By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — David Radzynski became the youngest concertmaster of a major symphony orchestra when, in 2015, the 28-year-old violinist was selected to fill that post in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO). Up until then, Radzynski had never played in a professional orchestra, but his formidable talents, honed in the United States, brought him to the attention of IPO conductor, Zubin Mehta, who hired the young violinist. The youthful concertmaster had the honor of filling that seat during Mehta’s worldwide IPO tour, celebrating his 80th birthday.
This Tuesday evening, June 18, 7:30 p.m., at Beth El Synagogue in La Jolla, David Radzynski will be giving a recital, under the auspices of Mainly Mozart and the American Friends of the IPO. His piano collaborator will be Mark Robson, the acclaimed Los Angeles-based keyboard artist.They will be playing works by Mozart, Debussy and Kreisler.
Radzynski is currently in San Diego as a participant in the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Francis.
The orchestra is composed of concertmasters and principal players from ensembles throughout the world. The concertmaster chair in this orchestra rotates and Radzynski will serve in that position for the final Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra concert in the Balboa Theater on Saturday evening, June 22, 8:00 p.m. featuring symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven.
For Radzynski, it feels comfortable to be living in Tel Aviv. He was almost born there.
Radzynski’s parents were Israeli citizens who met and were married in Tel Aviv. His mother came from Vilnius, Lithuania and his father, Jan, was from Poland. They are both musicians. His mother is a pianist and his father is now a professor of composition and theory at Ohio State University.
They moved to the United States because the Polish composer, Krzysztof Penderecki, invited Jan to study with him at Yale University. While the Radzynskis were living in New Haven, Connecticut, David was born.
At age three, David was given piano lessons. At age six, he switched to violin. By then, they were living in Columbus, Ohio and for three years, his parents drove him from their home in Columbus to Oberlin College for lessons with Roland and Almita Vamos. When those esteemed teachers moved to Chicago, David was flown to the windy city weekly for his lessons.
He received his Bachelor of Music Degree from the Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana. There, his major teacher was Mauricio Fuks. His MA degree was from Yale, studying with Kyoko Aki, where he earned a prize as the outstanding violinist in the School of Music. He received an artist certificate and served as a Teaching Assistant at Park University. Park University’s violin professor, Ben Sayevich, Vilna-born, Israeli violinist, helped prepare David for his IPO audition.
David Radzynski has been a featured soloist with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Philharmonic and the IPO. He has also performed in chamber music groups and in solo recitals in the US, Israel and Europe.
For further information about Tuesday evening’s recital at Beth El and Saturday night’s concert at the Balboa Theater, contact Mainly Mozart: mainlymozart.org, 619-239-0100.
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Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com