Alexander Prokhorov (singer)
Alexander Prokhorov-Tolstoy | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Leningrad, Russia, Soviet Union |
| Occupation(s) | singer (bass-baritone), pianist, stage director, choral conductor, vocal method creator, vocal instructor, composer, Theatrical producer |
Alexander Prokhorov-Tolstoy (Russian: Александр Александрович Прохоров-Толстой) born in St. Petersburg, Russia is a Russian-American Bass Baritone Opera singer, Russian Romance Performer, Artistic and Stage Director, Producer, Vocal Method Creator and Vocal Instructor, Choral Conductor, and Composer. In Prokhorov-Tolstoy's repertoire are opera arias, art songs, old classical Russian and Gypsy romances, folk songs, and war-time ballads.
Prokhorov-Tolstoy is known as a Master of Russian and Gypsy Romances and has been featured on Culture Channel in Russia. He is a connoisseur and collector of well-known, as well as rare and forgotten romances, that he performs with his own improvised piano accompaniment. Prokhorov-Tolstoy’s concert appearances range from Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall of the New England Conservatory, and the Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theater.[1] to Moscow and St. Petersburg's Philharmonic Halls. The Romances remain his favorite genre and his concert tours always include the annual Evening of Russian and Gypsy Romances at Tolstoy's Museum in Moscow, which Prokhorov-Tolstoy dedicates to his famous great- grandfather, Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy.
Prokhorov-Tolstoy is also the Founder and Artistic and Stage Director of the award-winning Commonwealth Lyric Theater, which he co-founded with Olga Lisovskaya in Boston, Massachusetts, and where Prokhorov-Tolstoy has staged critically acclaimed productions of operas featuring world-class singers from the Bolshoi, La Scala, and Metropolitan opera companies. His opera productions of Aleko by S. Rakhmaninov, and Mozart and Salieri by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, were featured in The Boston Globe, received great reviews, and along with Demon by A. Rubinstein, won 1st prize in the National Opera Association Competition (NOA)[2]
Commonwealth Lyric Theater's Young Artist Program includes children from 6 to 18 years old and gives them an opportunity to perform on the big stage with international stars.
Prokhorov-Tolstoy was formerly Artistic Director, and vocal instructor of Lucky Ten Young Talent Studio, winner of international competitions, Boston, Massachusetts, produced several operas performed by children with orchestra, which included Mozart's The Magic Flute and Figaro, Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmila, and Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Some of those productions received an Honorable Mention Award by National Opera Association.
Prokhorov-Tolstoy is internationally recognized as a voice instructor and creator of a unique method of vocal training and performance and voice rehabilitation technique called “ONE TWO THREE SING” (U.S. federal trademark serial number of 86200198). He teaches a series of Master Classes and gives lectures on the subject throughout the United States and Europe, including Gnessin State Musical College and the Higher School of Performing Arts (Theater School of Konstantin Raikin) in Moscow. His voice teaching method and skills were noted by national newspapers including the Boston Globe, USA National Radio and TV stations. He was also featured in the national TV show “Young Marvels” by Ovation TV as a teacher of vocal prodigies. Prokhorov-Tolstoy’s student Clark Rubinshtein was chosen to perform at America’s Got Talent show before the celebrity judges and performed the National Anthem at Red Sox game in Boston. His students received grand prix at various vocal competitions at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, and other international competitions. He often presides on Jury panels of national and international competitions, with genres ranging from Opera to Broadway and Pop/Jazz.
Prokhorov-Tolstoy also composes instrumental music as well as music for children's musicals and drama plays, including Musical Play "Buratino or Golden Key" in memory of his great grandfather, Aleksey Tolstoy, that plays at Theater on the Roof in Needham, Massachusetts.
Biography
Prokhorov-Tolstoy grew up in a family with rich cultural traditions. Among his relatives are writer Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (great-grandfather), poet of the silver century, and notorious interpreter of Shakespeare, Mikhail Lozinsky (great-grandfather), artist Ekaterina Tolstaya (mother), composer Dmitri Tolstoy, writer Tatyana Tolstaya (aunt), and many others. Literary, musical, and theatrical hobbies were a part of Alexander's childhood years and led him to pursue his artistic career. In 1989, Prokhorov graduated from Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory Academic Music College (Russian: Академическое Музыкальное Училище при Московской Государственной Консерватории им. П. И. Чайковского) with a degree in piano performance and entered Moscow State Pedagogical University in Russia, where he studied chorus conducting. In 1999, Prokhorov moved to Boston, USA, where he received a Master’s Degree in Opera performance at Longy School of Music, Bard College in 2002. Subsequently, Prokhorov-Tolstoy continued to pursue his opera studies and received his Performance Certificate at Boston University Opera Institute in 2004. Prokhorov-Tolstoy worked with various Opera Companies and his operatic roles include Don Pasquale from Don Pasquale, Raimondo from Lucia Di Lammermoor, Colline from La Boheme, Escamilio from Carmen, Prince Gremin from Eugene Onegin, Ferrando from Il Trovatorre, Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and many others.
Prokhorov-Tolstoy lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with his wife and Producer of Commonwealth Lyric Theater, Irina Prokhorov, and has five sons (including two step sons) and two daughters.
Romance "Dark Eyes" Songs Excerpts
- The Lilac Branch
- A Beggar Woman
- Dark Eyes
- Flowers
- My Joy Lives In A High Tower
- Coachman, Don't Rush The Horses
References
- ↑ "A 'Demon' In Boston — Commonwealth Lyric Theater Stages Anton Rubinstein's Russian Classic". WBUR.
- ↑ "2013-14 Opera Production Winners". National Opera Association.
External Links
- 'Dark Eyes with Alexander Prokhorov' in Rensselaer by Amy Biancolli
- Essential Demon Beckons by Jeffrey Gantz
- A 'Demon' In Boston — Commonwealth Lyric Theater Stages Anton Rubinstein’s Russian Classic by Lloyd Schwartz
- Mussorgsky’s Russian epic, compact but potent in Newton by Jeremy Eichler
- Rachmaninoff’s ‘Aleko’ runs free in Brighton by Jeffrey Gantz
- Правнук Алексея Толстого, открывший в Бостоне русский театр: Американцы влюбились в наши романсы! by Максим СЮ
- Потомок Алексея Толстого о династии гениев: Есть талантливые люди, и они не переводятся by Степан Яцко
- Концерт «Очи черные»: русский романс в Сан-Франциско by Галина Артамонова
- Потомок Алексея Толстого Создал в Бостоне Русский Театр by Елена Милиенко
- Russian singer Alexander Prokhorov from Boston, Massachusetts
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