American musician and conductor of Ukrainian descent, director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (1994-1999).
Biography.
Theodore Kuchar grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the son of music teacher Hanna Prydatkevych and grandson of violinist and composer Roman Prydatkevych, organizer of the Ukrainian Conservatory in New York, co-organizer of the Society of Supporters of Ukrainian Music, and a member of several New York orchestras. His parents always made sure that he and his brother spoke only Ukrainian with each other, emphasizing that this language would be useful to them someday.
He received his education at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied violin and cello. After graduating from the institute, Theodore Kuchar performed as a violinist and violist in the leading orchestras of Cleveland and Helsinki. Kuchar's creative work is extensive: he organized the Australian Chamber Music Festival in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, was a guest conductor of orchestras in Cape Town, South Africa, Helsinki, Finland, Perth, Australia, Tallinn, Estonia, Prague, Czechoslovakia, and the principal conductor of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, Australia.
Kuchar is known in Ukraine for his close cooperation with the National Honored Academic Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, which began in 1992, and from 1994 to 1999 he was the orchestra's chief conductor. Under his baton, the orchestra became the most frequently recorded orchestra in the former Soviet Union, recording more than 70 CDs for Naxos and Marco Polo, including all the symphonies of Kalinnikov, Liatoshinsky, Martinů, Prokofiev, works by Mozart, Dvorak, Glazunov, Shchedrin, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and symphonies and orchestral works by the leading contemporary Ukrainian symphonist, Yevhen Stankovych. The CD of Boris Lyatoshynsky's Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3 was recognized by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as the best world recording of 1994. The same album was recognized by the American Association of Radio Broadcasters as the "Best Foreign Recording of the Year" in 1994, and Gramophone magazine named Walter Piston's complete works for violin and orchestra "Record of the Year 1999". The complete symphonies of Prokofiev, according to many critics, are the most perfect series of CDs available. The orchestra's touring activities became much more extensive: for the first time, it performed in Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.
After the expiration of his contract with the National Honored Academic Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, he lived in Denver and taught at the local university. In addition, for the past 15 years, Theodore Kuchar has led the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague (formerly the Czech Radio Orchestra) and was Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Music Festival. Currently, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic and the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Director of the Kent Music Festival Orchestral School, and Artistic Director of the Nevada Chamber Music Festival (USA).
The conductor has a large number of recordings on CD (over a hundred). He has given concerts in Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Prague, Seoul, Sydney, and in the 2003-2004 season he conducted a 3-week tour with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and over the past two seasons he has conducted about 40 concerts of this renowned ensemble. He has collaborated with famous soloists: James Galway, Jesse Norman, Lynn Harrell, Itzhak Perelman, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Mstislav Rostropovich, Frederica von Stade, and others.
