Vadim Karassikov

Biography

Vadim Karassikov was born on 7 November 1972 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. He studied composition at the State Music Academy Yekaterinburg (graduated 1993) and the State Tschaikowsky Conservatoire Moscow (graduated 1998), where his teachers included Edison Denissov. Since 1995 his works have been performed at leading international music festivals and in concert series. In 1996 he was awarded the composition prize at the First International Music Festival ‘Dialog’ in Moscow. He has been awarded several scholarships – from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 1998, the Künstlerhof Schreyahn [Schreyahn Artists’ Studios] in 2000, Herrenhaus-Edenkoben in 2002, Berlin Akademie der Künste in 2003, and a ‘Fleetinsel’ [Fleet Island] Scholarship from the Culture Department of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 2008. He has also received commissions from the Ensemble Modern, the Donaueschingen Festival, Klangforum Wien, by the Philharmonie de Luxembourg and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart, ORF (Austrian Radio) and ensemble recherche. For 2013/14 he has been awarded a artist scholarship by the Bavarian State for Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia Bamberg.

  • Vita

    1972Born in Ekaterinburg on November 7th
    1993Graduated from the State College of Music in Ekaterinburg
    Since 1995his works have been regularly included in the programs of the most important international music festivals and concert series as well as in special concert programs in Moscow, Paris, New York, Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Montreal, Brussels, Manchester, Huddersfield, Minneapolis, Antwerp, Toronto, Luxemburg, Dresden, Buenos Aires, Salzburg, Frankfurt, Graz, Hamburg, Linz, Stuttgart, Darmstadt and elsewhere
    1996Prize from the First International Music Festival “Dialogue” in Moscow
    1998Graduated from the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow, where he studied with Edison Denissov
    German Academic Exchange Scholarship (DAAD)
    2000Künstlerhof Schreyahn Scholarship
    2002Herrenhaus Edenkoben Scholarship
    2003The Berlin Academy of Art Scholarship
    2008“Fleetinsel”-Scholarship of The City of Hamburg
    Lecturing at the Hamburg University for Applied Sciences and the High School for Music and Fine Arts Hamburg
    2013Scholarship of the International Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia Bamberg
    Karassikov‘s compositions have been commissioned by the Ensemble Modern, the Donaueschingen Music Days and the Klangforum Wien, from the Philharmonie Luxembourg and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart, the Austrian Radio (ORF) and the ensemble recherche.

    He also composed for the Darmstadt International Institute of Music, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berlin Cultural Senate, the International Gaudeamus Music Week Amsterdam, the „opera silens“ Hamburg as well as for Claude Delangle and Carin Levine.

    Karassikov’s works are regularly broadcast by Radio France, Holland Radio, Austrian Radio, West German Radio, Hessian Radio, Middle German Radio, Radio Bremen and other broadcasting companies. They have been released on CD by BIS Grammofon, Sweden (BIS-CD 765).

  • Quotation

    “The silence of this music is that of a frozen catastrophe, but also that of limitless happiness. The intensity of the emotional strain and that of the spiritual concentration are found here at their extreme point. This silence, as I perceive it, has the power of a continuum: in its apparent absence of sound, it emphasizes every sound possible. Each single sound leaving the boundaries of this continuum I experience as an event of extraordinary value. Of truly priceless value. As priceless as that whole reality of which this sound always remains as a part. And like that reality, each single sound is for me always a mystery. The space of the audible is only one of the two spaces where this music deploys itself in consciousness. The other space is that of the visible. The visual space of this music is the realm of the gesture. I endow a gesture with a value equal to that of sound. For it is always in the energy of the former that we find the wellspring of the latter. Every sound itself is indeed that energy. Every musical sound I perceive as a gesture projected onto the space of the audible. Often the gestures in this music nearly lose their audible dimension, thus turning the listener into a viewer. And as the sound here always draws its path along the selvage of silence, so does the gesture along the boundary of motionlessness. Motionlessness is here the silence of gesture.
    As it is true in these works that the sound often reenters the realm of silence so as to reappear anew – or to remain there forever – so the gesture nearly or virtually dilutes its outlines in the space of the motionless. What matters here is not the mere fact of the absence of what commonly used to function as material for music (4’33”), but precisely the rare graspability of the verge where music is given its birth and leaves the domain of the present.”
    Vadim Karassikov, 2001

  • About Vadim Karassikov

    “I enjoy this music very much. Because it has such deep concentration. Because all the details in this concentration are so well balanced. Because there is a new quality there in comparison with the concentration of Webern.”
    Sofia Gubaidulina, 1996

    “Vadim Karassikov is one of the most gifted composers of his generation.”
    Beat Furrer, 2002

Performances

composer_first_namecomposer_last_nametitledateorchestraconductorlocationspecial
CharlotteSeitherNeues Werk für Stimme und Klavier 05.07.2025Dietrich Henschel (Bariton), Anne Le Bozec (Klavier)Bad Kissingen (Kissinger Sommer, Liederwerkstatt)Uraufführung
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel XIX (wie schön leucht uns der morgenstern) für orgel solo18.07.2025Georg Gottschlich (Orgel)Berlin (St. Marien Friedenau)
Andrea LorenzoScartazzini Enigma für Orchester18.07.2025Jenaer PhilharmonieSimon GaudenzToblach (Mahler Festwochen)
Beat FurrerProphezeiungen – für Alt, Kontrabassklarinette und Akkordeon 19.07.2025Helena Sorokina (Alt), Marco Sala (Kontrabassklarinette), Krassimir Sterev (Akkordeon), Cantando AdmontCordula BürgiSalzburg (Salzburger Festspiele, Kollegienkirche)
ManfredTrojahnStreichquartett Nr. 326.07.2025Kuss QuartettHitzacker (Sommerliche Musiktage)
Beat FurrerProphezeiungen – für Alt, Kontrabassklarinette und Akkordeon 27.07.2025Helena Sorokina (Alt), Marco Sala (Kontrab.klarinette), Krassimir Sterev (Akk.), Cantando AdmontCordula BürgiOssiach (Carinthischer Sommer, Stiftskirche)
CharlotteSeither„ahnst du“ für Orchester, Chor und Vokalensemble02.08.2025Orchester, Chor und Vokalensemble der Musikakademie der StudienstiftungMartin WettgesBruneck (Intercable Arena)
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel XXXVII (so nimm denn meine hände) choralvorspiel XXXVII (so nimm denn meine hände)07.08.2025Leo van Doeselaar (Orgel)Kampen (Bovenkerk)Niederländische Erstauff.
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel XXXVIII (schmücke dich, o liebe seele)13.08.2025Anna-Victoria BaltruschTrier (Konstantinbasilika)
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel XXXVIII (schmücke dich, o liebe seele)17.08.2025Anna-Victoria BaltruschFulda (Dom St. Salvator)
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel III (die nacht ist vorgedrungen) für orgel solo22.08.2025Angela Metzger (Orgel)Berlin (Internationaler Orgelsommer, Dom)
DieterAmmannViola Concerto „No templates“30.08.2025Tabea Zimmermann (Viola) Lu­cerne Festival Contemporary OrchestraDavid RobertsonLuzern (Lucerne Festival)
Bernd AloisZimmermannMusique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu31.08.2025Deutsches Symphonieorchester BerlinAnja BihlmaierBonn
Beat FurrerKlavierkonzert Nr. 203.09.2025Francesco Piemontesi (Klavier), Orchestre de la Suisse RomandeJonathan NottGenf (Victoria Hall)Urauff., auch 4.9. Genf
DieterAmmannViolation für Violoncello und Orchester14.09.2025Sol Gabetta (Violoncello), Lucerne Festival Contemporary OrchestraRiccardo ChaillyLuzern (Lucerne Festival)
Matthias Pintscher NUR für Klavier und Ensemble26.09.2025Conrad Tao (Klavier), Konzerthausorchester Berlin Matthias PintscherBerlin (Konzerthaus)auch 27.9.
BeatFurrerPHAOS für Orchester28.09.2025Basel SinfoniettaTitus EngelBasel (Stadtcasino)Schweizer Erstauff.
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel IX (erbarm dich mein, o herre gott) für orgel solo06.10.2025Henry Fairs (Orgel)Berlin (Maria unter dem Kreuz, Vierter Orgelzyklus)
PhilippMaintzenglouti, haché11.10.2025Angela Metzger (Orgel) Madrid (Auditorio nacional de Música)Span. Erstauff.
DieterAmmannViola Concerto „No templates“16.10.2025Nils Mönkemeyer (Viola), Münchener KammerorchesterBas WiegersMünchen (Prinzregententheater)
ManfredTrojahnHerbstmusik - Sinfonischer Satz23.10.2025Tiroler SymphonieorchesterGerrit PrießnitzInnsbruck (Congress)auch 24.10.
BeatFurrerStudie III für Klavier solo02.11.2025Filippo Gorini (Klavier)Hong Kong (City Hall)Uraufführung
Beat Furrer PHAOS für Orchester02.11.2025Basel SinfoniettaTitus EngelEssen (Philharmonie)
Andrea LorenzoScartazziniEarth für Orchester (Neues Werk zum 200. Jubiläum der Bremer Philharmoniker)02.11.2025Bremer Philharmoniker Marko LetonjaBremen (Die Glocke)Urauff., auch 3.11.
GiselherKlebeDas Mädchen aus Domrémy23.11.2025Alexander Hannemann, Regie: Michael DissmeierDetmold (Hochschule für Musik)
Lubica CekovskáToy Procession or orchestra28.11.2025Houston Symphony OrchestraJuraj ValcuhaHouston (Jones Hall)Uraufführung
PhilippMaintzjag die hunde zurück! für sechs soprane und sechs schlagzeuger 29.11.2025N. Senatskaya/S. Bódi/I. Balzer-Wolf/C. Vélez Murcia/H. Kim/M. Viera (Soprane), Christoph SietzenWien (Festival Wien Modern, Konzerthaus)Österr. Erstaufführung
PhilippMaintzhaché für orgel solo, englouti für orgel solo09.12.2025Angela Metzger (Orgel)München (musica viva, Herkulessaal der Residenz)
PhilippMaintzchoralvorspiel II (rorate cæli desuper) für orgel solo14.12.2025Andreas Sieling (Orgel)Berlin (Dom)Uraufführung
BeatFurrer„Ira-Arca“ für Bassflöte und Kontrabass20.01.2026Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin Berlin (Konzerthaus)

Works

  • Ensemble

  • Chamber Music


     

    Auf Anfrage / In Vorbereitung

    beyond the boundary of silence
    for violin, clarinet and piano (2002/03). ca. 28 Minuten. BA 8555, in Vorbereitung
    Uraufführung am 17. Oktober 2003 in Donaueschingen: Mitglieder des Klangforum Wien

    factor-space
    for flute, violoncello and piano (2000). ca. 15 Minuten. BA 8297, Set mit 3 Spielpartituren im Umschlag in Vorbereitung
    Included versions:
    – factor-space for piano solo
    – factor-space for flute and piano
    – factor-space for cello and piano
    Uraufführung factor-space for flute, violoncello and piano am 14. Februar 2000 in Wiesbaden: Hessisches Staatstheater, the Cologne-connection trio
    Uraufführung factor-space for piano solo am 1. Mai 2006 in Los Angeles, Monday Evening Concerts at LACMA: Marino Formenti

    looming outlines of autumn
    for clarinet, violin and violoncello (2001). ca. 10 Minuten. BA 8285, Set mit drei Spielpartituren im Umschlag in Vorbereitung
    Uraufführung am 11. Oktober 2001 in Graz, Steirischer Herbst: Ensemble Recherche

  • Vocal music

     

    Auf Anfrage / In Vorbereitung

    pleats of noon
    for five voices (2000). ca. 12 Minten. BA 8296, Vokalpartitur in Vorbereitung
    Uraufführung am 24. März 2000 in Frankfurt: Belcanto Ensemble, Frankfurt

    the structure of nothing
    for five voices (1998). ca. 8 Minuten 30 Sekunden. BA 8295, Vokalpartitur in Vorbereitung
    Uraufführung am 1. August 1998 in Darmstadt: Belcanto Ensemble Frankfurt, Leitung Vikintas Baltakas

  • Solo

  • Unveröffentlicht

    prana
    for 3 voices, viola and cello (2007)
    31 one cast versions included (5 solo versions [each part as an independent solo-piece], 10 duo, 10 trio, 5 quartet and 1 quintet versions)
    Uraufführung (Quintett) am 1. Dezember 2007 in Berlin (Ballhaus Naunyn): Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble Resonanz Hamburg

    tissue of metaphor
    for alto-saxophone and violoncello (1996). ca. 12 Minuten
    Uraufführung am 24. November 1996 in Moskau, „Moskauer Herbst 1996“: Solisten der Moskauer Staatsphilharmonie [Alexei Volkov (Alt-Saxophon), Alexander Zagorinsky (Cello)]
    Weiteres Werk

    Editions Billaudot, Paris

    casus in terminus
    for alto-saxophone, violoncello and piano (1995). ca. 6 Minuten 30 Sekunden
    Uraufführung im Juli 1995 in Paris: Claude Delangle (Altsaxophon), Odile Delangle (Klavier), Verene Westphal (Violoncello)

Deadly Encounters

Deadly Encounters

Miroslav Srnka’s new opera “Voice Killer” is based on a real criminal case

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Finale with a world premiere: the Mahler-Scartazzini cycle is complete
Mann in braunem Hemd sitzt mit gefalteten Händen vor einer Holzwand und blickt zur Seite.

Finale with a world premiere: the Mahler-Scartazzini cycle is complete

Conclusion of the Mahler-Scartazzini cycle with the premiere of “Einkehr” in Jena

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Fatal Voices

Fatal Voices

Miroslav Srnka’s new opera “Voice Killer” is based on a real-life criminal case

1235 1235 Bärenreiter Verlag
Competition in Telemann’s birthplace
Four young adults in elegant black attire pose smiling side by side in front of a beige curtain.

Competition in Telemann’s birthplace

Bärenreiter Urtext prizes also awarded at the 13th International Telemann Competition

988 988 Bärenreiter Verlag
21 music vouchers for young pianists
Award ceremony on stage in a modern concert hall; a woman presents a certificate to a young girl while other prize recipients stand in the background holding placards.

21 music vouchers for young pianists

Bärenreiter donates special prizes at the International Piano Competition in Kronberg

988 988 Bärenreiter Verlag
Impressive Bach Competition winner
Young man with glasses playing the piano with focus on a stage.

Impressive Bach Competition winner

Jan Čmejla, first prize recipient of this year’s Bach Competition receives the Bärenreiter Urtext Prize.

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History of alienation and colonial violence
Man with thinning, slightly curly hair and facial wrinkles, wearing a black shirt and blazer. He is indoors with bookshelves and windows in the background, looking slightly to the side.

History of alienation and colonial violence

Beat Furrer’s opera “DAS GROSSE FEUER” based on Sara Gallardo’s novel “Eisejuaz” will premiere at Zurich Opera House on March 23, 2025

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Interpreting and editing
Portrait of a man with a greying beard, blue shirt and dark sweater in front of a brick wall.

Interpreting and editing

Siegbert Rampe, protagonist of Early Music, died on February 2, 2025

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Journey of the soul and mystery
Man in a brown shirt sits with folded hands in front of a wooden wall, looking to the side.

Journey of the soul and mystery

Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini adds “Enigma” to his cycle of works on Gustav Mahler’s symphonies.

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