Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York Opening Night Gala – Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at 7:30pm
Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York
Opening Night Gala
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at 7:30pm
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
154 West 57th Street | NYC
Tickets: $40, $30 and $20 at 212.247.7800 or www.carnegiehall.org
Special gala tickets for premiere seating and post-concert reception,
$75 available exclusively at 646.320.9645
Concert Program:
Beethoven – Piano Trio in D Major, “Ghost”
Zwillich – “Romance” for violin and piano
Brahms – Selected Lieder, arr. for cello and piano
Brahms – Piano Quintet in F Minor
Performers:
Violinists Joanna Maurer, Jesse Mills, & Georgy Valtchev
Violist Kenji Bunch
Cellists Inbal Segev & Greg Hesselink
Pianists Anna Stoytcheva & Lora Tchekoratova
Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York online: www.bceny.org
NEW YORK, NY — The concert series Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York opens its 2012-2013 season with a Gala concert on Wednesday, October 10th at 7:30 PM at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 154 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019.. The program features Beethoven – Piano Trio in D Major, op. 70 No. 1, ”Ghost”, Brahms – Selected Lieder, arr. for cello and piano, Zwillich – Romance for violin and piano and Brahms – Piano Quintet in F Minor, op. 34, performed by violinists Joanna Maurer, Jesse Mills and Georgy Valtchev, violist Kenji Bunch, cellists Greg Hesselink and Inbal Segev and pianists Anna Stoytcheva and Lora Tchekoratova.
Now in its eight season, Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York is dedicated to presenting classical musicians and composers from Bulgaria, as well as artists of international acclaim. This season features a number of distinguished artists making their series debuts, such as the Concertmaster and Principal Cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, David Chan and Rafael Figueroa, return appearances of the concertmaster of the National Arts Orchestra in Ottawa, Yosuke Kawasaki and the cellist of the American String Quartet Wolfram Koessel and internationally renowned composer and violist Kenji Bunch.
The series have been managed by volunteer musicians from Bulgaria since their establishment in the fall of 2005. Most concerts are presented free of charge and open to the public on select Wednesdays of each month, from September to May at the Bulgarian Consulate General in New York. Funding for the artists is provided by individual contributions from the Bulgarian and international community.
There is FREE admission to all concerts at the Bulgarian Consulate General, 121 East 62nd Street, New York City. Seating is limited. To reserve a seat, please send us a tax-deductible contribution of $20 per person to Bulgarian Concert Evenings, PO Box 231160, New York, NY 10023. Please make checks payable to the American Foundation for Bulgaria. For information, please contact us at Tel: 646-320-9645, e-mail us at bg_concerts@yahoo.com or visit our website at www.bceny.org
Upcoming concerts at the Bulgarian Consulate General, 121 E 62nd St., NYC 10021:
09.19.2012 @ 7:30PM – Pre-Season Concert: Grneta Ensemble “Eastern Madness”.
Vasko Dukovski, clarinet/basset horn, Ismail Lumanovski, clarinet, Alexandra Joan, piano.
Works by Bartok, Csicsko, Cohen, Videnovic, Lumanovski and Grgin.
11.28.2012 @7:30PM – Piano and Cello Recital.
Vladan Koci, cello and Natalie Berlin-Marfynets, piano.
Works by Schubert, Stravinski, Franck and Piazzolla.
12.05.2012 @ 7:30 – Trio +.
Yosuke Kawasaki, violin, Wolfram Koessel, cello and Vadim Serebryani, piano. With Georgy Valtchev, violin.
Works by Haydn, Schumann, Bartok and Korngold.
01.23.2013 – Musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
David Chan, violin, Dov Scheindlin, viola and Rafael Figueroa, cello. With Anna Stoytcheva, piano.
Works by Dohnanyi, Mozart and Strauss.
02.06.2013 @ 7:30PM – Vocal Recital.
Adriana Velinova, soprano and Javor Bracic, piano.
Works by Bellini, Brahms, Strauss, Bizet and Dvorak.
03.27.2013 @ 7:30PM – Horn Trios: Homage to Brahms.
Lisa Coops, horn, Georgy Valtchev, violin, Lora Tchekoratova, piano.
Works by Brahms and Ligeti.
04.17.2013 @ 7:30PM – Musica da Camera with Classical Guitar.
Joao kouyoumdjan, classical guitar, Marta Kukularova, soprano and Dima Dimitrova, violin.
Works by Manuel de Falla, PAganini, Ibert, Ravel and Piazzolla
05.01.2013 @ 7:30PM – Winners of the Annual Music and Earth Competition in Bulgaria.
Artists and program TBA
05.08.2013 @ 7:30PM – Tango Evening.
Teofora Dimitrova, violin and Octavio Brunetti, piano.
Works by Piazzolla.
Closing concert at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 154 W 57th St., NYC:
05.21.2013 @ 8PM – Musical Treasures from Bulgaria.
Dima Dimitrova and Teodora Dimitrova, violin. With Anna Stoytcheva, piano.
Works by Vladigerov, Ysaye, Moszkowski, Schumann, Saint-Saens and Sarasate.
Artists bios for October 10th, 2012 concert:
Violist Kenji Bunch enjoys a multifaceted career as both a violist and a composer. The founding member of the Flux Quartet (1997-2002), and now a member of the performing composer group Ne(x)tworks, Mr. Bunch frequently appears in recitals, master classes, and is a regular guest at chamber music festivals. He has been widely recognized for performing his own groundbreaking works for viola, which have been featured on NPR Performance Today, in Strings Magazine, and in the Journal of The American Viola Society. Comfortable in many musical styles, Mr. Bunch is also an active bluegrass fiddler, and has collaborated extensively with many prominent non-classical musicians on stage and in recording. He is one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, and his orchestral works have been performed, broadcast and recorded worldwide. Mr. Bunch studied viola with Toby Appel and composition with Robert Beaser at The Juilliard School, and currently teaches viola at the The Juilliard School’s Pre-College division.
Cellist Greg Hesselink leads an eclectic musical life as a chamber musician, soloist, teacher and promoter of new music. He is a member of the Naumburg winning New Millennium Ensemble, Sequitur, Locrian Chamber Players, Newband and is a principal cellist of the Riverside Symphony. A former member of New York Philomusica, the Manhattan Sinfonietta, and the Bang on a Can “Spit” Orchestra, he has also performed with many other established ensembles including Speculum Musicae, New York New Music Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Argento, the Group for Contemporary Music, the Flux Quartet, the American Symphony Chamber Players, and with the dance companies of Cedar Lake, Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham and Nai Ni Chen. Performance venues include the Lincoln Center Chamber Society, Library of Congress, Donaueschinger Musiktage (Germany), Spoleto (Italy), Salihara Festival (Indonesia), Music for Museums (Ireland) and other festivals throughout north America, Europe and Asia. Mr. Hesselink has premiered numerous works including concertos by James Tenney (on the tenor violin) Ross Bauer and Daniel Weymouth. An active teacher, he is currently on the faculty of Mannes pre-college, while teaching at Apple Hill in the summers. Recordings can be heard on CRI, Nonesuch, Bridge, Koch, Albany, Wergo, Innova, PPI and Point Records.
Born and raised in Colorado, violinist Joanna Maurer has performed as orchestral soloist and recitalist throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. After initial studies with her parents, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Robert Mann. She has won first prizes in a number of competitions, including the E. Nakamichi Violin Competition, the Denver Young Artist Orchestra Competition, the Young Musicians Foundation Competition, and the National MTNA Selmer Competition. Now a resident of New York City, Ms. Maurer performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and she is a member of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, with whom she has appeared as soloist and concertmaster. She also served as concertmaster of the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra for their final two seasons. A versatile artist with a broad repertoire, Ms. Maurer has collaborated with fiddler/violinist Mark O’Connor in, among other projects, performances of his Double Violin Concerto.
Grammy-nominated violinist Jesse Mills enjoys performing music of many genres, from classical to contemporary, as well as composed and improvised music. In 2004, Mr. Mills made his concerto debut with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan in a unique partnership with Salsa trombonist, Jimmy Bosch. Since then, Mr. Mills has performed as a soloist with Phoenix Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, The Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Denver Philharmonic, Teatro Argentino Orchestra in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Aspen Music Festival’s Sinfonia Orchestra as a winner of the Nakamichi Violin Concerto Competition. As a chamber musician, Jesse Mills has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada, in concerts at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Metropolitan Museum, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Boston’s Gardener Museum, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, and Marlboro Music Festival. He has also appeared at prestigious venues in Europe, such as the Barbican Centre of London, La Cité de la Musique in Paris, Amsterdam’s Royal Carré Theatre, Teatro Arcimboldi in Milan, and Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels. Mr. Mills is a co-founder of Duo Prism with pianist Rieko Aizawa, which earned First Prize at the 2006 Zinetti International Competition in Italy. Mr. Mills received a Grammy nomination for a recording of Arnold Schoenberg’s music, released by NAXOS in 2005. He can also be heard on the Koch, Centaur, Tzadik, Max Jazz and Verve labels, performing music by Webern, Schoenberg, Zorn and Wuorinen among others. As a member of the FLUX Quartet from 2001-2003, Mr. Mills performed mainly contemporary music, including many world premieres. As a composer and arranger, he has received commissions by such venues as Columbia University’s Miller Theater and the Chamber Music Northwest festival in Portland, Oregon. Jesse Mills began violin studies at the age of three. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School in 2001. His teachers include Dorothy DeLay, Robert Mann and Itzhak Perlman. Mr. Mills lives in New York City, and is on the faculty at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev’s playing has been described as “characterized by a strong and warm tone . . . delivered with impressive fluency and style,” by The Strad and “richly inspired” by Gramophone. Equally committed to new repertoire and known masterworks, Segev brings interpretations that are both unreservedly natural and insightful to the vast range of music that she performs. Segev’s repertoire includes all of the standard concerti and solo works for cello, as well as new pieces and rarely performed gems. She gave the U.S. premiere of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Cello Concerto in D Major, which was written in 1866 but never published. She performed jazz musician and composer David Baker’s cello concerto at Town Hall in New York, and was the first cellist to perform Dutilleux’s challenging Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher at Carnegie Hall. She gave the world premiere of Max Schubel’s Concerto for Cello, which was written for her. Currently, Grammy-nominated composer Avner Dorman is at work on a new concerto for Segev, and Grammy-winning composer Fernando Otero is writing a Tango-inspired concerto for her. Segev has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Helsinki Philharmonic, Radio Symphony of Helsinki, Reutlingen Symphony, Dortmund Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Bangkok Symphony, and with all the major orchestras of Israel. She made debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta, at 17. Segev is a founding member of the Amerigo Trio with New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus, formed in 2009. In addition, Segev regularly performs chamber music with artists including Emanuel Ax, Agustin Dumay, Pamela Franck, Gilbert Kalish, Michael Tree, and the Vogler Quartet throughout the U.S., Europe, and Israel. Inbal Segev’s discography includes Sonatas by Beethoven and Boccherini (Opus One, 2001), Nigun (Vox, 2005), Schubel’s Concerto for Cello (Opus One, 2001), and Fernando Otero’s Pagina de Buenos Aires (Nonesuch, 2007). With the Amerigo Trio she has recorded serenades by Beethoven and Dohnányi (Navona Records, 2011). Segev’s many honors include the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship, and top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo, and Washington International Competitions. She was invited by Isaac Stern to come to the U.S. at 16, and earned a B.M. from Juilliard and M.M. from Yale, studying with masters Joel Krosnick, Harvey Shapiro, Aldo Parisot, and Bernhard Greenhouse. Inbal Segev (pronounced Inn-BAHL SEH-gehv) lives in New York with her husband and three young children. She performs on a cello made by Francesco Rugeri in 1673 and is managed by Barrett Vantage Artists.
Winner of “Ettore Pozzoli” International Piano Competition in Italy, pianist Anna Stoytcheva is described this way: “Stoytcheva’s tonal palette was a whirl of fabulous colors. Her agility was stunning at lighting speed” (Coral Gables Gazette). Currently Ms. Stoytcheva is the Chair of Executive Board of “Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York” series, held at the Bulgarian Consulate and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She is also the pianist of American Chamber Players five-member ensemble, which performs extensively throughout the United States. Ms. Stoytcheva is on the faculty of Bard College of Music’s preparatory division. In New York City she has performed at Avery Fisher Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Zankel Hall and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Merkin Hall. Ms. Stoytcheva has been a soloist with Orchestra del’ Angelicum, The Juilliard Orchestra, The New World Symphony and Sofia Radio Orchestra among others. Some conductors she has worked with are Otto-Werner Mueller, Michael Tilson Thomas, Rossen Milanov and Alasdaire Neale. The Bulgarian National Television has made several documentaries about Ms. Stoytcheva and she has recorded two solo albums, available on Gega New label. Ms. Stoytcheva has attended Marlboro Music Festival, SummerFest at Lake Tahoe, Music Academy of the West, The Banff Center of the Arts, Pianofest, Kneisel Hall. She has collaborated with such distinguished artists as pianist Charles Wadsworth, violinist Chee-Yun, clarinettist Anthony McGill, as well as members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and several Young Concert Artists winners, including violinist Bella Hrsitova, violist Naoko Shimizu and soprano Kyoko Saito. Ms. Stoytcheva holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Piano Performance from The Juilliard School. Her teachers have been Seymour Lipkin, Veda Kaplinsky, Jerome Lowenthal, Julia Ganeva and Lidia Kuteva.
Bulgarian pianist Lora Tchekoratova has appeared as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. At age 21 she won the Washington International Competition for pianists, where she was awarded the audience prize as well as the prize for the youngest finalist. Subsequently, Ms. Tchekoratova made her debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. She also made recital appearances at the Phillips Collection (broadcast over WGTS-FM) as well as in Alexandria, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York. During the 2006/2007 Season, Ms. Tchekoratova will perform as a soloist and chamber musician at major venues in New York, Miami, Boston, and Chicago as well as abroad in Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Austria. As an active advocate for new music, Ms. Tchekoratova has premiered numerous contemporary works by American and Bulgarian composers. Currently, she is on the board of Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York, a concert series, dedicated to the presentation of music from Bulgaria. She is also a member of Cutting Edge Ensemble at Symphony Space and performs regularly with violinist Georgy Valtchev. While a student at Juilliard, she appeared at the Focus, Summergarden, and Piano Century Festivals at the Juilliard Theater, MoMA, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Recently Tchekoratova performed at the American Composers’ Festival in New York’s Symphony Space. From 2000-2002 Ms. Tchekoratova was the pianist of the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas in Miami. During her tenure, she performed numerous chamber music concerts at the Lincoln Theater, Kravis Center, The Union Club in New York as well as on tours in Boston, the Hamptons, and abroad in Prague, Rome and Monte Carlo. As a chamber musician she was also a featured artist at many international festivals, including Kuhmo Nuori Musikii in Finland; Lappland Festspel in Sweden; Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine; and Sofia Music Weeks in Bulgaria. Lora Tchekoratova began her piano studies at the age of four and gave her first recital five years later at the State Music School in Sofia, Bulgaria. At the age of eighteen, she continued her studies at The Juilliard School in New York City, where she received her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees as a student of Seymour Lipkin. Currently she serves on the faculties of the 92nd Street Y School of Music and the Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute in Blue Hill, Maine. Her first (all Bartók) CD will be released by Gega classic in 2007.
Violinist Georgy Valtchev is among the most prominent Bulgarian musicians of his generation. He has been honored with a number of awards, among them the First Prize of the Ducrest International Competition in Lafayette, LA, and the Special Prize of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Switzerland. Mr. Valtchev has appeared as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe, most recently in recitals, and as a soloist with orchestras in Bangor, Baton Rouge, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York; and in his native Bulgaria. He has been a frequent soloist with the Lyric Orchestra in Hoboken, New Jersey and the Sofia Soloists in Bulgaria. In 2005 the Bulgarian National Television broadcasted a documentary featuring Mr. Valtchev. This past season included several recording engagements: a CD of the complete Bartók works for Violin and Piano for Gega Label, and a series of recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio and Television. In the United States, he appeared as soloist with the Haddonfield Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey and in a number of recitals with his chamber music partner, pianist Lora Tchekoratova. Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Georgy Valtchev began his violin studies at the age of six and gave his first performance with orchestra six years later at the Music academy of his native city. He received his basic music education first at the Plovdiv Music School, and then at the State Music School “Lubomir Pipkov”, Sofia. At age sixteen, he won the Grand Prize and the Prize for best performance of a Wieniawski composition at the “Kocian” International Competition in the then Czechoslovakia. In 1992 Georgy Valtchev came to the United States as a scholarship student of Dorothy Delay and Masao Kawasaki at the Juillaird School in New York, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. Mr. Valtchev has recorded a CD for the Gega label featuring solo and chamber music works by composer Victoria Bond. He has made numerous recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio and has appeared in live broadcasts of the Bulgarian National Television. He currently serves on the faculty of the 92nd Street Y School of Music and as the concertmaster of the Haddonfield Symphony Orchestra. A strong advocate of new music, Mr. Valtchev is a member of the Cutting Edge Ensemble at Symphony Space and Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York.
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