“Clairvoyant Collaborators”
BIOGRAPHY
The Shtrykov–Tanaka Duo has developed a distinctive voice in the clarinet-and-piano repertoire through a partnership that combines established masterworks, significant rediscoveries, imaginative transcriptions, and a shared fascination with instrumental color. Classics Today hailed Shtrykov and Tanaka as “clairvoyant collaborators” who “phrase and breathe as one,” while the Shelter Island Reporter celebrated them as “a new generation of exquisitely talented performers who elevate our understanding of the world’s music.”
Shtrykov and Tanaka first performed together in December 2012 after being invited to present a clarinet-and-piano program in New York City. What began as a single engagement quickly developed into an enduring artistic partnership.
From early appearances on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts to more than a decade of touring throughout the United States and abroad, the Shtrykov–Tanaka Duo has built a sustained presence on recital and chamber-music series. Engagements have included the Northeast Kingdom Classical Series, Black Hills Chamber Music Society, Ridgecrest Chamber Music Society, Festival Amadeus, Music from the Frederick Collection, Nova Scotia’s MidSummer Music Series, and performances at Tokyo’s Suginami Koukaidou Hall and Meguro Persimmon Hall. Their longstanding relationship with the Frederick Collection has allowed them to explore repertoire on historic pianos spanning different periods and national traditions, reflecting an artistic interest that has become an important part of their work together: how the character and color of an instrument can reshape the musical conversation between clarinet and piano.
That exploration also extends to the Duo’s repertoire. Following in the footsteps of his teacher Charles Neidich, whose work has long expanded the clarinet repertoire through transcriptions of major instrumental and vocal works, Maksim Shtrykov continues to explore the instrument beyond its traditional boundaries. Alongside works written for clarinet and piano, the Duo’s programs incorporate his own transcriptions and arrangements of major works conceived for violin, cello, and flute. Shtrykov’s exploration of the clarinet’s possibilities extends to instrumental color as well: he performs on handcrafted boxwood clarinets made by German instrument maker Jochen Seggelke. Their distinctive tonal character and elegant golden appearance often spark curiosity among audiences, opening a conversation about boxwood’s centuries-old place in the history of the clarinet.
The Shtrykov–Tanaka Duo’s debut album, Epilogues, brings together the late clarinet sonatas of Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Francis Poulenc. Classics Today praised the recording for “world-class performances of these works that yield nothing to competing catalog versions,” while MusicWeb International found “a real affection behind the enterprise: affection for the composers and between the musicians.”
Belarusian-born clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov earned his Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School, where he studied with Charles Neidich as a scholarship student. A prizewinner of international competitions including the Johannes Brahms Chamber Music Competition in Poland and the Salieri–Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy, he made his Carnegie Hall recital debut at Weill Recital Hall in 2007 as a recipient of the Artists International Special Presentation Award.
London-born pianist Misuzu Tanaka studied with Martin Canin at The Juilliard School and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Logan Skelton on a full scholarship. Her particular affinity for the music of J. S. Bach and Leoš Janáček led to further study in the Czech Republic with Miroslav Brejcha and Ivan Moravec. Her honors include recognition at the International Janáček Competition and the World Bach Competition. Her critically acclaimed live album Misuzu Tanaka in Concert brings together these two enduring musical affinities in works by Bach and Janáček.
VIDEOS
DEBUT ALBUM
epilogues
Concertant Classics I 2022 (ALBUM)
Maksim Shtrykov, clarinet • Misuzu Tanaka, piano
Epilogues honors three composers' swan songs for a wind, inextricably interwoven with piano parts of wondrous sophistication. They are not mere postscripts to careers, pale codicils to august musical testaments, a lesser afterglow. Indeed not! These sonates-adieux by three towering masters are among the very finest works for clarinet.
PRESS
“Clairvoyant Collaborators”. Classics Today reviews Epilogues
“The title “Epilogues” refers to the fact that Brahms, Saint-Saëns, and Poulenc wrote clarinet sonatas at the end of their composing careers. More importantly, clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov and pianist Misuzu Tanaka serve up world-class performances of these works that yield nothing to competing catalog versions.”
Jed Distler, Classics Today
epilogues receives a glowing review IN musicweb international
“It is a strange thing that three composers as different as Brahms, Saint-Saëns and Poulenc should each have turned to the clarinet late in their respective careers. It goes without saying almost that the sound of the clarinet provokes the idea of the autumnal shading into the wintry – or perhaps autumnal masterpieces such as the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms have imprinted these associations in our minds? Either way, these ‘last thoughts’ are the theme of this lovely album. The title ‘Epilogues’ seems appropriate since all three works sit outside the main body of each composer’s work, reflecting on a life in a largely low key, somewhat nostalgic manner.”
David McDade, MusicWeb International
MY STRADIVARII
Jochen Seggelke, Boxwood, and Finding a New Voice
Maksim Shtrykov performs on a set of B-flat, A, and basset clarinets handcrafted from boxwood by German clarinet maker Jochen Seggelke. When Shtrykov first encountered the instruments in 2020, what captivated him was more than their unusual golden appearance. It was the conception of sound behind them. Seggelke describes his philosophy of instrument making as “Innovating Sonority”—drawing upon a deep knowledge of historical clarinets while continuing to explore the possibilities of the modern instrument.
The experience left such an impression that Shtrykov affectionately began calling the set “My Stradivarii.” For him, the comparison is above all a tribute to the imagination of the maker: the ability of an exceptional craftsman to create an instrument with such an individual character that the player, in turn, begins to learn from it. What changed was not Shtrykov’s understanding of the clarinet itself. The instruments gave him an expressive palette he had not possessed before. At the softest dynamics, he found that the sound could retain richness and complexity; under greater intensity, it could preserve warmth and color rather than becoming hard or shrill. Learning to work with that expanded palette gradually began to influence the way he shaped sound, dynamics, and phrase. Read more about the instruments here ->
PRESS KIT
Download Materials (BIO, PHOTOS, PRESS)
CONTACT
Booking & General Management
Concertant Classics
booking@concertantclassics.com
(917) 268-5433
Record Label
Concertant Classics — Recordings & Catalogue
office@concertantclassics.com
Public Relations
Gold Sound Media
Jonathan Eifert
jonathan.eifert@goldsoundmedia.com
(347) 741-1913