Ignat Solzhenitsyn roams the world as his parents could not. The 53-year-old conductor and pianist has performed all over the planet with renowned orchestras and soloists. He is a conductor laureate of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orches tra. But what strikes any American over the age of 40 — before they hear a note of his music —is his name: Solzhenitsyn. At one time, it was among the most notable surnames in the world. Ignat’s father was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian dissident whose powerful writings about Soviet repression and the USSR’s brutal system of gulags earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature. His activism also earned him exile from his beloved Russia, first to West Germany and to Vermont in 1976. This is the 50th anniversary of the Solzhenitsyn family’s arrival in the quiet southern Vermont town of Cavendish. The younger Solzhenitsyn lived in Cavendish from the time he was 4 until age 14, when he left to continue his musical education. He began his piano study with Luis Batlle Ibáñez at nearby Marlboro College before training in London with Maria Curcio. At the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he took up conducting while continuing his piano studies with Gary Graffman. Solzhenitsyn has since performed and led ensembles throughout North America, Europe and Australia. At some point, the man the New York Times once called “an uncommonly thoughtful, communicative musician” may become the Solzhenitsyn that people associate with the name. His father was eventually permitted to return to his rodina, or motherland, in 1994. He died in Moscow in 2008. For the younger Solzhenitsyn, the United States is home. He and his wife and their three children live in New York City, but he maintains strong ties to Vermont. The maestro performs two shows this weekend as part of the weeklong Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, whose theme this year is “Migrations.” On Saturday, August 22, Solzhenitsyn, violinist Soovin Kim and cellist Paul Watkins open the festival with a concert highlighting Russian composers. Afterward, Solzhenitsyn will join Kim, the festival’s founder and artistic director, for a conversation titled “From Russia to Vermont: A Family’s Journey With Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Soovin Kim.” The following day, violinist Bella Hristova joins Kim, Watkins and Solzhenitsyn for a program called “From the Motherland,” which pays tribute to the three giants of 20th-century Russian music: Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Dmitri Shostakovich. Due to a hectic summer festival schedule, Solzhenitsyn spoke with Seven Days through email about his father, the differences between American and Russian audiences, his passion for soccer, and the recent FIFA World Cup.  How did you and Soovin choose the pieces on the program? Do any of the selections have special significance for you? It is highly unusual to be playing individual movements from larger works, but we wanted to share some of the pieces and composers that we have most enjoyed playing together, and so we opted for breadth. One piece that we are presenting complete — Mozart’s E-minor Sonata — is arguably the most perfect work ever written for the piano-violin combination. Do you prefer having a very busy concert schedule? How many events per year is ideal for you? A great temptation — and danger — of the jet-setting age is to dash about witlessly from one engagement to the next. Now, more than ever, we performers need time to reflect, to prepare and develop our interpretations. As in so many areas of life, less is more. What is the chief difference between an audience at the Bolshoi Theater and one at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City? Mobile phones go off with distressing frequency in both houses. But these days the Bolshoi audience is better dressed. Your primary residence is Manhattan. How much time do you spend in Cavendish? I try to spend as much time in Cavendish as possible, which, alas, is never as much as I’d like.  You are likely aware that this is the 50th anniversary of your father’s arrival in America. Do you know why he chose Cavendish? He was looking for rural quiet and a proper four seasons. (He was not yet aware of Vermont’s bonus fifth: mud season.) And he wanted somewhere not too far from the great research libraries of the Ivy League. Cavendish fit the bill to a T. What might he think of present-day Russia and, specifically, Vladimir Putin? I prefer not to speculate, but one thing I am sure of is that he would be speaking his mind as forthrightly as ever. How often do you go to Russia? What language do you speak at home? I go to Russia less often than before, but still a couple of times a year. My children are perfectly fluent in both Russian and English, and we switch languages freely in conversation with each other. What music do you listen to when you’re not working? Any favorite singers or groups? Recently I’ve been listening to Haydn string quartets and to bel canto opera. My favorite singer might be Joan Sutherland [a superstar Australian soprano, died in 2010]. I know you are a dedicated soccer fan. After the recent World Cup, how would you assess the state of the sport in the U.S.? French philosopher Jean-François Revel once quipped that “the dark night of fascism is forever descending in America, but it only touches ground in Europe.” On a lighter note, fútbol is forever “arriving” in America, but, as was eloquently on display during the USA-Belgium match, European-quality remains frustratingly out of reach. Yet in the bigger picture, what a marvelous World Cup it was! ➆ This interview was edited for clarity and length. The Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival runs Saturday to Sunday, August 22 to 30, at Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester and Meach Cove Farms in Shelburne. Ticket prices vary. Spotlight Concert with Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Saturday, August 22, 2 p.m.; “From the Motherland,” Sunday, August 23, 3 p.m., both at Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester. $10-49. The original print version of this article was headlined “Russian Rollout | Conductor and pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn talks about music, his father and soccer” The post Ignat Solzhenitsyn at Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less