Arkady Shilkloper


Arkady Shilkloper is a Russian multi-instrumentalist and composer, currently living in Berlin. He is known as one of the best jazz performers on horn and alphorn.

Biography

Shilkloper was born in Moscow and started playing the alto horn at the age of six and switched to horn in 1967. At the age of eleven he entered the Moscow Military Music School. After two years of military service, he studied at the Moscow Gnessin Institute. At the same time he began his career in the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre and also began his first jazz activities.
In 1984, he formed a duo with his colleague from the Bolshoi Theatre, bassist Mikhail Karetnikow, with whom he recorded the LP "Move".. From 1985 to 1989, he played with A. Kirichenko and S. Letov in the band Tri-O. During te same period, he was a member of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 1986, he has collaborated with pianist Mikhail Alperin. Their first album, Wave of Sorrow, was the first Russian album on ECM. Later, Shilkloper participated in three more Alperin recordings for ECM: North Story, First Impression and Her First Dance.
In 1990, the Alperin-Shilkloper duo invited Sergey Starostin, a Moscow Conservatory-educated clarinetist and a researcher of Russian authentic folk music, which results in the creation of Moscow Art Trio. The trio tours regularly, though its members now live in three different countries. They were one of the most well-known Ethno Jazz groups from Russia. In Russia, their albums were released by Boheme Music, and in Europe by Jaro.
In 1990, Shilkloper visited US for the first time. According to Leonard Feather from the Los Angeles Times, "the Soviet horn virtuoso was one of four Jazzmen from the Soviet Union who arrived here last week to take part in the 23rd annual University of Idaho Jazz Festival at his home town's namesake city. Shilkloper, 33, on his first visit to the United States was the artistic sensation of the four-day event."
Since 1995, Arkady Shilkloper has played in Pago Libre with Austrian violinist Tscho Theissing, Swiss pianist John Wolf Brennan and Austrian bassist Georg Breinschmid, Since January 2012, there has beenanother member,Tom Götze from Dresden, on double bass.
Since 1998, Shilkloper has played the alphorn. His "Pilatus", "Presente Para Moscou" and "Zum Gipfel und zurück" albums feature a lot of his alphorn playing. In 1998–2002, Shilkloper performed with Europe's leading big band, the Vienna Art Orchestra. In 2000, he put together the Mauve Trio with Alegre Corrêa' and Georg Breinschmid. Their debut album Mauve was awarded the prestigious Hans Koller Prize in Austria as the "CD of the Year".
In 2004, he gave the first performance of the Concerto for Alphorn and Orchestra by Daniel Schnyder, a work commissioned by the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad. In 2012, he started a collaboration with overtone singer Christian Zehnder and John Wolf Brennan.
In 2015, Jazzahead presented his duet with the young Ukrainian jazz pianist Vadim Neselovskyi.
In 2019, the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society, in recognition of significant contribution to the science and art of the horn, designated Arkady Shilkloper as an Honorary Member of the International Horn Society.
Shilkloper has mastered extended techniques for both the horn and the alphorn. According to Leonard Feather, his control of the horn and his creativity have set a new standard.

Discography

Solo albums

  • 1996 – "Hornology" Russia
  • 2000 – "Pilatus" Russia
  • 2003 – "Presente para Moscou" ; reissued in 2005 Germany
  • 2006 – "Zum Gipfel und zuruck. Neue Alphornmusik" Switzerland
  • 2008 – "Portrait" Russia
  • 2010 – "Live in DOM" Russia
  • 2015 – "Owner of a Lonely Horn" Symphonic Tribute to YES Russia
  • 2024 – "New Hornology" Russia

    With Misha Alperin

  • 1990 — Alperin / Shilkloper «Wave of Sorrow» Germany
  • 1993 — Alperin / Shilkloper «Live in Grenoble», 1998 Russia
  • 1997 — Mikhail Alperin «North Story» Germany
  • 1999 — Mikhail Alperin «First Impression» Germany
  • 2008 — Misha Alperin «Her First Dance» Germany

    With Vadim Neselovskyi

  • 2013 — Arkady Shilkloper / Vadim Neselovskyi «Last Snow» Russia
  • 2015 — Arkady Shilkloper / Vadim Neselovskyi «Krai» Germany
  • 2017 — Arkady Shilkloper / Vadim Neselovskyi «Lustrum» Germany

    With Moscow Art Trio

  • 1993 — Moscow Art Trio «Prayer» Russia; France; Germany
  • 1995 — Mikhail Alperin «Folk Dreams» Germany
  • 1996 — Moscow Art Trio «Hamburg Concert» Germany
  • 1998 — Moscow Art Trio «Music» Germany
  • 1998 — Moscow Art Trio «Live In Karlsruhe» Russia
  • 1998 — The Bulgarian Voices «Angelite» & Moscow Art Trio with Huun-Huur-Tu «Mountain Tale» Germany
  • 2001 — Moscow Art Trio «Once Upon a Time» Germany
  • 2006 — Moscow Art Trio «Instead of Making Children» Germany
  • 2008 — Moscow Art Trio & Norwegian Chamber Orchestra «Village Variations» Germany
  • 2009 — Moscow Art Trio «Live in Holland» Russia; Germany''
  • 2010 — The Bulgarian Voices Angelite with Huun-Huur-Tu & Moscow Art Trio «Legend» Germany

    With Pago Libre

  • 1996 — Pago Libre «Pago Libre» Germany. 2002, England
  • 1999 — Pago Libre «Wake Up Call» Live in Italy England
  • 2001 — Pago Libre Cinemagique/Fifteen Soundtracks For An Imaginary Cinema" Switzerland
  • 2003 — Pago Libre «Phoenix/Live in Salzburg & Zurich» England
  • 2005 — Pago Libre «Stepping Out» England
  • 2008 — Pago Libre Sextett «PlatzDADA» Switzerland
  • 2009 — Pago Libre «Fake Folk» Austria
  • 2018 — Pago Libre & Friends «got hard» England
  • 2019 — Pago Libre «Cinémagique 2.0» England
  • 2020 — Pago Libre «Mountain Songlines» England
  • 2020 — Pago Libre Sextett «PlatzDADA» England
  • 2021 — Pago Libre & Sooon «FriendShip» England
  • 2024 — Pago Libre & Sooon «FriendShip - Riffs ahead!» England
  • 2025 — Pago Libre «Wild Card» England

    Other projects

  • 1986 — Arkady Shilkloper / Mikhail Karetnikov «Move» Russia
  • 1988 — Rhapsody in Russia A Gershwin Celebration USA
  • 1989 — Три-О «Three Holes» Russia
  • 1994 — Moscow Composers Orchestra «Kings and Cabbages» England
  • 1994 — Kim Kristensen & Ildvaeverne Denmark
  • 1994 — Christian Muthspiel «Octet Ost II» Austria
  • 1995 — Три-О «Trialogue» Russia
  • 1996 — Arkady Shilkloper Acoustic Quartet «BRASS COMPLOT» and 1998 Russia
  • 1996 — Karl Berger Orchestra «No Man Is An Island» USA
  • 1996 — Baltic Art Orchestra LIVE AT JAZZ BALTIKA FESTIVAL 1994 SALZAU
  • 1997 — Moscow Composers Orchestra "Let Peremsky Dream" England
  • 1998 — Arkady Shilkloper/ Vladimir Volkov/ Sergey Starostin «XIX98» Russia
  • 1998 — Volkovtrio & Arkady Shilkloper «Fragment» Russia
  • 1998 — Volkovtrio «Much Better» Russia
  • 1998 — Arkady Shilkloper / Andrey Kondakov / Vladimir Volkov / Christian Scheuber «Live In Norway» Russia
  • 1998 — Arkady Shilkloper & Acoustic Quartet «The Brass Complot» Russia
  • 1998 — Moscow Composers Orchestra «Kharms – 10 – INCIDENTS» Russia
  • 1999 — «Rhapsody In Russia: A Gershwin Celebration» USA
  • 1999 — Stefano Maltese Open Sound Ensemble «Living Alive» England
  • 1999 — Bendik Hofseth – Smilets Historie. "Jerusalem" Norway
  • 1999 — Andrei Razin & The Second Approach «Pierrot» Russia
  • 2000 — Andreas Willers Octet «The Ground Music» Germany
  • 2000 — Kondakov / Volkov / Shilkloper «Outline» and Leo Records CD LR 620 Russia and England
  • 2001 — Yuri Goloubev «Toremar Island» Russia
  • 2001 — Shilkloper / Correa / Breinschmid «Mauve» Austria
  • 2002 — «Afrodynamix» Austria
  • 2004 — Er.J.Orchestra «The Unicorn» Ukraine
  • 2005 — & Arkady Shilkloper CD LP France
  • 2005 — TONS izabel padovani ronaldo saggiorato Austria
  • 2005 — Sensationelles Alphorn Switzerland
  • 2006 — Vladimir Tarasov's Russian Orchestra, Live from Salzau at 10.06.1995
  • 2007 — Niels Klein Tentett "The Last Soup" Germany
  • 2008 — Vince Mendoza «BLAUKLANG» Germany
  • 2009 — Geir Lysne Ensemble "The Grieg Code" Germany
  • 2010 — Mussorgsky Dis-Covered Austria
  • 2012 — Russian Folksongs In The Key Of New Jazz England
  • 2013 — Zehnder / Brennan / Shilkloper «Dehei nöd dehei» Switzerland
  • 2013 — AlphornExperience «Axxalp» Switzerland
  • 2014 — Mario Piacentini Sextet «Neant» Italy
  • 2015 — Rolf Listevand & Bjergsted Jazz Ensemble «Tourdion» Norway
  • 2015 — The Mallet-Horn Jazz Band France
  • 2017 — Yury Markin «On a Large Scale» Russia
  • 2019 — FizFuz «Lale - Colours of Eurasia» Germany
  • 2019 — Rastko Obradovic Quartet feat. Arkady Shilkloper «The Northern Experience» Norway
  • 2020 — Lenny Sendersky & Moon Strings feat. Arkady Shilkloper «Blues Mizrahi» Norway
  • 2020 — Evelina Petrova, Roberto Dani, Arkady Shilkloper «Beyond the Valley» Global Sonic Norway

    Filmography

  • 1998 — «» XXV International Pianist JAZZ Festival in Kalisz. Director: Rafal Sory.
  • 1999 — «», Movie director: Manfred Waffender, Duration: 01 h 00 min, Production: © NDR, Available version: DE
  • 2004 — «». Live in Belgrade. Moscow Art Trio, Bulgarian Voices "Angelite", Huun-Huur-To. Live Recording at Sava Center in May 2004
  • 2007 — «» and The Norvegian Chamber Orchestra
  • 2012 — »."VSP orkestra concert", concert entirely recorded at the jazz festival "la Petite Pierre" on August 11, 2011, with Arkady Shilkloper alphorn & French horn soloist, with Renaud Leipp alphorn, vibraphone and composer,Pascal Beck big band director, DVD, © octa prod / France, ref : octaprod001
  • 2013 — "". Arkady Shilkloper talks to Sarah Willis on a Horn Hangout live from Berlin about his amazing career, improvising on the horn and on the alpine horn and even makes Sarah sweat a bit... September 2013
  • 2013 — «». Dokumentarfilm, Deutschland, 2013, 58:33 Min., Buch und Regie: Christoph Engel, Produktion: ZDF, 3sat, Erstsendung: 28. September 2013 bei 3sat.