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Between Worlds: InterHarmony International Music Festival Opens the 4th Season of New York Concert Series at Weill Recital Hall on October 16 at 8PM
The InterHarmony International Music Festival opens its New York concert season on October 16, 2015 at 8PM at the Weill Recital Hall. Cellist Misha Quint, founder of IIMF, and other distinguished artist faculty present a program of musical and cultural dialogue that lays the essence of music bare: the bold, challenging and redemptive attempt to communicate between people, between culture – between worlds. The IIMF Series continues in the new year with performances on January 23, 2016 and April 1, 2016. For tickets call CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800 or, for more information, go to www.carnegiehall.org.
About the Program: Between Worlds
Music offers us a language in which to speak when words fail, emotions overwhelm, and differences seem insurmountable. But when it comes to bridging great distances, the InterHarmony International Music Festival, which has been bringing together students, teachers, and soloists from around the globe for almost two decades, is on its home turf. For the opening night of the IIMF's fourth annual concert series at Weill Recital Hall, Music Director Misha Quint presents a program that celebrates music's role as a universal ambassador: between individuals (in the duos of Berio, Shostakovich and Ravel), between styles (in Mark O'Connor's genre-defying F. C.'s Jig) and even between hemispheres (in Ginastera's synthesis of New World traditions and Old World techniques).
The Music
The duo gives musical expression to that most basic human situation: two people speaking, exploring the whole range of emotion, trying despite the odds to understand one another. Violinist Jennifer Dalmas and cellist Evgeni Raychev will present Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello, surely one of the great examples of the duo form. A conversational drama develops between the low and high voice, in which the roles of lead and accompaniment intertwine seamlessly. They discuss polyphonically, disagree sharply, even as to the key, seduce and reject each other, moving imperceptibly but inexorably towards reconciliation in the final chord.
Shostakovich's Sonata for Violoncello and Piano, Op.40 performed by cellist Misha Quint and pianist Irina Nuzova, offers a dialogue at least as intimate, in a romantic register far removed from Ravel's stark delicacy. The wistful opening movement overflows with melancholic melodies of heart-stopping beauty. The bellicose ostinato of the Allegro ricochets back and forth between the instruments, interrupted by themes of unbridled enthusiasm. One of Shostakovich's most impressive early works, written just before the Great Terror, it seems to dance at the edge of the abyss, until the nervous laughter of its carnivalesque Finale is cut suddenly short.
Luciano Berio's Duetti per due violini form a kind of musical sketch book, each one a miniature portrait of a friend, acquaintance or inspiration. "Behind every duet there are personal reasons and situations" Berio says, "connected by the fragile thread of daily occasions." To explore the complexities and contradictions of single individuals, Berio takes two voices, clashing and collaborating. Violinist Yeon-Su Kim and Inga Kroll offer a selection of ten of the 34 Duetti showing the technical and emotional breadth of Berio's violin writing.
Ginastera embodied his own interior dialogue in his Piano Sonata No.1, Op.22, performed here by pianist Washington Garcia. Torn, like his homeland Argentina, between native gaucho folk music and the intriguing possibilities of European imports, Ginastera created a powerful synthesis, a cosmopolitan voice distinctly his own, with one foot on each side of the ocean. His Sonata is now widely seen as the quintessential Argentinian contribution to piano music.
A child prodigy who swept Nashville in grade school and toured the world as a teenager, Mark O'Connor has won fame in recent years for his own transatlantic fusion of traditions: 'American Classical string music.' His Fiddle Concerto, commissioned by the Sante Fe Orchestra in 1993, has become the most performed violin concerto of recent years. F.C.'s Jig, as the name cleverly suggests, is an arrangement of its free-wheeling dance movement. Violinist Jennifer Dalmas and cellist Evgeni Raychev will perform.
PERFORMER BIOGRAPHIES
Cellist MISHA QUINT made his orchestral debut at the age of 13 after winning first place in the Boccherini Competition in St. Petersburg. Some of the celebrated orchestras that Quint has performed with include: Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional do Brasilia, The Metropolitan Symphony, New York Chamber Orchestra, The National Irish Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra at Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Leningrad State Orchestra, Orchestra of Classical and Contemporary Music and the Symphony Orchestras of Latvia and Georgia. Quint has worked with an equally illustrious group of conductors, including Maxim Shostakovich, Paul Lustig Dunkel, Colman Pearce, Sidney Harth, Ravil Martinov, Camilla Kolchinsky, Yaacov Bergman, Franz Anton Krager and Ira Levin, and premiered works the most outstanding composers of today including Sophie Goubadalina, Robert Sirota, Steven Gerber, Thomas Fortmann, Nathan Davis, and Alfred Schnitke. Quint is an active chamber musician and has performed with such artists as Nikolai Znaider, Bela Davidovich, Sherban Lupu, Andrzej Grabiec, Yuri Gandelsman, Boris Kushnir, andMikhail Kopelman. Quint started founding music festivals in Europe in 1997 with the creation of The International Cello Festival in Blonay, Switzerland, followed by the Soesterberg International Music Festival in Holland in 1998. Quint established the InterHarmony Music Festival in Geneva, Switzerland in 2000, and has since moved iterations of the festival to San Francisco, the Berkshires in Massachusettes, Schwarzwald, Germany, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany, and Tuscany, Italy. Quint is currently on the faculty of the Preparatory Division at Mannes College The New School for Music, in Manhattan. www.mishaquintcello.com Critics have applauded classical pianist IRINA NUZOVA for her "rise above mere virtuosity" (The Washington Post), "intensity of feeling" (La Nazione, Italy) and "profound interpretation" (Il Resto de Carlino, Bologna). Nuzova has appeared in recital as a soloist and as a chamber musician in the United States, Europe, and South America. In Europe, she has performed as part of the Amici della Musica concert series in Florence; at the Teatro Massima in Catania, Italy; Hermitage State Museum in St. Petersburg; the Moscow Conservatory, and in the Netherlands. In the United States, she has played at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York; and as part of chamber music series including the Rhode Island Chamber Music Concert Series and Norton Concert Series in Chicago. In recital with Wendy Warner, Nuzova has performed at the Music Institute of Chicago, the Phillips Collection, in Toronto, in Boston, and the Rockefeller tri-Institutional series in New York City. This season Nuzova appears as soloist in numerous venues. Besides her appearances with her duo at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. and at St. Paul's Music in the Park Series, future highlights include the double recital at the Gardner Museum (complete Beethoven cycle of sonatas), and chamber music performances at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. as a member of the Camerata Phillips. Ms. Nuzova has also appeared in live radio interviews and performances in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, among others, including a live broadcast on WFMT in Chicago; and an interview with Fred Child of Performance Today -- a program that was syndicated nationwide. Also the recipient of the Bruce Hungerford Award at the Young Concert Artist Auditions in New York, Nuzova has won top prizes in competitions such as the Vincenzo Bellini and Citta di Senigallia International Competitions in Italy and the Beethoven Piano Sonata International Competition in Memphis, Tennessee. As a chamber musician, she has won top prizes at the Vittorio Gui and the Premio Trio di Trieste International Chamber Music Competitions in Italy. Nuzova's performances have been broadcast live on WFMT in Chicago, WGBH in Boston, and Italian TV. Nuzova is a native of Moscow, Russia. She made her debut with the Omsk Philharmonic at the age of 14. She studied at the Gnessin Academy of Music under the guidance of Alexander Satz before moving to the United States. Nuzova continued her musical education at the Manhattan School of Music with Lev Natochenny, and at Juilliard where her teachers were Oxana Yablonskaya and Jerome Lowenthal. To further herself as a musician she worked for many years in the cello studio of Harvey Shapiro at Juilliard and pursued individual studies with pianists Jean-Bernard Pommier, Eteri Andjaparidze, and Vladimir Feltsman. Nuzova earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford, Connecticut). She regularly gives lecture recitals at schools and other public institutions. Ms.Nuzova is a dedicated teacher. With Ms.Warner she had been a duo-in-residence at the Music Institute of Chicago, gave Master Classes at the Schwobb School of Music in Columbus, Georgia, and recently has been invited to teach at the Special School of America, where she serves as the Piano and Chamber Music faculty. Violinist JENNIFER DALMAS, a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, joined the music faculty of Stephen F. Austin University in fall 2003. Dr. Dalmas graduated from the Virginia School of the Arts in 1991 and received her Bachelor's music degree from Mary Washington College in 1995. For the next six years, she held a teaching and performing assistantship at Florida State University, where she studied with Professor Karen Clarke and Dr. Gary Kosloski. After receiving the Doctor of Music Degree in 2001, she served as a Visiting Violin Instructor at Florida State University the following year. While living in Florida, she regularly performed with the Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and New World Symphonies. Dr. Dalmas has also played with several period orchestras, including the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and the Apollo Ensemble. She has performed solo repertoire such as Zigeunerweisen and various concerti with orchestras in the United States and Europe, and as part of the Promising Artists of the 21st Century program has given recitals and master classes both in the United States and Central America. She won the doctoral concerto competition at Florida State University in 1999, performing the Glazunov violin concerto with the FSU orchestra and was awarded second prize in the National MTNA competition the following year. As a member of the Hachidori Piano Trio, she has been a semi-finalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and has performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with orchestras in the United States, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria. In Texas, Dr. Dalmas has been an active orchestral musician, and has served as concertmaster for the Orchestra of the Pines, in addition to performing with other regional symphonies. An avid chamber music player, she has been a member of both the Alazan Piano Trio and East Texas Baroque, and also serves as the music director of the Chamber Music in the Pines summer festival. She is active as an adjudicator and clinician, and in 2009 was invited to present at the national A.S.TA convention. Her string students have won numerous awards and competitions, and have enjoyed summer studies at prestigious music festivals such as Brevard, Eastern, and Meadowmount. Born in Russe, Bulgaria, cellist EVGENI RAYCHEV began his studies on the violoncello at the Vesselin Stoyanov School of Music in Russe with Elka Effremova as his teacher. He further continued his music education with professor Zdravko Yordanov at the Bulgarian Music Academy in Sofia, where he received his Bachelor and Master degrees. Upon arriving in the USA in 1997 he attended the Florida State University, where he completed his second Master's and Doctoral degrees with professor Lubomir Georgiev. Winner of several competitions, Evgeni Raychev has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the USA, Bulgaria and Czech Republic and his chamber and solo music experience includes performances in the USA, Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Costa Rica. Dr. Raychev has played for the Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra for five years during his undergraduate pursuit and has served as a principal cellist of FSU Symphony, Chamber and Opera Orchestras, as well as Tallahassee SO, Southeast SO, Orchestra of the Pines, Texarkana SO, Longview SO, and East Texas SO. For seven years Evgeni Raychev played in the Douzet alongside his teacher Prof. Yordanov, the founder of this ensemble of twelve cellos, which commissioned and premiered several compositions by leading Bulgarian composers. He was appointed as the adjunct cello professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, TX in the Fall of 2003, where he currently teaches. Raychev is constantly and continuously working on innovative collaborative music projects promoting classical music to pre college and college students. He is the founder of Piney Woods Camerata (student-faculty collaborative conductorless ensemble), Piney Woods Youth Orchestra, and a founding member of the Alazan Piano Trio – an ensemble dedicated to performing compositions by American composers. In addition to his performance activities, Raychev is a dedicated pedagogue and an ardent advocate of cello ensemble playing who loves workings with musicians of different ages. His newest endeavor is the foundation of the Cello Club in the fall of 2014, where cello enthusiasts of all ages are prepared online to gather together for a concert at SFA. Currently Dr. Raychev plays together with his wife, Dr. Jennifer Dalmas as the Hachidori Duo. Ecuadorian-American pianist, WASHINGTON GARCIA began his musical studies at the age of 6. Among his teachers have been Genoveva Granja, Toshko Stoyanov, Ann Schein, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Julian Martin. Dr. García holds a bachelor of music from the National Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, and master's and doctoral degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated at the age of 25 as the youngest Latin American to have received a doctoral degree in piano performance from that prestigious university. The success of his first public performance at the age of 6 led Dr. García to perform at the most important cultural centers in Ecuador. He was awarded first prizes at the Guillermo Wright-Vallarino National Piano Competition held in Quito, the Elizabeth Davis Memorial Piano Competition and the 19th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington D.C., the 2004 Baltimore Music Club Piano Competition, and the Harrison Winter Piano Competition. As the winner of the Concerto Competition at the Peabody Institute, Dr. García was selected to perform with the Peabody Concert Orchestra. He was also a top prizewinner at the Yale Gordon Piano Competition, the Russell Wonderlic Piano Competition, and a finalist at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. In addition to awards granted by the Peabody Institute and the Ecuadorian government, including the prize "Monseñor Leonidas Proaño" and the award "Al Mérito Laboral," Dr. García received sponsorship by United Airlines to perform concerts abroad. He was also named a Presser Scholar and grant recipient by the Presser Music Foundation. He has received awards by Texas State University including the Texas State Quarterly Team Award in recognition of outstanding service as well as the Friends of Fine Arts Awards for Scholarly/Creative Activities and Service. Since his debut with the Ecuadorian National Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15, Dr. García has been an active recitalist, soloist, and lecturer in prestigious venues in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Japan, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States, where he has offered solo recitals and master classes in almost 30 states. Dr. García's international debut took place in Santiago, Chile, where he performed for former President Patricio Aylwin at the Claudio Arrau International Piano Seminar. Subsequently, he was chosen from a large field of contestants from 33 countries by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. to receive one of two $25,000 grants awarded to pianists in its Fellowships of the Americas Program. Dr. García has performed with several orchestras around the world, including a last-minute invitation to perform Mozart's Double Piano Concerto with the Green Valley Chamber Orchestra in Las Vegas. He also toured Italy with the Texas State University Chamber Orchestra, performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto, and he was recently featured as guest soloist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Peter Bay. Dr. García has performed and recorded for Radio Television Hong Kong, Opus Classical Radio in Mexico City, WFMT in Chicago, TV Spain, Rogers Broadcasting Company in Canada, and worldwide broadcasts through Univision. He has also been featured in several journals and magazines including the Austin and Texas Monthly, Time Out Jakarta, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, The Washington Post, and several others in Asia, North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Dr. García served on the faculty of the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University and is a faculty member at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy and the Peabody Piano Festival in Baltimore, Maryland. He will join the faculty at the University of Nebraska Omaha as founding Director of the School of Music on January 2016. Washington García became a Steinway Artist on 2014 and a citizen of the United States on March 2013. Violinist YEON-SU KIM teaches and heads the string program at the Sunderman Conservatory, Gettysburg College. Previously Kim held a position at Amherst College and taught as a visiting lecturer at UMass, Amherst. In recent seasons she has given performances and taught masterclasses at Indiana University, Seoul University, Hong Kong Performance Arts School, and InterHarmony in Germany. As a soloist, the Korean-British violinist Yeon-Su Kim has performed in Austria, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. As an active chamber musician Yeon-Su Kim has given performances in Germany, Austria, Israel, Switzerland, and England, and held quartet residencies under the Amadeus Quartet and the Tokyo Quartet. Kim was the recipient of numerous awards such as prizes at the Semmering Competition and the Leverhulme Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in England. She has given performances on the BBC Radio, Swiss Radio, and the German National Radio. Kim's recent concert tours include recitals in Zankel Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia, Seoul, Hong Kong, Brazil, and Germany. Kim performs and commissions new music and plans to issue her first CD in 2013. As an advocate for new music, she is passionate about her collaborations with composers, and has worked closely with composers such as Ezra Laderman, Eric Sawyer, Lansing McCloskey, Shinuh Lee and the Composers of Red Sneakers. She has a strong interest in diverse string repertoire that ranges from a recent Schumann and Brahms concerto to Berio and Carter recitals. Kim studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London, U.K.), the Royal Academy of Music (London, U.K.), Yale University, and Boston University. Her teachers include David Takeno, Syoko Aki, Simon Fischer, Pauline Scott, and Yuri Mazurkevich. She shares her home and concert stages with her conductor and percussionist husband, Eduardo Leandro. Violinist INGA KROLL is a native of Estonia, and graduate of the Estonian Music Academy and holds a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from Rice University. Currently Inga is a classical and baroque freelance violinist in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. She plays regularly with the Dallas Opera Orchestra, as Concertmaster with the Lyric Stage, in Irving, Texas and as second principal with the Orchestra of New Spain. Her diverse performance credits include orchestral work with pop musicians Crystal Gale, Reba McEntire, Diana Ross, classical artists Jose Correras, and Andrea Bocelli and with internationally acclaimed baroque artists Simon Standage and Ketil Haugsand. As a baroque violinist she has toured and performed in Russia, Finland, France, Mexico, and various states within the USA. She has studied with leading baroque performers Marilyn McDonald, Cynthia Roberts, Stanley Ritchie, Dana Maiben and Elizabeth Blumenstock. She is an adjunct faculty of violin and viola at Brookhaven College and University of Dallas. She also teaches privately from her home studio in Richardson, Texas.Program
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937): Sonata for Violin and Cello
Mark O'Connor (b 1961): F.C.'s Jig
Jennifer Dalmas, violin
Evgeni Raychev, cello
Alberto Ginastera (1916 – 1983): Piano Sonata No.1, Op.22
Washington Garcia, piano
Luciano Berio (1979 – 1983): Duetti per due violini
Yeon-Su Kim, violin
Inga Kroll, violin
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975): Sonata in d minor for Cello and Piano, Op.40
Misha Quint, cello
Irina Nuzova, piano