Catherine Manoukian with Staatskapelle Weimar, July 2011

Visit Catherine Manoukian’s blog to read about her recent recording session with the Staatskapelle Weimar for her next album, which will feature several pieces by Edward Elgar. See below for an excerpt…

“Stefan [Solyom] and I just completed recording our first CD together and are very pleased with how it went. We did Elgar’s “Salut d’Amour” and “Offertoire” (with Stefan on piano) in studio a couple of weeks ago. Then, a few days ago, we recorded his violin concerto live, in concert, with the Staatskapelle Weimar.

Why did we decide to record in this way? Well, the Elgar concerto is often accused of being “too long” (over 50 minutes) and, consequently, of losing energy and integrity as it goes on. Our view was that the apparent loss of energy stems not from its length (which, when you consider the piano literature, is considerable, but not unheard of), but, rather, from its inherent need for a continual push for momentum. Studio recordings, however, are notoriously problematic in this exact way: the luxury of retakes, overediting, and the absence of an audience’s attention all have a tendency to halt the kind of momentum that’s a given in concert. What we wanted most was to preserve this aspect, so making the recording out of a concert seemed like the most natural solution.”

Read the rest here:  http://www.catherinemanoukian.com/violin/2011/07/05/elgar-recording/

The free-admission concert sponsored by North/South Consonance, Inc. will take place at the intimate and acoustically superior auditorium of Christ & St Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th St, Manhattan). It will commence at 8 PM.

The multi-lingual program will include songs in Catalan, Spanish, Nahautl (the language of the Aztecs), Quechua (the language of the Incas) and Portuguese. Ms. Caicedo will sing songs by among others, Mexican composers Manuel M. Ponce, Salvador Moreno and Sivestre Revueltas; Peruvian composer Theodoro Valcarcel; Colombian composer Jaime Leon; Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera; Catalan composer Edmund Toldra; and Brazilian composers Camargo Guarnieri and Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Caicedo has resided in Barcelona, Spain for more than 10 years where she is active as both performer and musicologist. She is the founder and director of the Barcelona Festival of Song, held during the summer and now entering its 6th edition.

Her books The Latin American Art Song: A Critical Anthology and Interpretative Resource for Singers (Ediciones Tritó, 2005) and The Colombian Art Song – Jaime Leon: Analysis and Compilation of his works for voice and piano Vol. 1 & 2 (Mundo Arts Publications, 2009) have become reference books in the field of vocal pedagogy.

She has performed throughout Europe and Latin America and has presented lectures and workshops at numerous American universities.

Her acclaimed albums include: De mi corazón latino – Latin Songs of All time (Mundo Arts, 2010), A mi ciudad Nativa – To My Native City (Mundo Arts, 2005), Lied: Art songs of Latin America (Albert Moraleda, 2001) and La Felicidad, recorded with the Banda Sinfónica Santafé de Bogotá in 1997.

Ms. Caicedo will be accompanied at the piano by the versatile Max Lifchitz. Born in Mexico City. Lifchitz has resided in New York City since 1966 and has appeared on concert stages throughout Latin America, Europe and the US. He has released 9 solo piano albums and appears as conductor and collaborative artists in many more.

Ms. Caicedo will be available for interviews and media events while in New York City. She may be contacted through the North/South Consonance office at ns.concerts@att.net.

For further information about North/South Consonance’s concerts please visit http://www.northsouthmusic.org

Tone Builders CD Release and Party

Tuesday, October 26th, Party starts @ 8pm

AC Institute - 547 West 27th St, 6th Floor

Featuring performances by: Yarn/Wire, Loud Objects, Katie Young, The Kenners, and the screening of a new music video by Corey Fogel.

$20 – admission includes a CD!

http://www.reljapenezic.com/video.html

http://www.roulette.org/events/event.php/CHAI10

New Piano Music with Moving Paintings.
A first time experiment of the collaboration of active music and timeless but moving paintings.
First time exhibition of these moving paintings by artist Relja Penezic.

Join me for a new experience!!!

Program:

Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang “Intimate Rejection”
Wolfgang Rihm “Zwiesprache”
Nils Vigeland “All in due time”

Charles Ives “Serenity”
John Cage “The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs”
Helmut Lachenmann “Guero”
Gyorge Ligeti “Etudes No. 2 Cordes a vide”, “No. 1 Desordre”

WHAT: “Brilliant”

WHEN: Sunday, April 1, 2007, 3:00 PM
WHERE: Washington Irving Auditorium
40 Irving Place
New York, NY 10003-2399

Music Direction by: Barbara Yahr

Concert Featuring:

“Offering Lincoln Center quality at East Village prices”

TICKETS: $15 Regular Admission. $10 students /seniors at the door. Regular admission tickets can be ordered in advance online at www.gvo.org.

DIRECTIONS:

Our concerts are held in the Washington Irving Auditorium at 40 Irving Place, at the southeast corner of Irving Place and 17th Streets in Manhattan. For the main entrance, look for the big green doors while on Irving Place. Wheelchair access is also available.

By subway:
4, 5, 6 to 14th Street
N, R, L to Union Square

By bus:
M1,2,3,15,101,102 to 16th Street
M14 to Irving Place
M9 to Irving Pl & 16th Street

For more information visit us online at www.gvo.org or call us at (212) 932-0372.

About GVO: The Greenwich Village Orchestra (GVO) is the only symphonic orchestra of it’s kind in downtown Manhattan. We’re a 70-person volunteer outfit (with a full brass section), committed to providing Lincoln Center quality at East Village prices AND having fun in the process. Our membership is ethnically diverse, and we range in age from 22-82. We are accountants, actors, artists, attorneys, carpenters, editors, physicians, professors, programmers, psychologists, retirees, scientists, secretaries, teachers, writers and dedicated musicians. Under the baton of outstanding music director, Barbara Yahr, the GVO performs Bach to Bartok and beyond (yes, we’re brave enough to premiere modern compositions). In addition to our regular concert season, we get off the stage and into the community. We hold an annual children’s concert (complete with an instrument petting zoo), we’ve recorded on the forthcoming album with Irish band, Mr. North, and we continue to collaborate with the Union Square Partnership on a neighborhood benefit concert. For more information, visit us online at www.gvo.org, and find out how we continue to put the ‘cool’ back into classical.

Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York, NY

Electronic Music Foundation presents the third concert of its new series “EMF Lab”, featuring the Scandinavian electroacoustic jazz trio Natural Artefacts, with composer/laptop performer Per Anders Nilsson, pianist Susanna Lindeborg, and saxophonist Ove Johansson.

Admission: suggested $10 donation

For more information, click here

Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York, NY

Electronic Music Foundation presents the fourth concert of its new series “EMF Lab”, featuring Madeleine Shapiro performing pieces for cello and electronics, including works by composers Judith Shatin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Joel Chadabe, and Anthony Cornicello.

Admission: Suggested $10 donation

For more information, click here

http://redcat.org/season/0607/mus/sextet.php

“Gabriel is a wonderful composer who is creating sounds few people have heard before. Very fresh!” Maria Schneider

In an exclusive 2007 West Coast performance, Peruvian jazz trumpeter and composer Gabriel Alegría leads the Afro-Peruvian Sextet in an exploration of the polyrhythmic world of Afro-Peruvian jazz at REDCAT. Alegría is joined by saxophonist Laurandrea Leguía, guitarist Jocho Velazquez, bassist Joscha Oetz, drummer Hugo Alcázar and percussionist Freddy “Huevito” Lobatón – who plays traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments such as cajón (box drum) and quijada (jawbone) and adds spectacular passages of zapateo criollo tap dancing. Featured music in the evening’s performance will include pieces from Alegría’s latest recording, Nuevo Mundo.

Funded by La Asociación Internacional Jazz Perú and the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

About Gabriel Alegria and the Afro-Peruvian Sextet: http://www.gabrielalegria.com/english.htm
Hear and see Gabriel Alegria and the Afro-Peruvian Sextet: http://www.gabrielalegria.com/audiovisuals.htm

WHERE
REDCAT (the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) is located at the corner of W. 2nd St. and S. Hope St., inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.

TICKETS
Evening performances are scheduled for March 7th at 8:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $20-$16, with discounts available. Seating is general admission. Tickets may be purchased at the REDCAT box office located at the corner of 2nd and Hope Streets, by calling 213.237.2800, or at . Please plan on arriving at least 30 minutes before curtain time. Seating at REDCAT is unreserved, and late seating is not guaranteed.

PARKING
Parking is available in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking garage. Enter from 2nd St. and proceed to level P3 for direct access to REDCAT. The evening event rate is $8 after 5 p.m. Before 5 p.m., the maximum daytime rate is $17.