The Wizard of Music: Celebrating 180 Years of Rimsky-Korsakov

The Museum of Russian Art is honored to present

Demetra Aikakos, bassoon
Eun Cho, flute
Young Kim, french horn
Anastasiya Nyzkodub, clarinet
Denis Evstuhin, piano

Join us for a spectacular concert celebrating the 180th anniversary of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov! Best known for his masterpieces Scheherazade and Flight of the Bumblebee, as well as numerous operas, symphonic works, and art songs, Rimsky-Korsakov was a towering figure in late 19th- and early 20th-century music. As a member of the influential group of composers known as The Five and a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he shaped an entire generation of composers, including Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Glazunov, and others.

A master of orchestration, Rimsky-Korsakov was celebrated for blending Russian and Eastern European folk traditions with exotic harmonies and rhythms, pioneering a style known as musical orientalism while rejecting conventional Western compositional techniques.

This program will feature piano and chamber music by Rimsky-Korsakov, alongside works by his friends and students. Don’t miss this tribute to a musical legend!

The TMORA Shop and galleries will be open prior to and following the concert.

Saturday, November 9 | 7:00 - 8:30 PM | Doors open at 6:00 PM

Tickets: Reserved Seating $35 | TMORA Members $30
(Please use discount code RIMSKYKORSAKOV to access discount.)

Demetra Alikakos joined The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as bassoonist in September 2024. Alikakos has appeared with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Grant Park Festival Orchestra and as a guest principal bassoonist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alikakos is a recent graduate of the Rice Shepherd School of Music where she studied with Benjamin Kamins and received her master’s degree. Prior to Rice, she received her bachelor’s degree in music performance and statistics from DePaul University where she studied under William Buchman, Miles Maner and Keith Buncke. Alikakos started playing bassoon at the age of 12 and previously studied with Hanna Sterba. She has spent previous summers with National Repertory Orchestra, The Chautauqua Festival and Sewanee Festival.

In addition to orchestral playing, Alikakos enjoys solo and chamber music repertoire. She now resides in St. Paul where she enjoys taking care of her plants, crocheting and exploring the forest.

Eun Cho is a South Korea-born flutist who has held the position of flutist with the Minnesota Opera and participated in side-by-side projects between the University Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra under conductors Osmo Vänskä and Marin Alsop. Currently, she performs with Journey North Opera and the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra while actively contributing to chamber music as a member of the 10th Wave Chamber Music Collective. Eun also serves as a music director at the New York International Music Competition (NYIMC), managing the winners' concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center that take place every year. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Music from Seoul National University, and an Artist Diploma from Korea National University of the Arts.

Anastasiya Nyzkodub is a solo, chamber, orchestral musician and music educator. Described as a clarinetist with ”fluid technical mastery of her instrument and delightfully liquid phrasing,” She has performed with Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Mankato Symphony Orchestra among others. She is also a member of a twin-cities based woodwind trio Sonora winds. Nyzkodub had completed her DMA and Master of Music degrees at the University of Minnesota. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Grand Valley State University. Anastasiya’s main teachers include Scott Anderson, Alex Fiterstein, Arthur Campbell and Sergiy Nizkodub.

Young Kim was born in South Korea and raised in Hawaii, where he started playing violin at four and piano at six, he still went onto study the trumpet and the flute before finally settling on the French horn in middle school.

Since then, the horn has taken him all over the world from the Sydney Opera House to KKL Luzern in Switzerland. Under the tutelage of Eric Ruske, Young earned his Bachelor in Music Performance degree from Boston University with summa cum laude honors. While in his undergraduate studies, he also spent a semester abroad at the Royal College of Music in London studying natural Horn with Susan Dent. William VerMeulen accepted him into the Rice University horn studio in 2011, and upon completing his Master’s, Young won the position in the Sarasota Orchestra.

He has also performed as a guest musician with the Singapore, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Hawaii, Houston, Memphis, Naples, Omaha, and San Antonio Symphonies as well as touring with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Summer of 2016 he with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 2018, Young won an audition for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Russian-born pianist Denis Evstuhin has performed in major cities throughout Russia, Europe, and the USA. Evstuhin has appeared on stages of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theater and Great Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, as well as the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. Denis appeared as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, and the Fairbanks Symphony, among others.

In 2011 Denis made his New York debut in the International Keyboard Institute and Festival's "Prestige Series". Later he appeared in recitals at Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, the Chopin Society in Bern, Switzerland, and the Grand Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Evstuhin has also appeared on radio and TV stations in Russia, Europe and the US. His first commercial CD featuring chamber music by American composers with violinist Helen Chang-Haertzen and cellist Silver Ainomäe was released by Centaur Classics in 2019.

Denis has earned top prizes in multiple International piano competitions. He holds degrees from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, as well as the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Prof. Alexander Braginsky. Evstuhin have served as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Music, Crown College and Rubinstein Music Academy.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Avenue, Minneapolis, United States