Afanasy Chupin is no stranger to CAMERATA audiences. He has previously appeared as a guest with the orchestra alongside François Leleux, Fazıl Say and Julie Fuchs, and will take up the post of concertmaster from the start of the new season. This exceptional Russian violinist made his first concert appearances at the age of five. When he was 16, he was invited by Teodor Currentzis to become concertmaster of the then-newly founded MusicAeterna orchestra, with which Chupin has performed at leading international music festivals such as the Salzburg Festival.
Since 2022, Afanasy Chupin has been in demand as a guest concertmaster with, amongst others, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, as well as with ensembles such as Pygmalion, Les Siècles and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The violinist works with conductors such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, François-Xavier Roth, Klaus Mäkelä, Iván Fischer and Paavo Järvi, as well as soloists including Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Cecilia Bartoli, Sol Gabetta and Anna Prohaska.
With this extensive musical experience and his keen sensitivity for ensemble playing, Chupin fits perfectly into the CAMERATA’s ethos: a small yet, at the same time, formidable, highly intelligent and democratic team of like-minded people. He regards living in such a community and interacting with one another as a gift – yet making music together whilst communicating spontaneously and freely through sound is, in his view, a true rarity. It is precisely this special form of musical exchange that also characterises Chupin’s work with the CAMERATA.
“Those who listen learn how to maintain peace, and not just in sound. Listening to music teaches us harmony – and, beyond that, how to avoid discord.”
