| Oleh Krysa | |
| Birth Date: | 1 June 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Uchanie, Poland |
| Instrument: | Violin |
| Genre: | Classical |
| Occupation: | Violinist, pedagogue |
| Website: | Official Web-site |
Oleg/Oleh Krysa (Russian: Олег Крыса Ukrainian: Олег Криса; born June 1, 1942) is an American violinist of Ukrainian Origin, Laureate of International Competitions, Honored Artist of Ukrainian SSR(1970), Laureate of Lenin Komsomol Prize(1970), Merited Artist of Ukraine.
Born in Uchanie, now Gmina Uchanie in the Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, into a family of Ukrainian aristocrats. In 1945, as a result of Operation Vistula, his family found itself in Lviv, where he grew up and spent his school years.
Although none of the family had any professional music background, his mother, who was often heard singing, wanted young Oleh to play violin, although his father preferred that he learned to play piano. Thus, at the age of six, Oleh started learning to play the violin. His first teacher was Konstantin Mikhailov, who himself was a pupil of Sergey Korguyev (known in the West as Serge P. Korgueff, a pupil and assistant of Leopold Auer). After graduating from the Lviv Specialized Music School in 1960, Oleh Krysa entered the Moscow Conservatory. From 1960 to 1967 he studied there under David Oistrakh, who said of him: "Oleh has brilliant natural gifts, unusual musicality, vivid artistry, and great charm."
After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory, Oleh Krysa performed as a soloist at the Kiev Philharmonic, at the same time teaching at the Kiev Conservatory. Six years later, he again headed for Moscow, becoming Oistrakh's assistant and joined the renowned Beethoven Quartet as the first violinist. He played with the ensemble until it dissolved in 1987. Since the 1960s, Oleh Krysa has continued to perform as a soloist with leading orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the world.
As an advocate of modern music, Mr. Krysa has been privileged to premier works of such composers as Alfred Schnittke, Valentin Silvestrov, Myroslav Skoryk, Virko Baley, Vyacheslav Artyomov, Larry Sitsky, Sydney Hodkinson, Vera Ivanova and Nataliya Rozhko.
Oleh Krysa regularly holds master classes at the following locations:
Oleh Krysa has recorded about 40 albums for the following labels: Melodya, BIS Records, Triton (Discordia), Lydian, PolyGram-Polska, Troppe Note/Cambria, Russian Disk (USA).
Collaboration with Mykola Suk