Evgeni Orkin

Born in Lviv,^[1] then in the Ukrainian SSR, Orkin studied first at the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music, clarinet with I. Pendischuk and composition with Yevhen Stankovych. He studied further in Utrecht and at the Musikhochschule Mannheim, clarinet with Herman Braune and Wolfhard Pencz [de], conducting with Melvin Margolis and composition with Ulrich Leyendecker and Ernst Bechert [de].^[2]

Orkin played as principal clarinet in the ensemble of the Kyiv Camerata from 1992 to 1999. He was a co-founder of the project Open-Lift for contemporary music in Utrecht and co-founder, clarinetist and saxophonist of the ensemble Komponistenverschwörung,.^[2] a member of the ensemble TEMA in Karlsruhe, and a co-founder and player of the Dorado Quintet.

He has played in world premieres, in works by composers such as Ernst Bechert [de], Nuno Corte-Real,^[1] Stephan Marc Schneider [de], Stefan Schulzki [de], Valentin Silvestrov,^[1] Yevhen Stankovych and Martin Wistinghausen.^{[citation needed]}

Orkin composed ten chamber symphonies, seven symphonies, concertos, among others, for violin, piano, saxophone and clarinet, an opera Magister Ludi after Hermann Hesse, several works of musical theatre, and chamber music. His works were performed at international festivals, including Vienna Festival, Young Euro Classic, Kunstfest Weimar [de], Lucerne Festival, „Un Week-end à l’Est“ in Paris, Kontrasty in Lviv, the Kyiv Music Fest, a festival of new music in Odesa, Heidelberger Frühling, Bodenseefestival [de], ZeitGenuss in Karlsruhe, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Wachenheimer Serenaden, and LvivMozArt. His works are published by Universal Edition, Accolade, Konsid und Are Musikverlag.^{[citation needed]}

His chamber opera Das Märchen der Waldkönigin Ach sets a Ukrainian fairy tale; it was premiered at the small Wartburg stage of the Staatstheater Wiesbaden in October 2023.^[1] His Odessa Rhapsody was awarded the European Music Prize from the mayor of Berlin in 2023.^[3] It was premiered in Paris, and he received the prize when the German premiere was played at the Konzerthaus Berlin as part of Young Euro Classic by the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine conducted by Oksana Lyniv to whom he had dedicated the work.^[2][4]

In 2010 he founded the label OML. He published an educational book about playing historic clarinets in 2017, Methodische Einführung in das Erlernen und die Anwendung der historischen Klarinette, translated in German, English and Ukrainian.^{[citation needed]}

Orkin lectures at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim.^{[citation needed]}

• 1999: Prize from the President of Ukraine (for his First Symphony "Parade of the Planets")
• 2001: Scholarship from Lions Club Mannheim (for Jüdische Suite for clarinet)
• 2004: First prize of the second Festival of the Jewish World Congress in composition
• 2005: First prize of the competition by the Goethe Institute Mannheim, "Schiller vs Goethe" for the best setting of a text by Schiller
• European Composition Prize 2023 for "Odesa Rhapsody" for two violins and orchestra