Jan

18

Matt Herskowitz, piano “Lavuta: Violin Beyond the Pale” Matt Herskowitz, piano “Lavuta: Violin Beyond the Pale”

Mon January 18th, 2016

7:00PM

Main Space

Minimum Age: All Ages

Doors Open: 6:00PM

Show Time: 7:00PM

Event Ticket: $20

event description event description

PROGRAM:
Čoček; Macedonia/Milica Paranosic
 
Nagilara; Israel/Matt Herskowitz
 
Variaiuni (“Bar Fight”); Romania/Lara St. John
Five Ladino Songs; Judeo-Spanish/David Ludwig
Ah Ya Zayn; Palestine/J. Kameel Farah
 
Misirlouri; The Jewish Diaspora/Yuri Boguinia
Moscow; Russia/Gene Pritsker
Sari Siroun Yar; Armenia/Serouj Kradjian
 
Czardashian Rhapsody; Hungary/Martin Kennedy
 
Music like this is beyond imagination and talent. It exists only in the loosely-held molecules found on the razor’s edge of Creation.” – All About Jazz
 
..a storm of perfection.” – BlogCritics
 
Heritage music with passion, furor, and spectacular extemporization.” – Second Inversion
 
This concert will feature songs from Armenia, Hungary, the Jewish Diaspora, Macedonia, Palestine, Romania and Russia – some fully written, some partly improvised – re-imagined for the concert stage by today’s composers.
 

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TABLE SEATING POLICY
Table seating for all seated shows is reserved exclusively for ticket holders who purchase “Table Seating” tickets. By purchasing a “Table Seating” ticket you agree to also purchase a minimum of two food and/or beverage items per person. Table seating is first come, first seated. Please arrive early for the best choice of available seats. Seating begins when doors open. Tables are communal so you may be seated with other patrons. We do not take table reservations.
 
A standing room area is available by the bar for all guests who purchase “Standing Room” tickets. Food and beverage can be purchased at the bar but there is no minimum purchase required in this area.
 
All tickets sales are final. No refund or credits.

the artists the artists

Lara St. John, violin

Lara St. John official site

Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been described as “something of a phenomenon” by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by the New York Times.

She has performed as soloist with the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, the Boston Pops, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Symphony, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Camerata Ireland, Belgrade Symphony, Amsterdam Symphony, and the Akbank Chamber Orchestra in Turkey, among others.

Lara has also performed with the Queensland Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony, ACO², Auckland Philharmonia, Tokyo Symphony, Kyoto Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Hangzhou Symphony and the Shanghai Symphony.

She has traveled to Latin America for appearances with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the Sao Paulo Symphony, Rio de Janeiro’s Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira, Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Ecuador, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the SODRE in Montevideo and the Sociedad Filarmónica de Lima in Peru.

Recitals in major concert halls have included New York, Boston, San Francisco, Ravinia, Wolf Trap, Washington DC, Prague, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal, Bogotá, Lima, and in the Forbidden City.

The Los Angeles Times wrote Lara St. John happens to be a volcanic violinist with a huge, fabulous tone that pours out of her like molten lava. She has technique to burn and plays at a constant high heat.”

Lara owns and runs her own label, Ancalagon, which she founded in 1999. Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo was the best-selling double album on iTunes in 2007.  Her 2008 world premiere recording of Matthew Hindson’s Violin Concerto prompted Gramophone to write: “It’s the sort of work that should get audiences running, not walking, back to concert halls on new-music nights.”

In 2009, American Record Guide said of her Vivaldi/Piazzolla disc with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela: “I can imagine no suaver, more atmospheric performance.”  Her Mozart recording won a Juno Award in 2011.

In 2014, her Schubert album with Berlin Philharmonic harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet, cellist Ludwig Quandt and soprano Anna Prohaska was chosen as one of ‘The Best CDs of Spring’ by Der Tagsesspiegel and MDR Figaro recommended it for its “boundless enchantment.”

Her 2016 release of re-imagined folk music with pianist Matt Herskowitz got a five-star review from All About Jazz: “Music like this is beyond imagination and talent. It exists only in the loosely-held molecules found on the razor’s edge of Creation.”

She has been featured in People, US News and World Report, on CNN’s Showbiz Today, NPR’s All Things Considered, CBC, BBC, a Bravo! Special: Live at the Rehearsal Hall and on the cover of Strings.

Lara began playing the violin when she was two years old. She made her first appearance as soloist with orchestra at age four, and her European debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra when she was 10. She toured Spain, France, Portugal and Hungary at ages 12 and 13 and entered the Curtis Institute at 13. Her teachers have included Felix Galimir and Joey Corpus.

She performs on the 1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini thanks to an anonymous donor.

Matt Herskowitz, piano “Lavuta: Violin Beyond the Pale”

Uniquely combining the superlative technique of a classical virtuoso with his prowess in jazz, world music and free improvisation, pianist, composer and arranger Matt Herskowitz has carved out a unique and personal voice in music. Over the course of the last decade, Matt has produced a series of critically-acclaimed recordings, premiered his works in settings from New York’s Central Park to Germany’s Köln Philharmonie, collaborated with top classical, jazz and pop artists, and has performed at music festivals across the globe.
 
His newest release, for Justin Time Records, is Matt Herskowitz Upstairs, a solo outing ranging from Gershwin to Schumann to Dave Brubeck to originals by Herskowitz, including Bella’s Lament and “Bach à la Jazz,” his arrangement of Bach’s Prelude in C Minor which Herskowitz previously recorded for EMI’s Grammy-nominated soundtrack to The Triplets of Belleville. In naming the release “Solo Album of the Year,” Le Devoir declared: “Herskowitz deploys his art with a rare passion, but without ever sacrificing musicality. Exceptional technique, precise sense of nuance, Herskowitz here brilliantly fuses his mastery of jazz and classical.” And Downbeat magazine praised Upstairs in its Editor’s Picks: “Throughout these eight tracks, [Herskowitz] displays touch, power, artistry and chops along with a firm grasp of the daring needed for a great performance.”
 
His 2007 solo release, Matt Herskowitz Plays George Gershwin, featuring Matt’s original solo arrangements of the Concerto in F, Cuban Overture and Rhapsody in Blue, was nominated for Quebec’s prestigious Prix Opus, while his 2006 solo release, Gabriel’s Message, featuring original arrangements and compositions based on Christmas themes, was nominated for Québec’s Félix award for “Best Jazz Album.” Matt’s 1998 recording of Glazunov’s 2nd Piano Concerto with I Musici de Montréal (Chandos Records) was hailed by Strad Magazine as “by far the best performance on disc.”
 
Premieres of Matt’s compositions include his 2012 Concerto Grosso with The Knights, an eclectic New York-based symphony orchestra, in Central Park on the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts series. The concert was broadcast live on WQXR and Matt was praised in The New York Times for his “imaginative, virtuosic solo.” In 2008, Herskowitz premiered his piano concerto, Undertow, with Absolute Ensemble, a cross-genre chamber orchestra who commissioned the work, at Germany’s Bremen International Musikfest. He later performed the piece with Absolute Ensemble at the Köln Philharmonie in Cologne, Germany in a concert broadcast on WDR German television across Europe.
 
As an arranger, Matt has collaborated with many noted artists and producers. In addition to his hugely popular Bach à la Jazz, Matt and his trio were featured on Barry Manilow’s In The Swing of Christmas (Hallmark, 2007, Arista/Sony, 2009), which was nominated for a Grammy award for “Best Traditional Pop Album”. Matt’s 17-minute solo Piano Nocturne was featured on Lara Fabian’s album Nue (Universal, 2001), earning him many new thousands of fans in Europe.
 
A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Matt is originally from Albany, New York, and has made Montreal his adopted home since 1999.
 
Matt Herskowitz official site

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