Igor Outkine
Encyclopedia
Igor Outkine is an accordion
ist and vocalist. His vocal and instrumental repertoire covers an extremely wide range of music such as classical
and opera
, Neapolitan song, Argentine
and Russian tango, jazz
and pop
.
He studied classical accordion at Elektrostal
's music college and traditional singing at the Gnesin Institute in Moscow
. He performed extensively with several folk groups and with the Rozovsky Theatre of Moscow. He came to London in 1990 with the gypsy band Loyko and has continued to perform the music of his homeland in various venues.
His performance of Russian Tangos, Romances and Folksongs at the Oxford Chamber Music Festival in 2000 was broadcast by BBC Radio 3
. In 2004 he appeared in Almeida Theatre
in London
with Soft Cell
lead singer Marc Almond
playing and singing Russian songs and is featured on Marc's live DVD Sin Songs. In 2007 he appeared again with Marc Almond on 9 July 2007 in Shepherd Bush Empire. He played on the Cirque du Soleil
Varekai
soundtrack. Outkine was a member of Antonio Forcione Quartet for two years.
He has played on several major film soundtrack
s including The Man Who Knew Too Little
, Birthday Girl
, MirrorMask
, La Vie en Rose
, and La Môme. Outkine also appears on screen in the David Cronenberg
film Eastern Promises, singing the Russian folksong "Dark Eyes
".
In 1996, Igor Outkine formed a music duo with English violinist Sarah Harrison called Mazaika. Their mutual broad taste in music and classical background has allowed them to enjoy a wide range of music styles. Their extensive repertoire consists of Russian folk and Gypsy music, Russian and Argentinian tango, classical virtuoso showpieces, opera highlights, Neapolitan songs and French chanson
, Hotclub jazz and Outkine's original compositions, which always have a strong improvisation
al element.
Mazaika have given concerts and cabaret
performances at concert halls and music festivals throughout Britain, Europe and the United States. They gave three sellout performances at the Purcell Room on London
's South Bank
. Other notable concert venues include The QEH, St John’s Smith Square, Holders Festival in Barbados
, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Le Quecumbar, London’s premier gypsy jazz venue, and the Hollywell Room in Oxford. Festivals include Rhythms of The World in Hitching, Pittenweem Arts Festival and Belladrum Festival in Scotland
, and the Wild Flower Festival in the United States. Mazaika’s cabaret performances at the Edinburgh Fringe 2005 and 2006 received high critical acclaim.
Mazaika also performs as a quartet
with a guitarist and a double bassist. Mazaika Quartet performed onstage in 2006 at the Russian Winter Festival in London’s Trafalgar Square
. They have also appeared with their Russian band on the Terry and Gabby Show.
He is also famous as twin of Italian Diego Zucca.
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ist and vocalist. His vocal and instrumental repertoire covers an extremely wide range of music such as classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, Neapolitan song, Argentine
Argentine tango
Argentine tango is a musical genre of simple quadruple metre and binary musical form, and the social dance that accompanies it. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments including the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of...
and Russian tango, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
.
He studied classical accordion at Elektrostal
Elektrostal
Elektrostal , known as Zatishye until 1938, is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow. Population: 135,000 ; 123,000 ; 97,000 ; 43,000 . Town status was granted to it in 1938.-Industry:...
's music college and traditional singing at the Gnesin Institute in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He performed extensively with several folk groups and with the Rozovsky Theatre of Moscow. He came to London in 1990 with the gypsy band Loyko and has continued to perform the music of his homeland in various venues.
His performance of Russian Tangos, Romances and Folksongs at the Oxford Chamber Music Festival in 2000 was broadcast by BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
. In 2004 he appeared in Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Soft Cell
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
lead singer Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
playing and singing Russian songs and is featured on Marc's live DVD Sin Songs. In 2007 he appeared again with Marc Almond on 9 July 2007 in Shepherd Bush Empire. He played on the Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
Varekai
Varekai
Varekai is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montréal in April 2002. Its title means "wherever" in the Romani language, and the show is an "acrobatic tribute to the nomadic soul"....
soundtrack. Outkine was a member of Antonio Forcione Quartet for two years.
He has played on several major film soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s including The Man Who Knew Too Little
The Man Who Knew Too Little
The Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 American comedy espionage film starring Bill Murray, directed by Jon Amiel, and written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin...
, Birthday Girl
Birthday Girl
Birthday Girl is a 2001 British-American drama and crime film directed by Jez Butterworth. The plot focuses on English bank clerk John Buckingham who orders a Russian mail-order bride, Nadia. It becomes clear upon her arrival that Nadia cannot speak English, and early into her stay, two mysterious...
, MirrorMask
MirrorMask
Mirrormask is a 2005 fantasy film from Jim Henson Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Destination Films. It stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. It is designed and directed by Dave McKean, written by Neil Gaiman from a story they developed together...
, La Vie en Rose
La Vie en rose (film)
La Vie En Rose is a 2007 French biographical film about the life of French chanteuse Édith Piaf co-written, and directed by Olivier Dahan. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. The title La Vie en Rose comes from Piaf's signature song...
, and La Môme. Outkine also appears on screen in the David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
film Eastern Promises, singing the Russian folksong "Dark Eyes
Dark Eyes (song)
Dark Eyes is a Russian song.The lyrics of the song were written by a Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843....
".
In 1996, Igor Outkine formed a music duo with English violinist Sarah Harrison called Mazaika. Their mutual broad taste in music and classical background has allowed them to enjoy a wide range of music styles. Their extensive repertoire consists of Russian folk and Gypsy music, Russian and Argentinian tango, classical virtuoso showpieces, opera highlights, Neapolitan songs and French chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
, Hotclub jazz and Outkine's original compositions, which always have a strong improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
al element.
Mazaika have given concerts and cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
performances at concert halls and music festivals throughout Britain, Europe and the United States. They gave three sellout performances at the Purcell Room on London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
. Other notable concert venues include The QEH, St John’s Smith Square, Holders Festival in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Le Quecumbar, London’s premier gypsy jazz venue, and the Hollywell Room in Oxford. Festivals include Rhythms of The World in Hitching, Pittenweem Arts Festival and Belladrum Festival in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and the Wild Flower Festival in the United States. Mazaika’s cabaret performances at the Edinburgh Fringe 2005 and 2006 received high critical acclaim.
Mazaika also performs as a quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
with a guitarist and a double bassist. Mazaika Quartet performed onstage in 2006 at the Russian Winter Festival in London’s Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
. They have also appeared with their Russian band on the Terry and Gabby Show.
He is also famous as twin of Italian Diego Zucca.