Follow Marquis

Dmitry
Kouzov

A versatile performer, cellist Dmitry Kouzov has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Russia with orchestras, in solo and duo recitals, and in chamber music performances. He has appeared with such orchestras as the National Symphony of Ukraine, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as the South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic (Czech Republic), and the North Caucasus, and Rostov Philharmonics (Russia), to name a few. He was awarded First Prize at the International Beethoven Competition in the Czech Republic and he is a two-time laureate of the International Festival-Competition " Virtuosi of the Year 2000" in Russia. His credits include performances at several prominent concert venues throughout his native Russia, including both St. Petersburg Philharmonic Halls, the conservatory halls of Moscow and St. Petersburg, respectively, and the Mariinsky Theatre. Mr. Kouzov made his New York orchestral debut with the Schumann Cello Concerto at Alice Tully Hall in 2005, under the baton of Maestro Raymond Leppard. Since that time, his New York appearances include 92nd Street Y, Merkin Hall and Bargemusic. He also appeared at many international festivals such as Verbier in Switzerland, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, May of Janacek in Czech Republic, Kiev Summer Music Nights in Ukraine, Ravinia and Caramoor Rising Stars series in USA, amongst others and received the Rising Star Award of the New York Cello Society in 2006.

A consummate chamber musician, Mr. Kouzov has been invited to collaborate with such esteemed artists as Krzysztof Penderecki, Joshua Bell, Yuri Bashmet, and Ilya Gringolts. In 2004, Mr. Kouzov joined the Phaedrus String Quartet, and he is a founding and active member of the Manhattan Piano Trio, with whom he has toured extensively throughout the United States.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Dmitry Kouzov began his musical studies at the age of 7. Since then, he has trained at the St. Petersburg Conservatory Lyceum, at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he earned his Bachelors & Masters of Music degrees, and at The Juilliard School in New York, where he received the institute's most coveted certificate, the Artist's Diploma. Mr. Kouzov's principal teachers have included Professors Mark Reisenstock, Viktoria Yagling, Joel Krosnick, and Dr. Darrett Adkins, and he has taken master classes with Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich and Natalia Gutman.

Peter Laul, piano
Peter Laul was born into a musical family in St. Petersburg, Russia and received his education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with Prof. Alexander Sandler, and where he has since become a faculty member. He won the 3rd prize and special prize for the best Bach performance in the Bremen competition in 1995 and again, in 1997, he won the 1st prize and special prize, this time for the best Schubert sonata performance. In 2000, he won 1st prize at the Scriabin competition in Moscow and, in 2003, he was awarded the honorary medal "For achievements in the Arts" by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Peter Laul has performed as a soloist with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow State Kapella Orchestra, as well as numerous Russian provincial orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Maxim Shostakovich, Valery Gergiev, Eri Klas, Jean-Claude Casadesus, and Nikolai Alekseev. He has also performed with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Dessau, Bremenhaven and Oldenburg Theatre Orchestras and 'Les Siècles' under François-Xavier Roth.