Aliya Vodovozova and Natalia Tokar at HKUST

Program

About the performers

Aliya Vodovozova

Aliya Vodovozova was born into a musical family. She began her musical education with her mother when she was five years old, and was later accepted to the Music Department at Bilkent Adnan Saygun Music School, Ankara, Turkey.

She won her first award in the international Blue Bird competition in the Crimea at the age of ten. In the same year, she participated in a concert accompanied by the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alfred Mishurin, and the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Saim Akchil. In 2002, the famous Russian state musician, flautist, and professor at the P. I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, Yuri Doljikov, invited her to study in Moscow after hearing her play. In 2003, she began her education at
the Moscow Gnessin Music School. She played at the Kremlin as a recipient of a grant from the Vladimir Spivakov Charity Foundation. In 2010, after studying with Maria Chepurina for six years at the Gnessin Music School, she entered the P. I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow, where she studied under Professor Alexander Golishev. She graduated with an honors diploma in June 2015, and was accepted to study for a master’s degree at the Hohschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’, Berlin, under Professor Benoit Fromanger. In the same year, Aliya was the first-prize winner at the International Music Competition ‘Sforzando’ in Russia.

During her education in Germany, she performed at many notable festivals; the Pacific Music Festival (Japan) in 2017 and 2018, the Santander Music Festival (Spain) in 2017, and the International Zermatt Music Festival and Academy (Switzerland) in 2018. She also performed at important concert halls, such as the Moscow International Music House (Svetlanovsky Hall), the Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory Great Hall, Small Hall, and Rachmaninov Hall, and the Moscow Philharmonie and Petergoff Palace (St. Petersburg), among others. In addition to many cities in Russia, she has performed concerts in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, China, Japan, South Africa, and Turkey. At these concerts she has played both as a soloist and orchestra member; including with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. Aliya also played as a soloist at

the world premiere of the first flute concerto composed by R. Kalimullin (P. I. Tchaikovsky Great Hall, 2011). In 2017, Aliya successfully auditioned for a place in the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and was offered and accepted a position to play for this orchestra for the season 2017-2018.

Aliya took part in a CD recording of the Children’s Album by P. I. Tchaikovsky with the Hermitage Chamber Orchestra. She also recorded J. S. Bach’s Suite No. 2 for flute with the Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Hilarion Alfeyev. She has participated
in master classes with well-known flutists, such as James Galway, Andreas Blau, Denis Bouriakov, Philippe Bernold, Andrea Liberkneht, Davide Formisano, and Eckart Haupt.

Natalia Tokar

A native of Russia, Natalia Tokar completed her master’s and doctoral studies (Aspirantura) at the prestigious Saint-Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with special emphasis on solo and collaborative piano, pedagogy, and harpsichord. In 2014 she was awarded a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Michigan State University, USA. She studied primarily with Prof. Nadezhda Eismont and Prof. Deborah Moriarty.

Natalia made her solo debut at the age of 17 with the Kaliningrad Philharmonic. Since then, she has been actively performing as a soloist and collaborator in Russia, the United States, and Hong Kong, including performances at the St. Petersburg Glazunov and Philharmonic Halls, Carnegie Hall (Weil Recital Hall), and Hong Kong City Hall. She has received awards and honors from several competitions and conferences. As an active collaborative pianist and coach, she has worked for numerous festivals and competitions: the International Week of Conservatories, International Competition of Opera Singers ‘Saint-Petersburg’ (Russia), NATS, Opera North, and the W. Byrd competition (USA), to name a few. She has also worked for several universities as a collaborative pianist and instructor, including The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The University of Northern Iowa, and Michigan State University, as well as the Mariinsky Theater of Opera and Ballet and the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.

Since moving to Hong Kong in 2014, Natalia has regularly appeared in concert programs organized by Hong Kong Musica Viva, HKUST Music Alive, Musica del Cuore, written articles and given public speeches on music pedagogy, taught master classes, and served as a judge for local piano competitions.

Natalia is a founder of the Russian Sound Music Academy in Hong Kong, a music education center which offers intensive training based on the fundamentals of the Russian pedagogical methods. At the moment, she also serves as a senior instructor at the Parsons Music Academy and a consultant at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.