Special projects

BETWEEN WORLDS

AVI AVITAL, mandolin / KSENIJA SIDOROVA, accordion / ITAMAR DOARI, percussion

A genre-defying tour of the globe exploring the nexus between classical, popular and traditional music uniquely inhabited by Avi Avital and his magical mandolin.

From Bach to Bluegrass to Balkan Beats, the mandolin is the chameleon of the music world – every culture and musical genre features the mandolin or one of its close relatives – and Avi Avital is this beautiful instruments most charismatic, versatile exponent.

The resulting dialogue between North and South, East and West, New and Old, Classical and Traditional – offers a captivating musical journey Between Worlds.

His second album Between Worlds got a 5-star review in The Telegraph which opened with the following words: “In all my 30 years at the Telegraph I don’t think I have ever written about, or even listened to, a solo mandolin CD, but a few weeks before Christmas I happened to hear the Israeli player Avi Avital at London’s Kings Place, and was completely mesmerised. This is a kaleidoscopic United Nations of a disc, played with finesse, energy, virtuoso finger work and a captivating heart,” thus concluded The Telegraph’s music critic.

To this unforgetable musical journey you will be guided by three passionate ambassadors of their instruments Avi Avital, mandolin, Ksenija Sidorova, accordion, and Itamar Doari, percussions.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

AVITAL MEETS AVITAL

“Explosively charismatic” (New York Times) classical mandolin player Avi Avital teams up with jazz bassist Omer Avital for Avital Meets Avital on his fourth album with Deutsche Grammophon. Of no relation, both musicians were born and raised by Moroccan parents in Israel. Avital Meets Avital brings their different musical backgrounds and shared cultural heritage into dialogue, drawing on the diverse influences of Moroccan and North African sounds, classical and jazz traditions, Israeli harmonies, and Mediterranean rhythms.

GRAMOPHONE / THE WORLD’S BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS / Author: William Yeoman

Billed as ‘classical crossover’, there is nothing classical about ‘Avital Meets Avital’ – unless you count the fact that Avi Avital is primarily a classical mandolinist. It’s just too foot-stomping, hip-swaying, jazz and Middle Eastern fusion-saturated for such an epithet. And in case you’re wondering, Avi and jazz bassist and composer Omer might share the same surname but they’re not related by blood – only by a passion for the music of their Middle Eastern heritage.

Some critics have called New York-based Omer the Israeli Charles Mingus, while others – this one among them – have credited Avi with doing for the mandolin what Andrés Segovia did for the guitar. Omer has worked with the jazz pianist Yonathan Avishai before, Avi with hand percussionist Itamar Doari. As a quartet, they conjure up the intoxicating colours and textures of a street market in full swing. I’m very envious indeed of audiences who’ve heard them live in concert.

Omer composed most of the numbers, with Avi’s improvisatory Prelude and Avi’s Song (featuring Uri Sharlin on accordion) and Moshe Vilenski’s stirring The Source and the Sea the exceptions. From the moody jazz of the opening Zamzama and the frenzied rhythms of Maroc to the soulful intensity of Lonely Girl and Ballad for Eli, the sense of delight in making music together is so palpable that even when someone breaks into a solo, as Omer does in Ana Maghrebi, you get the feeling they can’t wait to take up the collective groove again. Utterly brilliant.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

FROM J.S. BACH TO RICHARD GALLIANO

A special project of a world renown accordion and bandoneon artists and composer Richard Galliano with the Slovene Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in a program named “From J.S. Bach to Richard Galliano.

Richard Galliano as a virtuoso and composer is a major figure on the international music scene. He has recorded more than 50 albums, including for the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon. Following the lead of Astor Piazzolla, who invented the “new tango”, Galliano created the French “new musette”. Galliano expresses himself in diverse musical styles from classical to jazz, which he will share with the excellent string players of Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra. The programme includes several well-known extracts from the great classics and a pair of works by Galliano himself, in which he takes on the dual role of soloist and composer.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

FIRE AND ICE

A meeting of two outstanding, legendary musicians, Vlatko Stefanovski and Vasko Atanasovski, combined with the superb Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra yields a wonderful and breath-taking musical experience.

Saxophonist and flutist Vasko Atanasovski is one of the most creative and versatile Slovenian composers and musicians, well known for his cross-genre collaborations with world famous jazz, rock, classical, traditional musicians and his masterful approach to all styles of music.

Vlatko Stefanovski is a Macedonian ethno-rock, jazz fussion guitar virtuoso and composer. Well known as a bend leader of one of the greatest rock bands from Yugoslavia – „Leb i sol“, know is a world known as a composer and colaborator with artists like  Tommy Emmanuel, Stochelo Rosenberg, Jan Akkerman, Theodosii Spassov, Stefan Milenkovic, Kudsi Erguner, Bojan Z., Manu Katche, Toni Levin, Miroslav Tadić…

SPECIAL PROJECTS

HORACIO ROMO ORQUESTA

POSTO TANGO

HORACIO ROMO began studying bandoneón at age nine with Marcos Madrigal and Julio Pane, two of the most respected teachers in Buenos Aires. His debut recording, Timeless Tango, was met with popular and critical acclaim, taking Romo to performances in Italy, Holland, Spain, France, Brazil, Uruguay, Japan, Norway, and Sweden.

Romo has collaborated with Julio Iglesias, conductor Lalo Schifrin, and renowned tango singers such as Roberto Goyeneche and Hugo Marcel. He has performed the Piazzolla Bandoneón Concerto with the symphony orchestras of Eugene, Oregon; Auckland, New Zealand; and Lima, Peru, and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Romo performs regularly with Fernando Suarez Paz, Astor Piazzolla’s longtime violinist, and the Quintet of the Astor Piazzolla Foundation, and he serves as the bandoneón guide and assistant to the Tango School Orchestra conducted by Emilio Balcarce.