Dmitry Daniel Askerov
Born in Russia, Dmitry Daniel Askerov made Aliyah in 1995. He began studying the violin at age 6 with the teacher Sofia Pikovsky at the Beit-Shemesh Conservatory. He completed his Bachelor degree at the Music Academy in Tel Aviv (Buchmann-Mehta School of Music) with the teacher Lena Mazor. Askerov won prizes at many international competitions in Israel and abroad.
Dmitry has played as a soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, Bern Academy Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, “Solaney Tel Aviv” Orchestra, Rishon-LeZion Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. He performs solo concerts with orchestras as well as chamber music concerts and solo recitals around the world. He played with some of the world’s famous musicians such as: Shlomo Mintz, Hillel Zori, Tomer Lev, and the Ysaye Quartet.
Since March 2014, Dmitry has been a member of the faculty and a Music Director of Crescendo Winter Music Festival in Melbourne-Florida.
He plays a Carlo Antonio Testore 1733 violin–a loan from Yehuda Zisapel.
1) What or who inspired you to want to be an artist?
Music was an important part of daily life in my family. My grandmother is a pianist and a piano teacher. Every day, many children came to our home for their lessons, and there used to be music in the house all the time. This is how I was introduced to music at a very early age. I remember listening to Mendelssohn’s violin concerto on TV at age 5. It touched me so deeply that I decided to become a violinist. At the age of 6, I got my first violin. I have always loved playing the violin. Even when I was feeling too tired to stand and play, I used to sit on the floor and improvise for hours. When I was 8, I audition for the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and was awarded a scholarship with excellence.
2) What was your creative journey that has brought you to where you are in your career today?
I´m glad that I had the chance to meet so many great musicians, such as Ida Haendel, Ivry Gitlis, Shlomo Mintz, Zachar Bron, Hagai Shaham, Ani Schnarch, Sergio Schwartz, Rudolf Koelman, Miriam Fried, Julian Rachlin, and many others. They inspired me and I learned a lot from talking to and playing with them. That’s an amazing experience you cannot have in any other way.
3) What do you need as an artist today?
A good agent and an interested audience–people who want to discover classical music over and over again.
4) What creative project are you working on now?
During the past few years, I have performed numerous times in Florida. I played concerts as a soloist with orchestras, solo recitals, and chamber music concerts, and I taught in several master classes. I realized that there is a big interest in music in Florida–people love and appreciate classical music. As it has come to my attention, there are only a few music festivals in Florida and there are none in the area of Orlando and Melbourne. I felt that there was a need to bring more classical music to the area. The idea was to organize a music festival for string instruments, with the hopes of it later developing into an international music festival open to all instruments.
The first festival was a great success. More about it in Marshall Frank’s review in Florida Today.
5) Where do you see yourself and your career in 10 years?
I hope to be a solo violinist. I love and enjoy playing solo and chamber music concerts, as well as teaching. I have had great opportunities to enjoy the full potential of teaching by giving master classes, and I would really like to continue this in the future.
6) What does it mean to you to be an Israeli artist?
I am Israeli and my entire family lives in Israel. It is very important to me to present myself as Israeli everywhere I play and to perform music written by Israeli composers. To me, being an Israeli artist is a great responsibility, since Israel has a big reputation of being a place from which so many great artists came. As an Israeli musician, I feel that I have to work very hard to justify and maintain this good reputation.
7) What does it mean to you to have an organization like AICF supporting Israeli culture in the past 75 years?
I auditioned for AICF since I was 8 years old, and AICF has always supported my studies. I am extremely honored by and thankful for the awards I have received from AICF. I believe that thanks to organizations like AICF, many young musicians can fulfill their dreams and become great artists.
