From Near and Far: Trio Fadolin

Trio Fadolín explores the unique sonority of the acoustic fadolín, a new instrument that encompasses the range of the violin, viola, and most of the cello, using it - for the first time - as an integral instrument in an acoustic chamber music setting.

A new ensemble with a unique sonority, Trio Fadolín features Sabina Torosjan on violin, Valeriya Sholokhova on cello, and Ljova, performing on the fadolín. The Trio's repertoire includes works by Ukrainian composers Vasyl Barvinsky, Mykola Kolessa, and Miroslav Skoryk, Spanish-American composer Andrea Casarrubios, Estonian-American composer Lembit Beecher, music from Jewish composers Moshe Weinberg and Alexander Zhurbin, folk music from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, in addition to original works and arrangements by their fadolínist, Ljova. For this performance, Trio Fadolin will be joined by special guest, the Lithuanian-born vocalist Inna Barmash.

The musicians also share a deep personal connection - all three grew up in the former Soviet Union and arrived in New York as teens. Sabina was born in Estonia of Armenian-Jewish heritage; Valeriya was born in Ukraine of Ukrainian, Jewish, and Russian heritage; Ljova was born in Moscow, Russia, of Ukrainian-Jewish, German-Jewish, Polish and Romanian heritage. They share a common bond of immigration, Eastern European literature, humor, animation and music.

They come together to tell the complicated stories of immigrant composers, to collaborate with immigrant artists, to showcase places where cultures intersect.

SABINA TOROSJAN, originally from Tartu, Estonia has been an active freelance performer since graduating from The Juilliard School having studied with Sally Thomas and Lewis Kaplan. She plays regularly with Ensemble Mise-En and RAM whose focus is in contemporary music from around the world. She has recorded with iconic folk singer Pete Seeger, Jennifer Hudson, composer and guitarist Terry Champlin, as well as appearing on SNL. Sabina enjoyed being the violinist for the Off Broadway production of “Fiddler On The Roof in Yiddish” for its entire run ending in 2020.

LJOVA (Lev Zhurbin) was born in Moscow, Russia, and moved to New York with his parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and writer Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. He divides his time between composing for the concert stage, contemporary dance & film, leading his own ensemble LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND, performing with and composing for TRIO FADOLÍN, as well as a busy career as a violist, fadolínist & musical arranger. Among recent projects are commissions from the City of London Sinfonia, The Louisville Orchestra, a new work for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, a string quartet for Brooklyn Rider, a clarinet quintet for Art of Élan, and works for The Knights, Sybarite5 and A Far Cry, as well arrangements for the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, tenor Javier Camarena, conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Alondra de la Parra, songwriters Ricky Martin, Natalia Lafourcade and Carlos Vives, composer/guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla and Osvaldo Golijov. Ljova frequently collaborates with choreographers Aszure Barton, Damian Woetzel, Christopher Wheeldon, Katarzyna Skarpetowska (with Parsons Dance). In 2018 he taught a course on collaboration at Princeton University with puppeteer Basil Twist.

Ukrainian-American Cellist VALERIYA SHOLOKHOVA is an in-demand soloist and chamber musician based in New York City. Valeriya has made recent appearances on notable stages such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, David Geffen Hall, The Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum, and Saturday Night Live. In 2022, she performed the US Premiere of Peteris Vasks' Cello Concerto No. 2 in Boston, Massachusetts. The same year, Valeriya co-founded Trio Fadolin, which received Chamber Music America's Ensemble Forward Grant and has recorded an album of newly commissioned works for the ensemble. Valeriya currently holds the position of principal cellist of a number of chamber orchestras, including Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, New Orchestra of Washington, and The Refugee Orchestra Project.

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