On November 5th, Composers Concordance presents ‘Concertos & Stuff’ featuring the CompCord String Orchestra, conducted by Arkady Leytush. The acclaimed soloists include: violinist Miranda Cuckson, bass trombonist David Taylor, cellist Borislav Strulev, and pianist Steven Beck.
Transcribed and orchestrated by Dave Soldier, ‘The Unfinished Concerto’ by the iconic jazz violinist Stuff Smith will be premiered, with Miranda Cuckson as soloist. The program also includes Gene Pritsker’s ‘Mercy,’ a concerto for cello and Di.J., performed by cellist Borislav Strulev and the composer as Di.J.; Dan Cooper’s ‘Quixotic’ for string orchestra; Joseph Waters’ ‘String Beings II: Demons;’ Mark Kostabi’s piano concerto, ‘Aloft Again,’ performed by the composer; David Taylor’s ‘Dance;’ Daniel Palkowski’s ‘Brief Respite: Serenade for Erhu and Strings,’ featuring Anya Palkowski; Melissa Grey’s ‘to…return’ for string orchestra and trombone, featuring David Morneau; and Dave Soldier’s piano concerto ‘Jaleo,’ performed by Steven Beck. The CompCord String Orchestra includes: Philip Payton – concertmaster, Mioi Takeda, Sarah Franklin, Gregor Kitzis, Kiku Enomoto, Anna Borovik, Adrianne Munden-Dixon, Brian Thompson, Armand Alpyspaev, Andrew Borkowski, and Ratzo Harris.
Staying in rotation for 33 years in NYC is a rare feat. In the case of a new music presenting organization, it requires not only diligence and cognizance of achievements of the past, but also an ethic of keeping one’s ear to the ground for emerging stylistic and technological developments, as well as talented new composers on the scene. Composers Concordance strives to present contemporary music in innovative ways, with an emphasis on thematic programming. It has also created a record label, Composers Concordance Records, with distribution by Naxos. Directors Gene Pritsker and Dan Cooper co-curate the programs, and lead the CompCord Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Big Band. Associate Directors are Milica Paranosic, Peter Jarvis, Svjetlana Bukvich, and Melissa Grey. Composers Concordance’s overriding vision is to promote contemporary music, composers, and new works as a rightful and respected part of society. Good music, performed and recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.
“For the past 30 years, Composers Concordance has been a booster for local composers, through both its concerts across the city and a record label.” –The Wall Street Journal. “Enterprising new music organization” –The New York Times. “The Composers Concordance folks are unpredictable and at times refreshingly irreverent in a reverent sort of way….ingenious fun” –Classical-Modern Music Review. “Edgy…boisterous…demanding our attention” –San Diego Story. “These men and women are creating exciting music with elements of jazz, world music and many experimental techniques blended with equal parts classical tradition and playing techniques.” –Asbury Park Press. “There is considerable evidence to show that Composers Concordance may be one of the most exciting labels in American contemporary music.” -JazzdaGama.
About Borislav Strulev:
Russian-American cellist Borislav Strulev quickly gained a reputation as a musician of exceptional temperament, charismatic personality and virtuoso technique. The great American pianist Byron Janis said of Borislav Strulev: “He plays as if he were to the cello born. His sound, phrasing, coloring and technique already place him in position to follow the Russian tradition of cello playing. Watch this young man, and more importantly, listen to him.” Since his U.S. debut at the Kennedy Center in 1993, Borislav Strulev’s career began to develop rapidly. Audiences at some of the world’s most prestigious venues have been fascinated with a “soloist … with a rich, singing tone” (The New York Times). Borislav Strulev’s 1844 cello, built by Parisian master Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, has been sounded in Сarnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and David Geffen Hall, Merkin Hall – Lincoln Center (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Kravis Center and Van Wezel Hall (Florida), Auditorio de Madrid and Auditorio de Leon (Spain), Auditorio de Torino (Italy), Musikverein Wien Golden Hall (Vienna), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Berliner Philharmonie (Berlin), Salle Gaveau (Paris), Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow), Big and Small Hall of The Moscow Conservatory, the Moscow International House of Music, Big Hall of St-Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after D.D.Shostakovich, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall (St. Petersburg).
About Miranda Cuckson:
Violinist Miranda Cuckson is a favorite of audiences for her performances of a range of repertoire and styles, from classical works to the most current creations. Having grown up immersed in the standard repertoire, she has in recent years become one of the most sought-after performers of contemporary music. Downbeat magazine recently stated that she “reaffirms her standing as one of the most sensitive and electric interpreters of new music.” As a soloist and chamber musician, she appears in major concert halls, as well as at universities, galleries and informal spaces. She performs at such venues as the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, Teatro Colón, Miller Theatre, 92nd St Y, Guggenheim Museum, Bargemusic, Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, BAM, Strathmore, Monday Evening Concerts in LA, Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music series, and the Marlboro, Bard, Lincoln Center, Roaring Hooves, Bridgehampton, Portland, Music Mountain and Bodensee festivals. She made her Carnegie Hall debut playing Piston’s concerto with the American Symphony Orchestra. Miranda is director of Nunc, member of counter)induction, and was an inaugural curator at the cutting-edge venue National Sawdust. She is on the faculty at Mannes School of Music and studied at Juilliard, where she received her doctorate and the Presser Award.
About David Taylor:
Receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees from Juilliard, David Taylor started his playing career as a member of Leopold Stokowski’s American Symphony Orchestra, and by appearing with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. Simultaneously, he was a member of the Thad Jones Mel Lewis jazz band, and recorded with groups ranging from Duke Ellington to The Rolling Stones. He has appeared and recorded with major jazz and popular artists including Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Aretha Franklin. Mr. Taylor has won the NARAS Most Valuable Player Award for five consecutive years, and has also been awarded the NARAS Most Valuable Player Virtuoso Award, an honor accorded no other bass trombonist. He has been a member of the bands of Gil Evans, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, George Russell, Jaco Pastorius, Charles Mingus, Michelle Camillo, Bob Mintzer, Dave Matthews, the Words Within Music Trio, and B3+. In 1998, Taylor performed on four GRAMMY nominated CDs: The J.J. Johnson Big Band, Dave Grusin’s West Side Story, the Joe Henderson Big Band, and the Randy Brecker Band. The latter two CDs were chosen for GRAMMYs. David Taylor is also on the faculties of the MSM and Mannes. He plays Edwards bass trombones exclusively.
About Steven Beck:
American pianist Steven Beck was born in 1978. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where his teachers were Seymour Lipkin, Peter Serkin and Bruce Brubaker. Mr. Beck made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, and has toured Japan as soloist with the New York Symphonic Ensemble. Other orchestras with which he has appeared include the New Juilliard Ensemble (under David Robertson), Sequitur, the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and the Virginia Symphony. Mr. Beck has performed as soloist and chamber musician at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Miller Theater, Steinway Hall, Tonic, and Barbes, as well as on the New York Philharmonic Ensembles Series and WNYC; summer appearances have been at the Aspen Music Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Greenwich Music Festival, the Woodstock Mozart Festival, and the Wellesley Composers’ Conference. He is an Artist Presenter and regular performer at Bargemusic (where he recently performed all of the Beethoven piano sonatas), performs frequently as a musician with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and has performed with the New York City Ballet. He has worked with Elliott Carter, Henri Dutilleux, George Perle, and Charles Wuorinen, and has appeared with ensembles such as Speculum Musicae, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Manhattan String Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, The Metropolis Ensemble, New York Philomusica, the New York New Music Ensemble, Mosaic, the Lyric Chamber Music Society, the Omega Ensemble, Ensemble Sospeso, the Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble, Counterinduction, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, the East Coast Composers’ Ensemble, the Fountain Ensemble, Friends and Enemies of New Music, Lost Dog, and Antisocial Music. He is a member of the new music ensemble Future In Reverse (FIRE) as well as the notorious Knights of the Many-Sided Table. His recordings are on the Albany, Bridge, Monument, Mulatta, and Annemarie Classics labels.
About Arkady Leytush:
One of World’s most gifted conductors, Arkady Leytush has directed orchestras in Europe and the United States to great acclaim. Critics have described him as “a conductor in the Grand Russian Tradition” and his dynamic interpretations have made him an audience favorite. Leytush’s artistry is known throughout the former Soviet Union, but it was not until 1994 that he gained recognition in the United States when he, on a week’s notice, made a stunning debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, replacing Yuri Temirkanov. Since 1980, Leytush has worked with a wide variety of orchestras, including Novosibirsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Russia), New World Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmonic De Buenos Aires, Orquestra Nacional Do Porto, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, The National Symphony Orchestra of Odessa, Crimea Academic Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Nizhny Novgorod Academic Symphony Orchestra, The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Le Zion, Kremlin Orchestra, Plovdiv Philharmonic, Varna Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and The National Latvian Symphony Orchestra, among others. Arkady Leytush made numerous transcriptions and orchestrations of music by composers such as J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Czerny, Chopin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Liadov, Cui, Glazunov, Dargomyzhsky, Artsibushev, Sokolov, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Shostakovich, Mayer, Poulenc, Albeniz, Guastavino, Sisler, Milhaud, Piazzolla, Jobim, and Ellington, among others.
PRESS:
for more information, please contact:
Composers Concordance
(646) 522-9442
Artist: CHRIS PASIN AND FRIENDS
Bob Porter is a record producer, writer and broadcaster in the fields of Jazz and Blues. He has worked for such prominent record labels a Prestige, Savoy and Atlantic. He has produced more than 175 albums and several hundred reissues. He has contributed to DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazz Journal (London) and currently writes a book review column for the Journal of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors. He is a two-time Grammy winner, was awarded the Marion McPartland Award for Excellence in Jazz Broadcasting and is a member of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. He currently is the host of three separate radio programs on WBGO Newark.
