The 72nd ATG Competition and Festival will be held July 25-29 in Lisle (Chicago). Iosif Purits will be one of the featured performers.

Iosif Purits was born on May 7, 1988 in Moscow. When Iosif was six years old, his father who was a well known bayanist and teacher, started to teach Iosif to play the bayan. However it didn’t last for a long time. After a sudden illness he passed away. The young 8 year old Iosif remained with his mother, Natalia Purits, who gave him his primary music education. At a young age he became a prizewinner at the International competition “Classica Nova” in Germany.

Since then the young musician has embarked on an intensive musical life including annual victories at International competitions, concerts and festivals. Iosif won the under 12-age category at the International competition in Klingenthal and since then has played seven times at the International festival “the Bayan and Bayanists” in Moscow.

When he was a child, he became a prizewinner of the Sixth Artiada of the People of Russia in addition to winning many International competitions. Iosif is participating in art projects of the International Charity Foundation of Vladimir Spivakov.

With his concert programs, he has toured many countries of the world, such as Austria, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, China, France, Canada, Denmark, Serbia and other countries. From 2004 to 2008 Iosif studied in the college of the A. G. Shnitke Moscow State Institute of Music under professor Andrey Ledenyov. Today Iosif is a student of the Russian Gnesins Academy of Music where he is studying under Professor Friedrich Lips.

He is a prizewinner of the following International competition Classika Nova (Germany, Hanover 1997), Vesennie Golosa (Moscow 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008), Petropavlovskie Assamblei Garmoniki” (St.-Petersburg 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007), Andreev Competition (St.-Petersburg 2000), Competition of Accordionists in Klingenthal (Germany 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2011), Bolshoy Priz Dona (Rostov-on-Don 2001, 2007), Uchitel I Uchenik (Moscow 2002), New Names (Khanty-Mansiysk 2004), Kubok Belogorja (Belgorod 2005),
Kubok Krivbasa (the Krivoy rog 2006), Competition of Accordionists in Castelfidardo
(Italy 2009), Moscow International Accordion Competition (Moscow 2010).

More ATG Festival artists will be announced in future articles.