# Boris Kuschnir

Boris Kuschnir (born 1948) is a Soviet Austrian violinist

## Background and early life

Born in Kiev in 1948, he studied violin with Boris Beleňkiy [ru] at the Moscow Conservatoire and chamber music with Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet.

## Career

His many encounters with Dmitri Shostakovich (working on his last quartets) and David Oistrakh, with whom he also studied, had a lasting influence on his artistic development. His career started in 1969 when he was one of the three winners of the Allunions-Competition in Leningrad where, in the final, he performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Yuri Temirkanov. In 1970 he founded the Moscow String Quartet and remained a member until 1979.
In 1982 he became an Austrian citizen and was the first concertmaster of the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz until 1983. He was appointed professor at the Konservatorium Wien University in 1984 and became a distinguished professor at the University of Music in Graz in 1999.
He co-founded the Wiener Schubert Trio in 1984, the Vienna Brahms Trio in 1993 and the Kopelman Quartet in 2002.

## Students

Several of Kuschnir's students were successful at international violin competitions:
* Julian Rachlin (1st Prize Eurovision Grand Prix for Young Musicians, Amsterdam 1988)
* Nikolaj Znaider (1st Prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, Brussels 1997)
* Sergey Dogadin (1st Prize of the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition, Hannover 2015, 1st Prize of the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow 2019)
* Pavel Milyukov (3rd Prize International Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow 2015, 1st Prize Aram Khachaturian International Competition, 2012, 2nd Prize Seoul International Music Competition, 2012)
* Lidia Baich (1st Prize Eurovision Grand Prix for Young Musicians, Vienna 1998)
* Dalibor Karvay (1st Prize Eurovision Grand Prix for Young Musicians, Berlin 2002; 1st Prize International Tibor Varga Competition, Switzerland 2003; 1st Prize David Oistrakh Competition, Moscow 2008)
* Alexandra Soumm (1st Prize Eurovision Grand Prix for Young Musicians, Lucerne 2004)
* Lorenzo Gatto (2nd Prize Queen Elizabeth Competition, Brussels 2009)
* Yevgeny Chepovetsky (2nd Prize David Oistrakh International Competition, Moscow 2008 and 3rd Prize Luois Spohr Competition, 2013)
* Yuuki Wong (2nd Prize Michael Hill Competition, New Zealand 2007)
* Julia Turnovsky (3rd Prize David Oistrakh International Competition, Moscow 2008)
* Aleksey Igudesman (Igudesman & Joo)
* María Dueñas (1st Prize Yehudi Menuhin Competition, Richmond, Virginia 2021)

## Violin Competitions

Kuschnir gives masterclasses at renowned classical music events like the Verbier Festival Academy and Kronberg Academy. He was a jury member of at the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Brussels, Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Niccolò Paganini Competition in Genua, the Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris, Joseph Joachim Competition in Hannover, Tibor Varga Competition in Switzerland, Michael Hill Competition in New Zealand, Eurovision Competition, David Oistrakh Competition in Moscow, Pablo de Sarasate Competition in Pamplona, George Enescu Competition in Bucharest, Seoul International Music Competition, Violin Masters in Monte Carlo, ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Louis Spohr Competition in Weimar, Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Fermo, Aram Khachaturian International Competition in Jerewan, the Yankelevitch International Violin Competition in Omsk and the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

## Chamber music

In 1984 Boris Kuschnir founded the Wiener Schubert Trio.
Kuschnir founded the Vienna Brahms Trio in 1993.
He was co-founder of the Kopelman Quartet in 2002.