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| | Arts Calendar / February 27 / Concerts |
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19:00 | I Musici di Roma (Italy) |
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In 1951, twelve young and promising italian musicians, mainly roman and mostly graduates of the at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, got together "inter pares" to create a unique chamber orchestra comprising six violins, two violas, two cellos, one double bass and one harpsichord. They chose the simple, yet nice, name I Musici and they deliberately decided to shape the ensemble without conductor. They did so in order to create an egalitarian relationship among the twelve colleagues and friends, which would bring to their music-making a unanimity on technical and interpretative questions. It was a very unconventional but unexpectedly suitable procedure. Notably, maestro Arturo Toscanini, on hearing them rehearsing in April 1952 at the Italian Radio studios, enthused over the young orchestra in front of journalists and musical personalities, and dedicated his photograph to the group with the words "bravo, the music will not die." A few weeks earlier, on the 30th of March 1952, their public debut was an enormous success at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Roma; it was the starting point of an astonishing career, which in a schort time catapulted them among the ranks of the great international performers. During the course of the years, the musicians have changed, the original members of the group retired but, together with the younger talent that has taken their place, there has always been a generation of "historic" members present who guarantee the tradition and continuity of the orchestra. At present I Musici are regular guests at the most important international festivals and they carry out an intense concert activity in prestigious theatres and concert halls such as "G Enescu" International Festival in Bucharest, Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre in New York, the "Spring Festival" in Budapest, Sunthory Hall and Opera City in Tokyo, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, Seoul Arts Centre, Boston Symphony Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Beijing National centre for the Performing Arts and numerous others. In Moscow I Musici will perform compositions which were written for I Musici by composers - winners of Oscar Award: Rota, Morricone, Vivaldi (soloist - Antonio Anselmi, violin), Sakamoto, Bacalov.
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall  |
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22:00 | Korean Chamber Orchestra (South Korea) |
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Conductors: Pinchas Zukerman, Sergey Smbatyan. Soloists: Pinhas Zukerman (violin), Amanda Forsyth (cello), Ksenia Kogan (piano). Founded in 1965 in Seoul by cellist Bong-Cho Jeon, the Korean Chamber Orchestra (KCO) has performed world-wide and has received outstanding reviews from such publications as The New York Times (USA), Los Angeles Times (USA), Washington Post (USA), the Toronto Star (Canada), the Badische Zeitung (Germany) and the Mindelheimer Zeitung (Germany). It has released 16 albums so far. In 2015, the Korean Chamber Orchestra is celebrating its 50th anniversary with this world tour. Formerly known in Korean as the Seoul Baroque Orchestra (Ensemble), the KCO has decided to use its English label both on and off the international stage beginning 2015, and after a year of promotion, its former name will go into the books. Further changes are expected to allow the KCO a more varied repertoire, ranging from baroque to contemporary, as it shifts its strings-oriented focus onto the winds. Like renowned chamber orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the KCO recruits more brass and wind instrumentalists, as well as invite prominent guest conductors from Europe. The KCO, now 50 years old, said that such changes have been implemented to help the orchestra meet international standards, and that the transition will ready the KCO for a more global audience. "I have spent the last 50 years working for the development of Korean classical music," said music director and violinist Kim Min. "As leader of the KCO, I have progressively interacted with foreign artists so as to learn and approach their standards. We have been invited to a number of music festivals as guests, and now we will perform at the world's top five orchestral venues." "This is all possible because our orchestra members love what they do, and have done their best at all times," he continued. "The next 50 years for the KCO will continue to be about effort, and about loving music. I myself will work to recreate a young orchestra, one that will continue to thrive on global stages." In program: I.-K.-F. Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Schnittke, Schubert.
Moscow Conservatory Great Hall |
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20:00 | Michelle Walker (USA) |
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 Armed with a provocative, whiskey-soaked tone, jazz vocalist Michelle Walker is a charismatic singer that uses an artful blend of blues, bebop, swing and soul with playful rhythmic expressiveness. Based in New York City, she bends the lines and pushes the boundaries of jazz vocal art. With rich colors and adventurous flexibility, she moves easily from a dark, deep tone to a mid-range, swinging lilt. Michelle is very versatile and blessed with a beautifully distinctive voice. She has a refreshing approach to arranging and interpreting often easily recognizable contemporary songs. Michelle studied classical voice at the University of Maryland and also studied at the Amsterdam Music Conservatory in Holland and the Stanford Jazz in Palo Alto, CA. Michelle was the first vocalist asked to perform at the "Hot Jazz" Concert Series which featured jazz veterans Kenny Werner, Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, David Hazeltine and Jimmy Greene. Walker has performed throughout US, Canada, Russia, Israel England, Holland and most recently at Blues Alley and The Black Rock Performing Arts Center outside Washington, DC where she helped kick off the jazz concert season which has featured Russell Malone, Cyrus Chestnut and Ravi Coltrane. In early 2002, Walker released her debut recording, Slow Down, to critical acclaim. The recording received a Washington Area Musician Association (WAMA) Award nomination for Best Jazz and Debut Album of the year and also a national nomination for Best Independent Jazz Vocal album of the year. In late Fall 2013, she performed at the 2nd Annual Belarus International Jazz Festival in the city of Minsk on the same bill as Vocal group Take 6. She followed that concert up with a 17 day / 10 city extraordinary tour in Russia performing at many Philharmonic Concert Halls around the country. The uniqueness of Walker is found her shifting, rhythmic, lyrical phrasing and her revived, unexpected arrangements of standard songs. In her upcoming release, Love Misery, Michelle brings together a collection of jazz standards, original songs and her arrangements of pop tunes that thematically chronicles a love affair. This latest recording project features Joel Frahm on sax, Ron Affif on guitar, Toru Dodo on piano, Michael O'Brien on bass and Willard Dyson on drums. Additional highlights of her career include multiple tours in Europe, performing in the Lincoln Center Women in Jazz Festival, touring with jazz vocal legend Mark Murphy and performing at the White House for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. Dave Nathan at AllAboutJazz.com says, "Walker demonstrates an extraordinary degree of musicality..." Michelle is often compared to Cassandra Wilson, Nina Simone and Betty Carter in style and tone but has develop her own unique sound and singular voice. More info
Esse Jazz Cafe |
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