About this Artist
New York City-born, BRUCE DUKOV was trained at the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied with the renowned Dorothy DeLay. There, he received both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, graduating with Juilliard's highest award for excellence on the violin.
Among his numerous awards, he received a U.S. government Fulbright Grant for overseas study in England, the prestigious Kosciusko Foundation Wieniawski Prize, and first prize in the 1973 National Young Artist Competition in America. Former teachers include Nathan Milstein and Szymon Goldberg. He has also coached with Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin.
In 1974 he settled in London, which served as a base for his concertizing in Europe and the Middle East. He performed in famous halls such as the Concertgebouw, and recorded radio recitals for most of the major BBC stations in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as the RTE Ireland, AVRO Holland, NDR Germany, NRK Norway and Istanbul Radio. Television appearances were also frequent in England on BBC 1 and 2, LWT, Thames TV and Yorkshire TV. His recitals have brought critics from the likes of the "Times" in London and the "Daily Telegraph" to say: "...sounds like the young Menuhin" and "...the highest degree of virtuosity". He also taught and gave a series of master classes in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and for the Dublin Philharmonic Society.
For the 80th birthday celebration of his mentor Nathan Milstein, Mr. Dukov composed a special duet entitled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY VARIATIONS" (in the style of Paganini and Wieniawski, for violin duet) which he performed at the gala with Itzhak Perlman. He has since recorded this work, playing both parts.
Returning to America to live in 1985, Dukov chose to settle in Los Angeles, where he also twice appeared on the "Merv Griffin Show" performing selections from his solo CBS "pop" album DEPARTURES. Most recently, the L.A. Times, in reviewing Mr. Dukov's performance of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", called him "a fiddler for all seasons", and praised his "focused energy, ornamental grace...wealth of color and inflection...fluent, passionate playing". His performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the L.A. Music Center's Chandler Pavilion, brought this high praise from the Daily News critic: "The real treat, however, proved to be the artistry of Bruce Dukov...every hurdle came across with an elegant ease, aided by a rich and distinguished sound, consistently even in all registers."
Living in Los Angeles offers Mr. Dukov the perfect opportunity to participate in the studio recording recording industry, where he is a highly sought-after concertmaster. To date, he has performed in over 1200 soundtracks, amongst them, one which features his solo playing to Leslie Nielsen's hijinks in the film "Wrongfully Accused," as well as hundreds of records with diverse artists from Sinatra and Streisand, to Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Sisqo (on whose hit "The Thong Song" Dukov plays the violin solos).
He has also been the concertmaster of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since its inception in 1991.
No stranger to the stage at the Hollywood Bowl, Mr. Dukov was the featured soloist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in a live telecast by KCOP-TV in the "Carmen Fantasy" by Franz Waxman. The L.A. Times observed him as "the virtuosic, resplendent-toned soloist...unraveling convoluted passage work with an effortless musicality." Visit his website at www.brucedukov.com for more information and sound-bytes!