Dmitry Prokofiev

Biography Highlights

A laureate of the XIV International Tchaikovsky and the 4th International Antonio Janigro Cello Competitions, Dmitry Prokofiev began his musical career as an orchestra and chamber ensemble cellist, performing with the Chamber Orchestra "Moscow Virtuosi" under the baton of Vladimir Spivakov and its "Quintet of Soloists." His tenure extended to principal cellist roles at the Montenegro Symphony Orchestra and Moscow's esteemed "New Opera" theatre.
As a recitalist and soloist, Dmitry has graced the most prestigious stages in Russia and Europe, including iconic stages of the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Rudolfinum in Prague, Philharmonie de Paris, Luxembourg, and Berlin, working alongside such conductors as Dmitry Lyss, Vladimir Spivakov (Russia), Milan Horvat (Croatia), Zbyněk Müller (Czech Republic), Gintaras Rinkevičius (Lithuania), Ariel Zuckermann (Israel - Germany), Noam Zur (Germany), and Premil Petrovic (Serbia).
His chamber performances have been enriched by sharing the stage with a diverse range of artists, from the legendary opera singer Jessye Norman to world-renowned violinists Vladimir Spivakov and Ilya Gringoltz, esteemed cellist Natalia Gutman, and acclaimed pianists Eliso Virsaladze, Nikolai Lugansky, Andrey Gugnin, Olga Kern and Ratimir Martinovic.
The artist is a regular guest at international music festivals, participating in the Vladimir Ashkenazy Festival in Finland, Musikfest Kreuth in Germany, the Colmar International Festival in France, and Tirol Festspiele Erl in Austria.
Dmitry is renowned for his deep interest in and dedication to searching for and developing a new cello and chamber music repertoire. His passion for exploring new musical horizons is evident in his performances of breathtakingly complex and rarely performed pieces by iconic fusion-style composer Nikolai Kapustin and great cellist Natalia Gutman, as well as concerts for cello and orchestra by Reinhold Glière, Nikolai Kapustin, Tikhon Khrennikov, Alexander Mosolov and other famous composers of the Soviet epoch. 
He has also created many masterpiece arrangements and transcriptions of famous classical music pieces, adapting them for cello and chamber ensembles. His recent works include transcriptions for cello and orchestra of The Russian Dance from Tchaikovsky's ‘Swan Lake ballet and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and cello. Currently, Dmitry is working on arranging the Symphonic Poem ‘Don Quixote’ by Richard Strauss for a chamber ensemble. 
The artist’s discography features works by Debussy, Brahms, Schumann, and Paganini, recorded with pianist Alexander Kobrin. His records have garnered high praise from musical critics, with acclaim for his CD of Malipiero, Casella, and Ghedini cello concertos recorded with Nikolai Shugaev and the Rostov Academic Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valentin Uryupin for Naxos. Gramophone Magazine strongly recommends Ghedini's concerto, describing its unique atmosphere as "haunting." MusicWeb International lauds the perceptive interpretation of the works by the soloists and orchestra, calling Ghedini's L'Olmeneta "the richly imaginative heart of this CD and its strongest recommendation."
Dmitry plays the cello crafted by Thomass Kennedy (London), a British master of the early 19th century.

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