Cellos

Andrey Efimovsky

In the orchestra since 2022

Andrey Yefimovsky graduated from the St. Petersburg Special Music School and the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, including an internship. From 2014 to 2019 he got Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the class of Professor Leonid Gorokhov at the Hanover University of Music Drama and Media (Germany). He has been the artist of the musicAeterna orchestra since 2022.

He participated in the master courses of David Geringas, Alexander Rudin, Wolfgang Schmidt, Martti Rousi, Daniel Müller-Schott, Jérôme Pernoo, Boris Andrianov and others.

As a soloist and as part of chamber ensembles, he participated in international music festivals in Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Russia.

As a soloist he collaborates with the St. Petersburg Youth Orchestra, the State Academic Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Paulavičius Youth Symphony Orchestra, with which he performed symphonic variations of Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote in 2020. In the autumn of 2021 he took part in the international literary and musical project Flora that took place in the halls of the State Hermitage Museum.

From 2016 to 2022 he worked as an artist of the cello group of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg State Philharmonic (Honoured Collective of Russia).

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A MUSICIAN?

It all started thanks to my mom. I began with piano and recorder, then moved to cello — one of the most “ergonomic” instruments for your body. Cellists have a natural playing position, and it’s easy on the hands and lungs. But I only fully decided to become a musician later, when I met my professor — the right mentor. That kind of inspiration is so important. It takes someone who can make you fall in love with the instrument and show you what it’s really capable of.

WHAT MAKES MUSICAETERNA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ORCHESTRAS?

For me, the most important thing isn’t just the technical side (though, of course, the level of skill is top-notch), but the vitality — how deeply the musicians shape the phrases, the attention to breath, the detailed approach to the score and the composer’s intentions. That’s what makes it special.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MUSICAL PIECE?

As a teenager, I saw the film Tous les matins du monde about composer and viola da gamba player Marin Marais and his teacher. Gérard Depardieu played Marais, and Jordi Savall — a legend in baroque music — recorded the soundtrack. That’s when I first heard Marais’s Folia, played in a historically informed style. I fell in love with it and promised myself I’d one day perform and record it. I’ve since made that dream come true — you can find the recording online, and I’ve played the piece live several times.

IS THERE A PIECE YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO PERFORM?

Recently, I fulfilled a dream — I performed a solo program using three different instruments: baroque, classical, and electric cello. I wanted to show how versatile the cello can be, how many different sounds and styles it can express. At one afterparty following a symphonic concert, I played a short piece written by my friend Matthias Bartolomeu, an Austrian cellist-composer. His music is kind of like progressive rock for cello — no electric guitar, but all the color and energy you’d expect from that genre. It was a blast.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR INSTRUMENT

I found my cello in San Francisco — by accident or maybe by miracle. My friend and I were wandering through antique shops when we stumbled across a music store. There, I saw a cello in terrible shape, totally unplayable. But something about it caught my attention. I plucked a few strings and felt a spark. I asked the shop owner to check with the seller about the price. That was on a Saturday. I spent all of Sunday thinking about it and rushed back on Monday to buy it.

We had a long trip back to St. Petersburg via Frankfurt, and I already had one cello with me. But this new one made it home safe — on one flight, it rode in the pilot’s rest cabin; on another, it had its own business class seat. The first time I played it — in the Grand Hall of the Philharmonia — half the orchestra came over just to hear it. The sound was so bright and rich. I’ve been playing it for nearly ten years now, and still don’t know who made it. It’s very simply built, but the sound is incredible. I suspect it was made by a musician — someone who really knew acoustics and built it to play, not just to sell.