“We have to admit, after listening, that Aylen Pritchin is the future of the violin and that he will amaze us with all his art.” ClassiqueHD

“The companion performance of Brahms’s Violin Concerto was violinist Aylen Pritchin. This was a crack musical team at the top of its game […] You’d struggle to hear this music played better anywhere.” The Times

Born in Saint Petersburg, Aylen studied with Pr. Elena Zaitseva in his hometown and with Pr. Eduard Grach at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. First Grand prize at the Long-Thibaud International Competition in Paris (2014), Pritchin has been awarded Fourth prize, Special Jury prize and public and press prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (2019).

Concerto highlights in the 23/24 season include several debuts: The Orchestre de Chambre de Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Saint-Saëns 3) and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln (Beethoven) under Maxim Emelyanychev’s direction, the Camerata Nordica in a tour across Sweden (Vaughan Williams) and the Sinfonia Varsovia (Mendelssohn) in the frame of la Folle Journée de Nantes. Aylen also returns to Il Pomo d’Oro Orchestra under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev (Mozart 3) and to the Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra and June Maerkl featuring Korngold violin concerto for two concerts in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

A celebrated recitalist, Pritchin makes his debut at the Just Klassik Festival in Troyes, in France, for two programmes: A solo violin recital including works of Bach, Ysaÿe and Bartok and a chamber music concert with such artists as Shuichi Okada, Manuel Vioque Judde, Aurélien Pascal et Jonathan Fournel. He is also invited at the 30th anniversary edition of La Folle Journée de Nantes. Other highlights include two invitations at the Landshut Kammermusik Festival in Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet with Mikhail Pochekin, Wenxiao Zheng, Tanja Tetzlaff and Valentin Uryupin ; and in a violin-piano programme with pianist Peter Laul.
In March 2024, Aylen and Maxim Emelyanychev are invited in duo at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Jeanine Roze Production). The programme includes works of Brahms, Dvořák and Grieg.

Highlights of recent seasons include successful debuts : Scottish Chamber Orchestra and their Principal conductor Maxim Emelyanychev (Brahms), Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (Prokofiev 2 ; Bruch 1), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Saint-Saëns 3 ; Prokofiev 2), Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra (Brahms), Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria (Schnittke 2), Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra (Stravinsky), Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra (Williams ; Stravinsky), Hong Kong Sinfonietta (Mendelssohn). Other collaborations include a German tour (Cologne and Wablingen) with the Russian National Chamber Orchestra, his debuts with the Gunma Symphony Orchestra in Japan (Mozart 5) and with Il Pomo d’Oro in the Würzburg MozartFest under Maxim Emelyanychev’s direction (Mozart 3).

In addition of the conductors already mentionned Pritchin regularly works with Teodor Currentzis, Christian Arming, Yip Wing-sie, Shao-Chia Lü, Michiyoshi Inoue, Cornelius Meister, Yuri Simonov, Dorian Wilson, Mikhail Gerts, Shlomo Mintz, Olivier Ochanine and Valentin Uryupin.

In recital, his career has led him to perform in such prestigious venues as the Wiener Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Stockholm Musikaliska, Salzburg Mozarteum, Tchaikovsky Conservatory Hall in Moscow and the Champs-Elysées Theatre in Paris. Pritchin also performs at the Hong Kong Concert Hall with pianist Rémi Geniet and at the Toppan Hall in Tokyo with pianist Tomoki Kitamura. In Europe, his recent invitations include the Dubrovnik Summer Festival with Maxim Emelyanychev, the SoNoRo Festival in Romania, La Folle Journée de Nantes with Lukas Geniusas and the Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest, collaborating with such artists as Lawrence Power, Nicolas Altstaedt and Olli Mustonen.

In 2017 the Russian label Melodiya published Aylen’s third album dedicated to Prokofiev´s works with Yury Favorin. Two other albums include the Russian repertoires with Lukas Geniušas and Alexander Buzlov. In 2019, the label Ad Vitam Records released a violin solo cd with some of the most significant works of the 20th century, including the first edition ever of Tema con 8 variazioni by Jean Françaix. In 2021, Aylen Pritchin and Maxim Emelyanychev's album dedicated to the Brahms Violin Sonatas and recorded on period instruments has been released on Aparté. The album has received glowing reviews. In 2022 his CD “Debussy-Hahn-Stravinsky” with Lukas Geniusas has been released on Mirare Productions and awarded the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplaten Kritik” in Germany and a “Choc de Classica” in France. This release has been named among the "5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right Now" by the New York Times.

Aylen is currently teaching at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf.

Photo credit: Andrej Grilc