Dunja Lavrova was born in St Petersburg on the 15th of September, 1985. Her family, although not classically trained themselves, are very musical and encouraged her to appreciate classical music from an early age. Dunja started violin lessons at the age of six with Vera Dobrinina whom she continued to study under at the Special Music College in St. Petersburg until she was offered a full scholarship at the Yehudi Menuhin School in 1998. Previous to accepting the place at the Yehudi Menuhin School she had appeared on St. Petersburg television and radio; had toured Peru (where her concerts were broadcasted on national television); and had won the second prize for violinists in the International Shostakovitch Competition in 1997. Dunja accepted her place at the Yehudi Menuhin School in 1999 where she initially studied with Natasha Boyarsky and later, Maciej Rakowski. There, she was chosen to play various concerts and recitals in the United Kingdom, France, Russia and Switzerland as a soloist and chamber musician for which she received much accolade. During this time she played at prestigious venues such as Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, St John`s Smith Square, The Queen Elizabeth Hall and National Gallery. In January 2003 Dunja took part in ESO Young Soloists Competition and won the Duke Devonshire award for the best performer under the age of 18. In January 2003 Dunja accepted a full scholarship at the Royal College of Music which gave her the opportunity to further study with Maciej Rakowski. While studying at the College from Autumn 2003 to Summer 2007, she has performed in the Handel Festival (in Hanover Square, London); led the RCM String Band with Catherine Mackentosh, took part in workshops with Sir R.Norrington and Bernard Heitink; led the RCM Sinfonietta, directed by Christopher Warren-Green, performing Rimsky-Korsakov`s "Scheherezade"; and has performed Ravel`s "Tzigane" with Kent Sinfonia. In spring 2004 she was awarded The Young Artist of the Year by the Arts Club and was invited to play a recital the following year. It was at that recital, Dunja met a private Benefactor who had presented her with a 1914 Pedrazzini Violin which she now plays. Since joining the Royal College of Music Dunja had been awarded The Hans Romney Prize at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition in 2004; The Gandar Dower Scholarship and The Orpheus Scholarship. Later, Dunja became one of the six string instrument-playing semi-finalists of the YCAT Competition and the winner of the Craxton Fund Award and of the Royal College of Music String Competition, following which she was invited to perform at the RCM Young Artist of the Year concert at the Wigmore Hall. Having completed her degree as a Bachelor of Music (First Class Honors) in 2007, Dunja is staying at the Royal College of Music as an MMus Postgraduate student, for which she has been granted a full scholarship. She has since led the RCM Symphony Orchestra directed by John Wilson at the highly acclaimed Concerts celebrating 125th Anniversary of Royal College of Music which were sponsored by the Daily Telegraph. More recently she was chosen to become one of the only four students in London to hold the Derek Butler London Prize and therefore representing the Royal College of Music. As the holder of the prize, Dunja will be expected to compete against three other students at the Wigmore Hall in March 2008.

Curriculum Vitae

Name: Dunja (Avdotya) Lavrova ( Date of Birth: 15th of September 1985 )
Instrument: Violin (Other Instruments: Baroque violin and piano)
Telephone number: 07877 859 482
E-mail: dunja_lavrova@mail.ru

Teachers:
 Vera Dobrinina and Olga Shapiro (1991-1998)
 Natasha Boyarsky and Lutzia Ibragimova (1998-2001)
 Maciej Rakowski (2001- …)

Education:
 The Special Music College of St. Petersburg (1993-1998)
 The Yehudi Menuhin School (1998-2003)
 The Royal College of Music, London (UG 2003-2007, PG 2007- 2009)

Competitions and awards:
 The Schostakovich Competition (Classica Nova), Hanover, 1997
 Full Scholarship at The Yehudi Menuhin School (Autumn 1998-summer 2003)
 The ESO Competition (Eastbourne, 2003): The Devonshire Award
 Full Scholarship at The Royal College of Music (2003)
 The Young Artist of the Year, The Arts Club (2004)
 Gandar Dower Scholarship (2004)
 The Hans Romney Prize at the TWICA Competition (summer 2004)
 Orpheus Scholarship (2003-2009)
 Full Scholarship at The Royal College of Music (2007)
 Derek Butler Prize (2008)
 Bromsgrove Festival / International Young Musicians Platform (2008): 2nd Prize

Violin Master-classes: Igor Oistrach, Z.Bron, D.Schwartzberg, R.Masters, M.Rostrapovitch, Z.Zietlin, Pierre Amoyal, Barbican Trio, and others.
Solo performances at Queen Elizabeth Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Wigmore Hall, National Gallery and other London venues. Concerts, festivals and recitals in The U.K., France, Germany, Russia (including Television broadcasts) and South America.

Solo performances with Orchestras:
The English Symphony Orchestra (April 2009) The Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra (Mozart Concerto, 2003)
The Kent Sinfonia, ( 2004) The Concert Orchestra of St Petersburg (1998)
The Television and Radio Orchestra of Popular Classical Music, St Petersburg (Mendelssohn Concerto, 1997)

Orchestral experience:

Konzertmeister:

 Mahler Symphony N9, with Bernard Haitink (19th and 20th of June 2009)
 Brahms` s 2nd Symphony, Mahler`s Kindertotenlieder and Schubert`s Symphony N7 with Sir Roger Norrington
 R.Strauss`s Also Sprach Zarathustra, with Vladimir Ashkenazy
 125th Anniversary Concerts of the RCM (music included Elgar, Walton, Delius, Bax and others) with John Wilson
 Beethoven`s Symphony N7 directed by Gordan Nikolitch
 Elgar` s 2nd Symphony with Andrew Litton
 Schubert`s Symphony N7 with the late Janos Furst
 Wagner` s Parsifal Suite with Sir Roger Norrington
 Rimsky-Korsakov`s Scheherezade with C. Warren-Green
 Many performances as leader with various RCM Symphony and Camber Orchestras
 Leader: Orpheus Sinfonia (from 2008)
 Leader: the YMS String Orchestra (1998-2003)


Additional orchestral experience:

 Trial with LPO for N4 position in 1st violins (April 2009)
 Reserve list at the ROH, Covent Garden (May 2009)
 Selected participant of The LSO Scheme (2006)
 Co-leader in a Mozart programme, led by Catherine MacIntosh
 Principal 2nd violin for Sibelius’ 2nd symphony with Vladimir Askenazy
 Concerts and workshops with Peter Schreier, Sir Roger Norrington, Gordan Nikolitch, Janos Furst, John Wilson, Andrew Litton, Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Colin Davies, V. Gergiev and others.
 Performances with The London Beethoven Chamber Orchestra
 Performances with Orchestra Europa
 Performances with the London Pro-Arte Orchestra
 Regular performances with the Orchestra of La Baule
 Performances with The Orchestra of the Swan
 Regular performances with the RCM Symphony Orchestra, RCM Opera, RCM String Band, RCM Baroque Orchestra and RCM Sinfonietta : programmes have included major symphonies of the baroque, classical and romantic periods.
 Performance of R.Strauss`s Metomorphosen and performance of Beethoven`s 2nd Sypmhony and Haydn “Military” Symphony, led and directed by Gordan Nikolitch
Orchestral performances at The Royal Albert Hall, QEH, Royal Festival Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, Barbican and others.

 

Contact : Ann de la Grange Sury Tel: 01362 684103
email: anndelagrange@aol.com