Howdy folks! Apologies for being off the radar a bit recently – I’ve been a tad on the busy side travelling, setting up my new music room in my new house, building gates, cleaning out ponds and the like! I’ve not forgotten about you (or my own practice for that matter!) and things will be getting back on track in the next week or two.
Aaaaanyhoo, on with the show! There’s a very exciting event coming up the weekend after next in Melbourne. The ARIA award-winning, mind-bogglingly virtuousic (and wearer of a glorious moustache!) oud player Joseph Tawadros is playing an intimate solo recital at the Melbourne Recital Centre on March 28th (4pm and 8pm).
Tawadros’ latest recording, Permission to Evaporate, has been hailed as ‘a masterpiece’ (5 stars) in The Australian and earned a 2014 Independent Music Award nomination. And did I mention he’s won an ARIA award or three? Joseph won ‘Best World Music Album’ in 2012, 2013 and 2014, not to mention 11 ARIA-nominated albums. Not too shabby eh?
The March 28th gig will be a very rare opportunity to hear Joseph up close and intimate in the Salon. And I promise you, if you’re in Melbourne you need to check it out!!
Joseph is somewhat prolific too. He has another new recording coming out April 17. For a little taste of Joseph’s amazing playing (and a taste of his new album) check this out:
I have a pretty cool one for you this morning, folks!
The lovely folks over at LIVAMP (www.livamp.com) got in touch this week to let me and you guys know that there is a very special event coming up this Friday, January 16th.
LIVAMP is an online platform for broadcasting unique performances from handpicked venues globally. They are working with chamber music virtuosos Cygnus Ensemble to help them reach a broader audience through a live broadcast of one of their exciting upcoming performances.
On Friday January 16th at 7:30pm US Eastern Time Cygnus is performing a unique event at SubCulture in New York focused on showcasing the expansion of plucked instrument repertoire. The concert features the much-anticipated premiere of West of the Moon, by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Yehudi Wyner.
Cygnus Ensemble
This really sounds like my kind of performance, with a showcase of the wide expressive range of the guitar, its players and its composers, featuring brand, spanking new instrumental and vocal works.
The ensembles Cygnus and Vox ‘n Plux, are joined by soprano, Elizabeth Farnum, baritone Thomas Meglioranza, guitarists Jiyeon Kim and Hao Yang (both students of David Starobin, who will also be conducting a performance of his work at the performance).
You can watch a free live broadcast of the full performance at www.livamp.com (no login required; sign-up online for reminder) Jan 16, 2015 730pm ET live at SubCulture in NYC. How cool is that?!
The performers will be:
Yehudi Wyner: West of the Moon (flute, oboe, mandolin, guitar, violin, cello)
Michael Starobin: Blurred (set of arrangements of theatrical songs by Stephen Sondheim, Tom Kitt, and William Finn, featuring Vox n Plux –soprano Elizabeth Farnum, with guitarists William Anderson and Oren Fader)
Paul Lansky: Talking Guitars (for two guitars)
David Starobin: From Tchaikovsky’s Letters (for baritone & guitar)
William Anderson: Eight Rhythms of Djuna Barnes (for Vox n Plux)
And here’s the full program for you
Michael Starobin: Blurred (2014) Arrangements of Stephen Sondheim, William Finn and Tom Kitt.
A Cycle of Theater Songs
1. Losing My Mind
2. Psychopharmacology
3. When The Earth Stopped Turning
Vox n Plux Elizabeth Farnum, soprano; William Anderson & Oren Fader, guitars
Paul Lansky: Talking Guitars (2014)
A conversation for two guitars
1. Repeat After Me
2. Let’s Talk
3. Fast Talk
William Anderson Eight Rhythms, Six Songs
Settings of Djuna Barnes
1. Seen From the “L” / Rite of Spring
2. She Passed This Way
3. Crystals
4. The Child Would Be Older
5. Paradise / When the Kissing Flesh Is Gone
6. Pastoral
Vox n Plux, with Sheer Pluck Guitar Orchestra
Intermission
David Starobin From Tchaikovsky’s Letters
1. In Paris
2. My Opera
3. Three Hundred Rubles
4. The Villa Richelieu
5. The Weather
6. My Future
7. Waves
William Anderson & Thomas Meglioranza
Yehudi Wyner
West of the Moon
Yehudi Wyner
LIVAMP will be broadcasting the event live on www.livamp.com in high definition for a global audience. How exciting!! Get on it folks and tune in!
—
To find out a bit more about the performance head here:
Classical Guitar n Stuff 