Evgeni Orkin

Evgeni Orkin is a Ukrainian composer, clarinetist, saxophonist, conductor and author, who is based in Germany.

Life and career

Born in Lviv, then in the Ukrainian SSR, Orkin studied first at the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music, clarinet with I. Pendischuk and composition with Yevhen Stankovych. He studied further in Utrecht and at the Musikhochschule Mannheim, clarinet with Herman Braune and, conducting with Melvin Margolis and composition with Ulrich Leyendecker and.
Orkin played as principal clarinet in the ensemble of the Kyiv Camerata from 1992 to 1999. He was a co-founder of the project Open-Lift for contemporary music in Utrecht and co-founder, clarinetist and saxophonist of the ensemble Komponistenverschwörung,. a member of the ensemble TEMA in Karlsruhe, and a co-founder and player of the Dorado Quintet.
He has played in world premieres, in works by composers such as, Nuno Corte-Real,,, Valentin Silvestrov, Yevhen Stankovych and Martin Wistinghausen.
Orkin composed ten chamber symphonies, seven symphonies, concertos, among others, for violin, piano, saxophone and clarinet, an opera Magister Ludi after Hermann Hesse, several works of musical theatre, and chamber music. His works were performed at international festivals, including Vienna Festival, Young Euro Classic,, Lucerne Festival, „Un Week-end à l’Est“ in Paris, Kontrasty in Lviv, the Kyiv Music Fest, a festival of new music in Odesa, Heidelberger Frühling,, ZeitGenuss in Karlsruhe, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Wachenheimer Serenaden, and LvivMozArt. His works are published by Universal Edition, Accolade, Konsid und Are Musikverlag.
His chamber opera Das Märchen der Waldkönigin Ach sets a Ukrainian fairy tale; it was premiered at the small Wartburg stage of the Staatstheater Wiesbaden in October 2023. His Odessa Rhapsody was awarded the European Music Prize from the mayor of Berlin in 2023. It was premiered in Paris, and he received the prize when the German premiere was played at the Konzerthaus Berlin as part of Young Euro Classic by the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine conducted by Oksana Lyniv to whom he had dedicated the work.
In 2010 he founded the label OML. He published an educational book about playing historic clarinets in 2017, Methodische Einführung in das Erlernen und die Anwendung der historischen Klarinette, translated in German, English and Ukrainian.
Orkin lectures at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim.

Awards

1999: Prize from the President of Ukraine
2001: Scholarship from Lions Club Mannheim
2004: First prize of the second Festival of the Jewish World Congress in composition
2005: First prize of the competition by the Goethe Institute Mannheim, "Schiller vs Goethe" for the best setting of a text by Schiller
European Composition Prize 2023 for "Odesa Rhapsody" for two violins and orchestra

Works

op. 1: Sonatine for clarinet
op. 2: Quintet for draughts
op. 3: Gamayoune
op. 4: Chamber symphony No. 1 „The Harbours“
op. 5: Variations for piano
op. 6: Partita da Piazzolla
op. 7: The Mirror
op. 8: Talisman
op. 9: Symphony/Ballet No. 1 „Parade of the Planets“ for orchestra
op. 10: Jewish Suite for solo clarinet
op. 11: Suite for string orchestra
op. 12: Rhapsody for solo oboe
op. 13: Chamber symphony No. 2 for cello und strings
op. 14: Mosaiks
op. 15: Violin concerto
op. 16: Chamber symphony No. 3
op. 17: Konzertstueck for piano with orchestra
op. 18: The Rain Songs for soprano, clarinet and piano
op. 19: Four Songs on Ossip Mandelstam
op. 20: String quartet No. 1
op. 21: Die Schatten
op. 22: Sinfonia brevis No. 1
op. 23: Symphony No. 2
op. 24: Sonatina for piano
op. 25: Quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano
op. 26: Wohin segelt das Schiff? for voice and piano
op. 27: Cogito ergo sum
op. 28: Three Musicians for flute, bassoon and piano
op. 29: Symphoniy No. 3 „The Master and Margarita“
op. 30: Chamber symphony No. 4
op. 31: Four Miniatures for french horn and piano
op. 32: Six Bagatelles for violin, cello and piano
op. 33: Un Ange qui... for clarinet and organ
op. 34: Los Caprichos for bassoon/contrabassoon and piano
op. 35: Chamber symphony No. 5 „Le Caprice“ for strings
op. 36: Las Meninas for flute and piano
op. 37: Eine kleine Hochzeitskantate
op. 38: Three Graphics for violin and piano
op. 39: Concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra
op. 40: Graphomania 2 for orchestra
op. 41: Chamber symphony No. 6 „Winterschlaf“ for mezzo-soprano, choir and chamber orchestra
op. 42: Wizzard
op. 43: Clarinet quintet for clarinet and string quartet
op. 44: Meditation for clarinet and sound sample
op. 45: Chamber symphony No. 7 for female voice and chamber orchestra
op. 46: Escher-Etudes for three grand pianos in room
op. 47: Lullaby for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin and piano
op. 48: Missa Homoptera for clarinet and sound sample
op. 49: Ganz im Sinne des Tangos... for saxophone quartet
op. 50: Klanjobox Antique for clarinet, bastard banjo and live electronics
op. 51: Hommages à Carl Nielsen, Jean Françaix, Olivier Messiaen, Igor Strawinsky, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Astor Piazzolla for solo clarinet or rather for five clarinets
op. 52: Vosaduli for brass quintet
op. 53: Symphony No. 4 „Haiku“ for orchestra
op. 54: Martini Blue for voice, alto-saxophone, trombone, banjo, bass guitar, piano and live electronics
op. 55: Chamber symphony No. 8 „Windrose“ for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, french horn, percussion and strings
op. 56: Concerto d’oro
op. 57: Die Neun Musen for solo violin
op. 58: Symphony No. 5 „Jewish“ for orchestra
op. 59: Tandem-Toccata for two violins
op. 60: Two Pieces for shakuhachi and piano
op. 61: Quintet for two violins, viola, cello and piano
op. 62: Magister Ludi
op. 63: Speaking choir A „Kalaschnikow ist tot“
op. 64: Profundus for bass clarinet and sound sample
op. 65: Chamber symphony No. 9 „Olimpia“ for two alto-saxophones, flute, violin, cello, percussion and piano
op. 66: Symphony No. 6 „Maidan“
op. 67: Songs after poems by Franz Kafka for voice and piano
op. 68: „Der Schummeltrompeter“ free on motives from Struwwelpeter for narrator and small ensemble
op. 69: Adagio for clarinet and orchestra
op. 70: „Odem“
op. 71: Chamber symphony No. 10 „Sprich mit mir“ for voice, violin and chamber orchestra
op. 72: b.) „Echo“ for clarinet, sound sample and two narrators
op. 73: „In Wiederkehr der Masken“
op. 74: „Und wie der Pan gähnt...“ for overtone singer and small ensemble
op. 75: „Annes Passion“ Oratorium for narrator, soloists, choir and orchestra after texts by Anne Frank
op. 76: Theobald Lieder for voice and piano
op. 77: „3 Mahngesänge“ for clarinet and strings
op. 78: „3 Valses“ for orchestra
op. 79: Violin concerto No. 2
op. 80: String quartet No. 2
op. 81: „Halytska overture“ for orchestra
op. 82: „Mizmor“ for klezmer band, cantor and string orchestra
op. 83: „Odesa Rhapsody“ for two violins and orchestra
op. 84: „Nachtgebet“ for orchestra
op. 85: „Tatusewa Knyha“ cantata for narrator, soloists, children choir and orchestra
op. 86: „Rechtzeitig“ for chamber ensemble
op. 87: Grand Trio Concertant for clarinet, violin and piano
op. 88: „Todesfuge“ for violin, narrator and orchestra
op. 89: Symphony No. 7 „Das hohe Schloss“
op. 90: „Requiem for a Poet“ for bariton, sampler and orchestra
op. 91: „Elegy“ for orchestra
op. 92: „Fünf unterbrochene Wiegenlieder“ for orchestra
op. 93: „Odradek“ concerto for viola and string orchestra
op. 94: „Mendele-Lohengrin“ clezmer singspiel for narrator, soprano and chamber orchestra
op. 95: „Radetzkymarsch“ for clarinet, narrator and orchestra
op. 96: „Briefe aus dem Schatten“ for soloists, choir and orchestra