shiragilbert :: Page 12 :: Shira Gilbert PR

Author Archive for shiragilbert – Page 12

Coalition For Music Education Raises The Volume On The Importance Of Music!

Posted by shiragilbert on

April 16, 2014

Canadian Celebrities lend their voices to encourage all Canadians to make a difference and register for the national sing-along and live web-cast in honour of the 10th Anniversary of Music Monday!

On Monday, May 5^th Music Monday celebrates its 10^th anniversary with a live webcast linking simultaneous cross Canada events in St. John’s NL; Halifax Regional Municipality NS; Charlottetown, PEI; Toronto, ON; Winnipeg, MB; Edmonton, AB; Whitehorse, YT; Ottawa, ON; and Montreal, QC and Vancouver, BC. The event will conclude with a synchronized nationwide performance of I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) with former Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield, led by Maestro Bramwell Tovey of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The live webcast will air between 12 – 1pm ET on Monday, May 5, 2014 and can be accessed at musicmonday.ca.

“The incredible responses by prominent Canadians who are willing to celebrate Music Monday are strong messages that music affects people from all walks of life,” says Holly Nimmons, Executive Director, Coalition for Music Education in Canada. “We’re hoping that these messages will resonate locally, inspiring those in communities large and small to also lend their voices to the cause.”

Additional celebrities and special guests who have committed to help raise awareness for music education include Oliver Jones, Lennie Gallant, Sean Panting, Red Robinson, NAC Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony and the McGill Chamber Orchestra. Representatives from the worlds of music, science, business, sports, politics, comedy, and more will join in via video and audio messages in support of Music Monday including: environmentalist David Suzuki, children’s entertainer Fred Penner, R&B singer-songwriter Jully Black, Olympic medalist Jennifer Jones, Dragon’s Den financier W. Brett Wilson, MP Andrew Cash, and comedian Dean Jenkinson.

“This event is an incredible way to demonstrate the importance music plays in bringing people together” said Chris Stamper, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing, TD Bank Group. “We’re thrilled at TD to be a part of this experience as we’re committed to supporting access to music, which includes providing youth with opportunities for musical education.”

In 2013, thousands of Music Monday celebrations accounted for one million participants across the globe! For this year’s event, schools and community groups across the country have already registered their celebrations, including:

drum dancers and accordion music at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik school in Nunavut;
an integration of Music with Visual arts and Science at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Annex School;
an airband contest at Medicine Hat’s École Connaught School;
an assembly with the singing of O Canada in English, French and Ojibway at Southampton (ON)’s GC Huston Public School;
a percussion ensemble of drums and xylophones joining with school choir to lead the students of Lachute (QC) Laurentian Elementary School in singing and celebrating;
a performance at a local seniors home by Charlottetown (PEI)’s Stonepark Intermediate; and more.

The 10^th Anniversary program will recognize this participation with a special on-line contest which offers Music Monday participants an opportunity to win a Skype chat with Colonel Chris Hadfield, and earn a chance to be part of the live webcast. For more information about prize opportunities and to register an event, please visit www.musicmonday.ca.

Since its inception in 2005, Canada’s annual celebration of music education, Music Monday has touched the lives of millions of students and teachers across Canada who take their music programs into their communities to perform the same song on the same day, at the same time, uniting the entire country in song. Music Monday takes place on the first Monday May each year.

DCINY Presents The Drop of Dawn – The Music of Grammy Award-Winning Composer Christopher Tin

Posted by shiragilbert on

March 22, 2014

· No Comments

Distinguished Concerts International New York expands its collaboration with innovative young composer and two-time Grammy Award-winner Christopher Tin with an exhilarating night of Tin’s music at Carnegie Hall. The Drop of Dawn on Sunday, April 13 at 8:30 pm, unites two large-scale, multi-lingual choral and orchestral works: the world premiere of The Drop That Contained The Sea, and a performance of Tin’s acclaimed Calling All Dawns, whose opening movement, “Baba Yetu,” made history as the first piece of music written for a video game to win a Grammy Award.

Performing with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Singers International, which features outstanding choruses chosen from across the US, Canada and England, and conducted by DCINY Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith, is an array of spectacular singers and world music artists including mezzo-sopranos Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (of Anonymous 4) and Charity Dawson, tenor Saum Eskandani, Indian Classical vocalist Roopa Mahadevan, Mongolian pop star Nominjin, and Portuguese fado singer Nathalie Pires. The Drop That Contained The Sea will also be released on CD and iTunes on May 8, with pre-orders available starting April 13 on ChristopherTin.com.

The Drop That Contained the Sea is a fascinating collection of works composed between 2012 and 2014, commissioned by DCINY and other organizations. “The title comes from a Sufi concept,” says Tin, explaining, “In the same way that every drop of water contains the essence of the sea, inside every human is the essence of all of humanity.” Different sections evoke water in different forms, such as clouds, rain, and snow, and are arranged in the order that water flows through the world, from snow to mountain streams, streams become rivers, and rivers pouring into the ocean. Each of the 10 pieces is sung in a different language, starting with Proto-Indo-European, the ancestral root of most modern languages, and spanning out to others including Bulgarian, Xhosa, Sanskrit, and Lango.

A 12-part song-cycle in three movements, Calling All Dawns journeys from joy to darkest sorrow and mystery, and back to triumph and exultation. Movements named day, night and dawn correspond with the phases of life, death, and rebirth. A total of twelve different languages are represented, including Swahili, Mandarin, Hebrew, Irish, and Farsi, with texts both sacred and secular. Calling All Dawns’ first movement, “Baba Yetu,” was originally composed for the video game Civilization IV but soon took on a life of its own, going on to winning a Grammy Award – a first for a piece of music written for a video game. Time Magazine hailed the “rousing, anthemic theme song” with Higher Plain Music calling the album “a masterpiece … pure and absolute musical hedonism.”

CHRISTOPHER TIN’s work covers diverse terrain: from thrilling fusions of orchestral and world music, to brooding reinventions of 90s electronica, to award-winning scores for film, video games, and commercials. Following his undergraduate education at Stanford University, Tin won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London where he earned a MMus with Distinction, winning the Horovitz Composition Prize. His music has been performed by orchestras including the National Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Metropole Orchestra. His music for video games includes Civilization IV and Pirates Of The Caribbean Online, in addition to working on Hollywood blockbusters X2: X-Men United and Lilo and Stitch 2, and a host of independent features, documentaries and TV specials. Major advertising clients include Puma, Verizon, and The Gap, and others. His compositions can also be heard as the startup sound for Microsoft’s Surface operating system, and a demo song for Apple’s Garage Band software, now found on every new Mac computer.

Enter the Sumptuous Imagination of Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins With Her New Music Video Album

Posted by shiragilbert on

February 18, 2014

· No Comments

A dynamic violinist, noted for her “tonal mastery” (BBC Music Magazine) and “searing intensity” (American Record Guide), Kelly Hall-Tompkins dazzles in Imagination, a unique music video project pairing two diverse works in beautifully shot performances by up-and-coming director and cinematographer William D. Caballero. The combination of Eugène Ysaÿe’s fiery and angular Violin Sonata in E major, No. 6 and the lush and whimsical “Pure Imagination,” from the beloved childhood classic film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, in a new jazz arrangement by Hall-Tompkins, showcases the multitude of facets of this stunning artist’s vibrant vision.

Following her most recent recording, In My Own Voice – deemed “impressive” by The Strad and praised by Fanfare for its “opulent intensity” with the “strength of personality that justify the CD’s title” – Hall-Tompkins takes her “voice” a step further, exploring the music video genre which is still underutilized in classical music or jazz. “I’m from the MTV generation,” says Hall-Tompkins, “I believe this is a way to use a familiar medium to attract new audiences,” noting also that the popular music industry is moving away from CDs toward digital media and YouTube. A third video being released features Hall-Tompkins speaking about the project. (A deluxe DVD edition of Imagination is also available for purchase.)

Kelly Hall-Tompkins is gifted with synesthesia – the ability to perceive sound as a color. For her, it was natural to create a visual representation to communicate her experience of playing music. Hall-Tompkins sees E major – the key of the last of Eugène Ysaÿe’s Six sonatas for solo violin (1923) – as white light. Brightness floods the video performance of the virtuosic work, which Hall-Tompkins calls “an amazing piece of music … you get the richness and virtuosity of the 19^th century, the tonal color of the Impressionist era, the fire and command of Spanish flamenco music and the angularity and drive of the 20^th century – a whole world on the head of a pin.”

In dramatic contrast to the Ysaÿe sonata is the video of the warm and fanciful “Pure Imagination.” This instantly-recognizable song from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) is by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newly. The colorful jazz arrangement by Hall-Tompkins features percussionist Joseph Tompkins, guitarist Michael Gomez, and Kyle Kegerreis on bass. “As with the film,” comments Kelly, “It’s a metaphor for manifesting big things in your life.”

Winner of a Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize, Kelly Hall-Tompkins has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of New York, and Philharmonic of Uruguay, in addition to numerous concerts and recitals in cities including Paris, New York, Toronto, Washington, Chicago, Baltimore, and Greenville, South Carolina, as well as at festivals in France, Germany and Italy. A frequent collaborating partner of violinist/composer Mark O’Connor, Ms. Hall-Tompkins is first violinist of the new O’Connor String Quartet and has performed O’Connor’s Double Violin Concerto in concerts and festivals across the United States. A passionate chamber musician and humanitarian, Ms. Hall-Tompkins founded and directs Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul, which has, to date, brought over 60 chamber music performances to New York City homeless shelters.

Visit Kelly’s Youtube Channel to view all of the videos.

Ashley Brown, Broadway’s Mary Poppins, Joins DCINY for “Defying Gravity” March 30

Posted by shiragilbert on

February 10, 2014

· No Comments

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) is thrilled to announce that Ashley Brown, a multi-award winner for the title role in Mary Poppins, which she originated on Broadway, will be a guest artist in Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz and Eric Whitacre. This year, DCINY’s popular annual collaboration with Eric Whitacre, known to millions worldwide through his Grammy-winning recordings and ground breaking Virtual Choir, includes a special collaboration with multi-Grammy and Oscar-winning Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz . Whitacre will conduct Brown, Schwartz, and over 250 voices in the concert, which takes place on Sunday, March 30 at 2:00pm at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center.

Ashley Brown originated the title role in Mary Poppins on Broadway for which she received Outer Critics, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations for Best Actress. Ms. Brown’s other Broadway credits include Belle in The Beauty and The Beast, and she has starred in the national tour of Disney’s “On The Record.” Ms. Brown recently returned to critical acclaim starring in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Oklahoma, following her performances with that company as Magnolia opposite Nathan Gunn in Francesca Zembello’s Showboat. Ms. Brown has performed with virtually all of the top orchestras in North America including the Boston Pops, the New York Philharmonic, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at Disney Hall, and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. A graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory. Ms. Brown’s new album of Broadway and American Songbook standards is available on Ghostlight/Sony.

Tickets ($20-100) available at www.LincolnCenter.org

Legendary Violinist Itzhak Perlman Hosts Bows & Batons, a Unique Retreat for Musicians & Music Lovers

Posted by shiragilbert on

January 9, 2014

· No Comments

For four incredible days this August, legendary violin master, conductor, and teacher Itzhak Perlman will welcome fans, classical music lovers, and musicians of all levels for a unique immersive retreat in Saratoga Springs, New York. Bows & Batons: 4 days of music and music appreciation with Itzhak Perlman & Friends is an exceptional opportunity to share great music and conversation with Mr. Perlman, along with his wife Toby Perlman and Merry Peckham of the Perlman Music Program, and some of the program’s gifted alumni.

Bows & Batons is presented by Dreamcatcher Events, the leading independent producer of musical and other event-related immersive retreats for adults. Dreamcatcher retreats provide intimate, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for fans to spend several days with a legendary artist. Bows & Batons takes place from August 18-22, 2014 at the beautiful Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, NY.

The retreat will offer a series of exclusive concerts, discussions, conversations, and workshops led by Mr. Perlman and Perlman Music Program instructors and musicians. Highlights include a series of Informances — performances featuring classical masterpieces along with commentary from the performers, in an informal concert setting — and the exclusive chance to attend Mr. Perlman’s rehearsal at Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra on August 20^th, as well as the performance that evening.

The reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Having performed with every major orchestra and at venerable concert halls around the globe, Itzhak Perlman is beloved for his charm and humanity as well as for his talent, along with the irrepressible joy of music-making he communicates to audiences and individuals throughout the world.

“This will be the first time I have done an event of this kind,” says Mr. Perlman, “and I am very much looking forward to it. I hope to share with the participants a little bit of an inner knowledge of what goes into my violin playing, conducting, and concerts — a glimpse into a ‘day in the life’ of a musician and teacher. We can be spontaneous and cover a whole range of topics — let us see where our conversations lead us.”

For more details as well as schedule and registration information, please see:

WWW.BOWSANDBATONS.COM

Music to Enlighten & Inspire! DCINY Proudly Announces Its 2014 Season

Posted by shiragilbert on

January 5, 2014

· No Comments

Distinguished Concerts International New York proudly unveils its 2014 season of joyful, inspiring and moving music, featuring numerous world and US premieres, world-class musicians at New York’s most prestigious venues, and singers from across America and the globe. A unique success story in a challenging arts and economic environment, DCINY, now entering its 7^th season, is commissioning new works, mentoring young conductors, and breaking new ground—including a tour to Turkey this past spring—and giving talented artists the opportunity to realize their dreams. Founded by Iris Derke (General Director) and Jonathan Griffith (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor), DCINY continues to be driven by passion and unwavering commitment to create unforgettable audience and performer experiences.

Since its inception, DCINY has had a special relationship with Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, the most performed living composer in the world today. Having already presented several U.S. premieres of Jenkins’ works—including The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, most recently on the 10th anniversary of September 11th and with several hundred musicians—DCINY honors Jenkins on the occasion of his 70^th birthday with an all-Jenkins program on Monday, January 20th at 7:00pm at Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, conducted by Jonathan Griffith. The concert, which takes place on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, will feature the U.S. premiere of The Bards of Wales and stars eminent Welsh tenor Rhys Meirion in his Carnegie Hall debut. Also on the program are Jenkins’ Stabat Mater and “Benedictus” from The Armed Man, with the composer in attendance.

The season will officially open one day earlier on Sunday, January 19 at 2:00pm with Of Life and Liberty, also at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, featuring a world premiere by Mark Hayes, commissioned by DCINY’s Premiere Project initiative. Initiated in 2009, DCINY’s Premiere Project encourages debuts, premieres, and other firsts by composers, conductors, soloists, instrumental, and choral ensembles. The concert also features the New York premiere of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living, conducted by James Meaders.

DCINY continues its hugely popular annual collaboration with Eric Whitacre, known to millions worldwide through his Grammy-winning, best-selling recordings and groundbreaking Virtual Choir. This year DCINY is thrilled to present a special collaboration with multi Grammy and Oscar-winning Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz. Whitacre conducts over 250 voices in Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz and Eric Whitacre at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center on Sunday, March 30 at 2:00pm.

Also in March, DCINY welcomes eminent conductor Vance George for the earth-shaking choral masterpiece, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, reprising his Grammy-award winning recording of the dramatic work. The concert on Monday, March 10 at 7:00pm at Avery Fisher Hall will also feature music for women’s voices, in celebration of International Women’s Day, led by conductor Hilary Apfelstadt.

Another certain highlight of the season is the return of vibrant young composer and video game music rock star Christopher Tin for The Drop of Dawn, a fusion of orchestral and world music by Tin featuring over 200 voices on Sunday, April 13 at 8:30 PM at Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall. The concert will include a reprise of last season’s thrilling performance of Tin’s Grammy-winning world music song cycle, Calling All Dawns, and the world premiere of The Drop That Contained the Sea.

Celebration and Reflection will be a two-concert series at Lincoln Center, featuring the New York premiere of Brad Ellingboe’s Star Song, with Mozart’s Coronation Mass on Sunday, May 25 at 7:00pm at Avery Fisher Hall, followed by the world premiere (commissioned through the DCINY Premiere Project) of Festival Te Deum by Grammy-award winning composer René Clausen at Alice Tully Hall.

The season will close on a high note with the return of the popular Bluegrass Mass by Carol Barnett, which combines the solemnity of a classical choir-based Mass with the sparkling down home sound of banjo, mandolin and fiddle. This year’s guest artists, who will also perform their own music on Sunday, June 8 at 2:00pm at Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, are the multi-award winning bluegrass band Dailey & Vincent.

Additional season highlights include a 75th Anniversary Celebration from Shawnee Press, featuring hits like “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “You Raise Me Up”; a special performance by the University of Southern Denmark Orchestra; The Cry of Jerimiah!, a new work by Rosephanye Powell, in its New York premiere; Lehigh University’s 150^th Anniversary; and I Believe, a Holocaust oratorio by Zane Zalis.

Fall 2014 will see the return of what has become a DCINY Christmas tradition: Messiah … Refreshed!, the 1959 re-orchestration of Handel’s Messiah for full symphony orchestra by Sir Thomas Beecham/Sir Eugene Goossens on Sunday, November 30 at 2:00pm at Avery Fisher Hall. The New York Times declared DCINY’s Messiah chorus to be “ravishing” and New York Concert Review said, “Make no mistake; this is not your great-grandfather’s Messiah. It is brash, extroverted, and at times bombastic … double the sound, new and improved, with cymbals and triangle! This version is tailor-made for DCINY; an organization that never fails to pull out all the stops in putting on a big show.”

For current concert information, please see: www.DCINY.org

FIRST FLUTE with SIR JAMES GALWAY

Posted by shiragilbert on

November 24, 2013

· No Comments

Legendary flute master Sir James Galway makes his expertise widely available with First Flute, for Beginners & Beyond, an online interactive series of lessons geared for flute students and music lovers of all ages. One of the most beloved and recognizable classical musicians performing today, Sir James shares his invaluable technical advice, practice methods, and secrets for success with flutists seeking to perfect their skills — all delivered with his signature warmth and panache.

Conceived and developed by Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway, First Flute demonstrates the couple’s passion for music education, and their dedication to access to music education for all. While maintaining a busy International touring and recording career, Sir James now devotes as much time as possible to mentoring and teaching, his technique and style considered invaluable to flute players worldwide. In addition to offering frequent masterclasses and residencies around the world, Sir James and Lady Galway host the Galway Flute Festival & Academy annually near their home in Switzerland, attracting over 100 flute players from across the globe.

For Sir James, First Flute is the realization of a long-held desire to make his method and expertise available to a larger public: “So many flute players, of all levels, have reached out to me over the years for advice,” comments Sir James, continuing, “Many gifted players are missing some basic fundamental elements that could improve their playing for a lifetime. I am thrilled that I can share this advice, in a systematic way, with a much wider audience through First Flute.”

These fifteen online lessons, called Foundations, include proper posture and fingering, tips and cautions, your “Practice Room” — with downloadable sheet music — and repertoire, in addition to an extensive glossary of musical terms, biographical information on composers, and exclusive concert footage.

The International launch on Monday, December 2, from 4-6pm, which is co-presented Kaufman Music Center and takes place at Merkin Hall in New York City, will include performances by Sir James, Lady Galway, and concert pianist and NPR “From the Top” host Christopher O’Riley, who will also interview Sir James about First Flute. The event will feature a video presentation, a performance by young flutists from Special Music School and Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center, and exhibitions from several flute companies – Haynes Flutes, Nagahara Flutes and the New York Flute Center – to be followed by a reception.

The launch event is free and open to the public. Attendees must RSVP to RSVP@FirstFlute.com

Sir James Galway has had the honor to perform for dignitaries from Presidents to Popes, Emperors and Queens, and shared the stage with an amazing variety of entertainers, from Pink Floyd to Jessye Norman. He also devotes much of his free time supporting many charitable organizations such as UNICEF, SOS and Youth Music (UK), amongst others. Sir James held the coveted position of solo flautist with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan, and, since launching his career as a soloist in 1975, has sold over 30 million albums.

Sir James and Lady Galway have just concluded a 14-city tour across the US with conductor JoAnn Falletta and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, garnering rave reviews throughout: “He is, to the flute, what Pablo Casals was to the cello and Andres Segovia to the guitar — the name everyone knows — and he puts on a great show, not just musically and technically, but also as an entertainer,” said The Washington Post, also praising his duet with “his wife, Lady Jeanne Galway, another splendid flutist … playing with a beautifully coordinated ensemble in which even their vibratos synchronized.”

On Thursday, December 5, Sir James and Lady Galway will join Tim Janis for his eighth annual musical celebration, The American Christmas Carol, at Carnegie Hall. Featuring a full orchestra and 200-voice choir, the Galways will bring along The Galway Junior Flute Choir, 15 young flutists from grade 1 to 9, for an evening honoring music education and those living with autism.

The Tureck Bach Research Institute Presents A Tribute To Its Founder, Rosalyn Tureck

Posted by shiragilbert on

November 18, 2013

· No Comments

A Celebration of the Life and Work of the Renowned Keyboard Artist, Scholar and Teacher, On the Centenary of Her Birth

The Tureck Bach Research Institute hosts a special celebration honoring renowned keyboard artist, scholar, and teacher Rosalyn Tureck, marking both 100 years since her birth (December 14, 1913) and 10 years since her death (July 17, 2003). Hailed as “the high priestess of Bach” and acclaimed for her uncompromisingly rigorous, intelligent and detailed performances, Tureck devoted more than six decades to performing, researching, teaching and writing about Bach’s works.

The concert and commemoration will include a video retrospective, a live interview with former Tureck student and internationally acclaimed guitarist Sharon Isbin, and performances by pianist Golda Vainberg-Tatz, founder of the Tureck International Competition for Young Pianists, as well as two laureates from the 2013 competition: Athena Tsianos (age 17) and Allison To (age 12). The event takes place on Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 3:00 pm at the Bruno Walter Auditorium in the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, 111 Amsterdam Avenue (south of West 65th Street) and will be followed by a reception.

Founded by Ms. Tureck in 1981, the Tureck Bach Institute supports research, scholarship, and an exchange of ideas about Bach. President of the Institute, Kevin Kleinmann, who will be the host for this event, initiated and oversaw Tureck’s recording of the Goldberg Variations for Deutsche Grammophon in 1997 (recorded at the age of 84). He comments: “Rosalyn Tureck was a big personality, with an aura and a charisma that you could feel from a mile away. Through endless discussions with her, she taught me how to be analytical, how to achieve clarity of thought and to apply it in everything we do. There are few who could be performers and scholars to the level that she was.”

Sharon Isbin edited the complete Bach lute suites for guitar with Tureck: “When you think of Rosalyn Tureck, you think of perfection, you think of magnificent rhythm, an ear that is beyond that of most mortal human beings. You think of someone who has delved beneath the surface to the depths of musicality and scholarship that we cannot even conceive of, in order to produce what she did… she was a goddess.”

Rosalyn Tureck was a huge influence on a generation of pianists including the more celebrated Glenn Gould, who commented that she was the only pianist whom he admired. In her obituary, The Guardian said: “What always convinces the listener is the compelling, incandescent, almost evangelical spirit that shines through [in the] detail.”

For more information and to RSVP for this free, limited-seating event on December 15, please see: www.tureckbach.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8fITGqGU8s

After Four Years with the Fine Arts Quartet, violist Nicolò Eugelmi Looks Forward to Vancouver Residency, New Recording & Chamber Music Projects

Posted by shiragilbert on

November 7, 2013

· No Comments

Described as “a player of rare perception” (The Strad) and “the ideal soloist” (La Presse, Montreal), violist Nicolò Eugelmi has performed to critical and public acclaim in the world’s finest venues, including Carnegie Hall, the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Berlin Philharmonie, among many others. For the last four years, Eugelmi has performed with the distinguished Fine Arts Quartet, touring extensively throughout Europe and North America, with as many as 100 concerts a year. Now, says Eugelmi, it is time to explore different challenges:

“As part of the Fine Arts Quartet, from 2009-2013, I had the opportunity to perform a rich and diverse repertoire, collaborate with great artists, and see the world. Over time, however, the nonstop schedule became too much. It seemed that as soon as we returned from one tour, we were flying off for the next one and, recently, it became evident that it was time to move on. I have always embraced new challenges, and as I transition into a new solo career— which for a violist is mainly chamber music and occasional solo appearances—I look forward to renewed collaborations with friends and colleagues around the world.” Notably, Eugelmi succeeded his own mentor in the quartet’s lineage, Gerald Stanick, with whom he earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the University of British Columbia.

This week, Nick returns to Vancouver as Artist-in-Residence at UBC from November 8-16, where he will perform Bach’s Concerto BWV 1053R with the UBC Chamber Strings, a reconstruction by musicologist Wilfried Fischer of the lost Bach Viola Concerto based on BWV 49, 169, and 1053, in addition to viola and chamber music masterclasses. Other upcoming projects include concerts with members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and violinist David Kim, and a new recording with clarinetist Patrick Messina and pianist Nina Tichman in Paris.

Nicolò Eugelmi has performed as soloist with the Vancouver, Edmonton, and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, and l’Orchestre Métropolitain, under conductors Mario Bernardi, Jon Washburn, Jacques Lacombe, Jean-Claude Casadesus, and Charles Dutoit. He has given numerous Canadian, North American, and world premieres, including John Harbison’s Viola Concerto (1988), Gavin Bryars’ The North Shore, Imant Raminsh’s What Voices in an Unknown Tongue, and his own commission from the late Jacques Hétu, Concerto pour Alto et Orchestre, Op.75. Musical collaborators have included Joseph Kalichstein, Menahem Pressler, Martin Beaver, Andrew Dawes, Paul Neubauer, the Vlach Quartet Prague, and Talich Quartets, among many others. Mr. Eugelmi held the positions of Associate Principal Violist with the Vancouver and Montreal Symphonies and Principal Violist with the Canadian Opera Company. Born in Canada to an Italian father and German mother, Eugelmi’s extensive discography includes Brahms Sonatas and Songs, named a “Strad Selection” by the prestigious magazine, and Brahms Lieder with contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, a Juno Award nominee and Prix Opus winner as well as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice.

www.nicoloeugelmi.com

The Classical Music Industry Comes to Montreal

Posted by shiragilbert on

October 30, 2013

· No Comments

The classical music international conference IAMA Montreal 2013 will be held from November 6 to 9 in Quebec’s bustling metropolis. The International Artist Managers’ Association (IAMA), renowned for its conference held annually in Europe, is branching out to North America for its first-ever large-scale networking event this side of the pond, organized in collaboration with CINARS (International Exchange for the Performing Arts) and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM).

IAMA Montreal 2013 aims at redefining and enhancing the profile of classical music in North America, while creating business, partnership and co-production opportunities. Under the banner Dynamics of Discovery, close to 300 classical music professionals, hailing from more than twenty countries, will assemble to take part in panels, concerts, tours and networking activities.

The event will kick off on November 6^th with the Ice Breaker cocktail presented in collaboration with the British Council. The cocktail will be followed by a concert by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM), conducted by Maestro Kent Nagano, presenting Schubert’s Rosamunde with the OSM Chamber Choir at the Maison Symphonique. Maestro Nagano, Music Director of the OSM, will also be featured in a presentation called Connecting in a New World during the event.

On the program

The conference will offer several panels which will focus on the changes that are currently taking place in the world of music: the effects of globalization and new technologies on the creation and the promotion of music, the emergence of specialized media providing a counterpoint to the decline of traditional media, as well as the visual enhancement of music, which is occurring with increased frequency. Several professionals from here and abroad will debate these hot topics, including Marc A. Scorca, President and CEO, OPERA America; Romana Jaroff, Senior Vice-President, IMG Artists/Carnegie Hall Tower; Huang Ruo, Composer and Conductor; Lawrence Cherney, Artistic Director, Soundstreams; Jing Zhu, Deputy General Manager, Beijing Forbidden City Theatre; John Terauds, Journalist, MusicalToronto.org; Daniel Hathaway, Founder, ClevelandClassical.com; Edouard Getaz, Producer and General Manager, Giants are Small; Véronique Lacroix, Artistic Director, Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM+); and many more.

As well, the delegates will have the opportunity to visit several of the institutions responsible for Montreal’s international reputation as a cultural hub: the Maison Symphonique, the Salle Bourgie at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. Finally, on top of a selection of concerts offered in the evenings in various venues around town, there will be showcases for Young Artists and Canadian Composers, which will spotlight Belgian violinist Marc Bouchkov and the Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov, as well as on the works of Philippe Leroux, Ana Sokolović, Marie Pelletier and Alice Ping Yee Ho, performed by Ensemble Transmission and Janice Jackson.

This conference was made possible thanks to the support of our institutional partners: Heritage Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Ministère des Relations Internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur and the Secrétariat de la région métropolitaine of the Quebec government, the SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles), the Ville de Montreal and the Conseil des Arts de Montréal.

For more information see: http://iamamontreal2013.com/en/

Author Archive for shiragilbert – Page 12

Follow Shira on Facebook