance with Tanya Remenikova. Read more about Rachel.

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