Performer (domra, mandolin), teacher, conductor.
Page of the Mandolinists’ Association led by V. P. Kruglov.
He was born in 1945. In 1964 he graduated from the Kirov Music College (domra class of A. A. Linykov), in 1969 from the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky‑Korsakov (now the St. Petersburg State Conservatoire), and in 1972 completed an assistant traineeship there in domra (class of Professor I. I. Shitenkov) and conducting (class of Professor Yu. P. Serebryakov) with symphony and folk orchestra.
He is a laureate of the First Competition for Students of Music Institutions of Russia (Novosibirsk, 1968), the First All‑Russian Folk Instrument Performers’ Competition (Moscow, 1972) and international competitions (Voronezh, 1974; Lima, Peru, 1984).
He began teaching in 1963. From 1970 to 1978 he was Senior Lecturer at the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky‑Korsakov.
Since 1978 he has taught at the Gnesin Academy, and since 1997 he has been Professor at the Department of Folk Instruments, teaching domra.
His graduates include People’s Artist of Russia, Professor M. A. Gorobtsov, and People’s Artist of Russia, Professor S. F. Lukin. Students and postgraduates of his class have been prize‑winners at prestigious international and all‑Russian competitions, including the Sixth and Seventh All‑Russian Competitions, the international Cup of the North, mandolin competitions in Japan and Germany, «Silver Tuning Fork» (St. Petersburg), «Russian Olympus», «Cup of Russia», and competitions in Nizhny Novgorod, Tolyatti and elsewhere.
Over the years he has chaired or served on state examination boards at the Astrakhan Conservatoiry, the St. Petersburg Conservatoiry named after N. A. Rimsky‑Korsakov, and the Nizhny Novgorod and Krasnodar conservatoires.
V. P. Kruglov is an active concert artist whose touring geography is extensive. He has appeared in almost all major Russian cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, cities of Kamchatka, the Far East, Siberia, the Urals, central and middle Russia – as well as in the Transcaucasian and Baltic republics, Belarus, Ukraine, Central Asia and more than fifty countries worldwide, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and China.
In addition to his solo work on domra, he regularly appears with major symphony, folk and chamber orchestras.
Kruglov has played a key role in reviving the classical mandolin in Russia. As a mandolin soloist he introduces audiences to its repertoire, including original works by Vivaldi, Hummel, Beethoven, Giuliani, Calace and others.
In 1991 he founded the ensemble «Moscow Mandolin», which went on to win First Prize at the international competitions «Virtuosi of the Guitar» (St. Petersburg, 2006) and «Silver Tuning Fork» (St. Petersburg, 2010). Throughout these years he has been the ensemble’s soloist, arranging and transcribing world classics.
Leading composers writing for him include S. Slonimsky, Ye. Podgaits, K. Volkov, V. Pozhidaev, Ye. Kozhevnikova, I. Manukyan and V. Sapozhnikov.
He has recorded for radio and television and released ten CDs.
V. P. Kruglov holds the title People’s Artist of Russia (1995).
Teaching publications:
- «The Art of Domra Playing» (2000);
- «School of Domra Playing» (2003);
- «School of Chanzy Playing» (2007, co‑author);
- «School of Mandolin Playing» (2009).
Selected activities:
- 18–25 September 2017 – classes for a professional retraining group in mandolin;
- 20 October 2017 – jury member at the international competition «Cooperation»;
- 2 November 2017 – chair of the jury at the «Silver Tuning Fork» international competition in St Petersburg;
- 2–6 November 2017 – chair of the All‑Russian Andreev Folk Instrument Performers’ Competition in Tver;
- 3–7 December 2017 – jury member of the Second Music Competition in Moscow;
- 23–25 November 2017 – Artistic Director of the «Young Russia’s Strings» international festival;
- 25 January 2018 – recital at the Chopin School;
- 4 February 2018 – jury member at the Mozart International Competition in Moscow;
- 17 February 2018 – appearance in the final gala concert of the Mozart Competition;
- 24 February 2018 – conference presentation within the «Constellation of Masters» festival;
- 30 March 2018 – chair of the jury at the «Seasons» regional competition in Nizhnevartovsk;
- 6 April 2018 – class concert in the Shuvalov Drawing Room;
- 3–17 July 2018 – teaching at the New Names Summer School in Suzdal.
He is the author of articles in various methodological collections and has published ten volumes of arrangements and transcriptions for domra, as well as a collection of his own arrangements of folk melodies.
V. P. Kruglov is Artistic Director of the «Young Russia’s Strings» international festival and regularly chairs or serves on juries at all‑Russian and international competitions. He also appears as performer and conductor at many music festivals in Russia, Germany, Portugal, Peru and other countries.
For more than twenty years he has been a member of the Artistic and Expert Council of the New Names Foundation and has taught at the New Names Summer School in Suzdal throughout this period.
He is President of the Academy of Folk Music and a member of the Board of the Moscow Cultural Heritage Foundation.
He has been awarded the Order of Friendship and honorary diplomas from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
