“Two highly skilled artists, classically trained and street-savvy, have pooled their love for music of all genres to satisfy every musical whim while simultaneously leaving an audience to marvel at their individual virtuosic prowess. These guys are the real deal, each a soloist capable of holding their own on a symphony orchestra stage or matching licks with a road house band. From Led Zeppelin to Bartok . . . from the Beatles to Rimsky-Korsakov . . . from Gershwin to their own unique tunes . . . the music sashays all over the planet and back again, satisfying audiences all the while.”
Wes Brustad, President/CEO of the State Theatre (New Jersey)
The Richter Uzur Duo plays a whimsical mashed-up blend of classical, world, and rock music. Viktor Uzur and Brad Richter are each master musicians of the highest caliber with global solo careers, major international awards and intensive training from two of the world’s most lauded musical institutions (The Moscow Conservatory and The Royal College of Music respectively). While developing into classical virtuosi as students, Brad and Viktor cut their teeth in rock bands – Viktor as an electric guitarist and Brad as a guitarist and singer. They also delved into folk and world music, eventually setting those interests aside to pursue their classical concert careers. Since the “RUDuo” was founded in 2005 they have discovered a way to blend all of the musical styles they love and audiences have as much fun listening to the results as Brad and Viktor have playing.
The Richter Uzur Duo has played hundreds of concerts in North America, South America, Europe and Asia and has a rapidly widening circle of communities around the globe that invite them back again and again. In the U.S. the RUDuo is perhaps best known through its regular appearances on NPR’s Performance Today – North America’s most listened to classical music program – as well as frequent national and international broadcasts on the Armed Forces Radio Network and programs such as PBS’s WoodSongs and NPR’s Classical Guitar Alive, which named their debut CD ‘Best New Release’ in 2010.
Together Viktor and Brad have composed and arranged the most expansive collection of music for cello and guitar duo in existence, but in particular their Duo Concerto for Cello and Guitar, commissioned by the Jackson Symphony in Michigan and premiered in May 2012. Like all of the Duo’s music, the Duo Concerto is a seamless blend of musical cultures brimming with flash and drama. The new concerto is the centerpiece of an evening length program with symphony that will be touring beginning in 2014.
The Richter Uzur Duo are outspoken advocates for the arts and arts education, Brad as the Executive Director of Lead Guitar, a not-for-profit that establishes guitar programs in public schools nation-wide and Viktor as professor at Weber State University and director of the Bonneville Chamber Music Festival. Whenever possible the Duo includes school or community outreach events with their performances.
