Theodore Kuchar: Biography

Theodore Kuchar, one of the most prolifically recorded conductors of the past decade, has recorded over 90 compact discs for the Naxos, Brilliant Classics, Ondine and Marco Polo labels. For the past fifteen years, he has served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of two of Europe's important orchestras, the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Czech Radio Orchestra) and the National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine. He presently also serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Reno Chamber Orchestra in the United States. He is a frequent guest conductor with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and in February 2005 conducted a three-week tour of the United States with the Northwest German Philharmonic. During the past several seasons, guest conducting engagements have taken him to many major musical centers including Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Prague, Seoul and Sydney. His collaborations with major artists have included James Galway, Jessye Norman, Lynn Harrell, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Chang, Mstislav Rostropovich and Frederica von Stade, among others.

With the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005, Kuchar has recorded compact discs devoted to the complete symphonies of Carl Nielsen, and the complete overtures and tone poems of Dvorak. This past summer, Maestro Kuchar, in collaboration with the Janacek Philharmonic, completed a 3-cd recording of the orchestral works of Czech composer Bedrich Smetana for the Brilliant Classics label. Also completed for Brilliant Classics, was a world premiere recording of Rachmaninoff’s Fifth Piano Concerto, a reconstruction of that composer’s Second Symphony based on the composer’s manuscripts. With the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Kuchar has conducted tours of Australia, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland, and in January and February of 2009 they will undertake a four week tour of the USA.

During his tenure with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine, Kuchar conducted complete symphony cycles by Bruckner and Schubert, and led eleven international tours to Asia, Australia, Central Europe and the United Kingdom. Under Mr. Kuchar’s direction, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine became the most frequently recorded orchestra of the former Soviet Union. Between 1994 and 2004 the orchestra recorded over 70 compact discs for the Naxos and Marco Polo labels, including the complete symphonies of Kalinnikov, Lyatoshynsky, Martinu and Prokofiev, as well as major works of Dvorak, Glazunov, Mozart, Shchedrin, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. They also recorded the symphonies and orchestral works of Ukraine’s leading contemporary symphonist, Yevhen Stankovych. The recording of Lyatoshynsky’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 was awarded ABC’s “Best International Recording of the Year” in 1994. Their recording of the complete works for violin and orchestra by Walter Piston for the Naxos label was hailed by Gramophone (January, 2000) as a “Record of the Year” for 1999. The complete symphonies of Prokofiev are regarded by many critics as the most accomplished cycle available compact discs.

Kuchar remains as strong an advocate of composers of the present day as he does of the great composers of the past. In addition to his recordings of contemporary works with the NSO-Ukraine, he has also conducted music by Americans George Crumb, Lukas Foss, and Benjamin Lees, among others. In May, 2000, at the invitation of Yo-Yo Ma, Mr. Kuchar conducted the world premiere of Lukas Foss’s Capriccio for Cello and Orchestra, with Mr. Ma as soloist.

As a violist, Kuchar continues to devote several periods annually to one of his most serious passions, the performance of chamber music. Since 1991, he has served as Artistic Director of The Australian Festival of Chamber Music, an annual event regarded as the one of the more important chamber music festivals in the Southern Hemisphere. His colleagues have included James Buswell, Martin Chalifour, Sarah Chang, Leila Josefowicz, Truls Mork, Paul Neubauer, Irina Schnittke, and Thomas Zehetmair. In 1994, he participated with colleagues Oleh Krysa and Alexander Ivashkin in the world premiere of Penderecki’s String Trio in New York City. In July of 1999, he appeared as violist in two recordings for the Naxos label of works by Alfred Schnittke (with Irina Schnittke and Mark Lubotsky) and Walter Piston. The latter recording was awarded the Chamber Music America/WQXR “Record of the Year” for 2001.

During the 1996-97 season, Kuchar and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine undertook a project devoted to the performance of the cycle of complete symphonies of Anton Bruckner, in their original versions. This historic project, commemorating the centenary of Bruckner’s death, was sponsored by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the 1997-98 season, they undertook a cycle of the complete symphonies of Franz Schubert, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.