Despite the chaos surrounding us today and in the near future, we had a lovely time with JOHNNY GANDELSMAN, J.S. BACH and some stunning solo violin playing.
THE NEW ALBUM:
Grammy award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman is one of the first to record or perform Bach’s complete cello suites on the violin. This is Gandelsman’s second initiative towards adapting Bach’s compositions to the violin, following his recordings of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas in 2018. Having worked with incredible masters of various world music traditions, like Bela Fleck, Martin Hayes, and Kayhan Kalhor, Gandelsman’s playing of the Suites is equally inspired by folk and fiddling traditions, as it is by historically informed performance. In these compositions, Bach captured every human emotion imaginable, making the compositions truly universal. These works are known and beloved all over the world, thanks to legendary recordings and performances by giants like Pablo Casals, Anner Bylsma and Yo-Yo Ma, and now Gandelsman places his name in that revered pantheon with this new release.
Gandelsman’s understanding and interpretation of Bach’s music is multi-layered and unique, drawing not only on his classical training but also on the experience he has gained over the past decade with the Silk Road Ensemble and others, experience that includes commissioning new works from a variety of composers and performers, as well as collaborating with improvisers, masters of non-classical traditions, and ballet and modern dance companies.
Through his work onstage and in-studio with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Bono, Osvaldo Golijov, Suzanne Vega, James Levine, Mark Morris, Alim and Fergana Qasimov, Nigel Kennedy, Martin Hayes, Christina Courtin, Jenny Scheinman and David Byrne, Gandelsman has been able to integrate a wide range of creative sensibilities into his own unique point of view. A passionate advocate for new music, Johnny has premiered dozens of works by Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, Vijay Iyer, Bela Fleck, Daniel Cords, Rubin Kodheli, Dana Lyn, Gabriel Kahane, Colin Jacobsen, Shara Worden, John Zorn, Christina Courtin, Ethan Iverson, Padma Newsome, Gregory Saunier, Evan Ziporyn, Bill Frisell and Nik Bartsch, as well as a violin concerto by Gonzalo Grau, commissioned for Johnny by Community Music Works.
A prize-winner at the Kreisler and Menuhin competitions, Gandelsman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as New York and Israel Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Albany Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Deutsche Opera, Orchestra di Maggio di Fiorentina, Orchestra de Padova e del Veneto, Polish Radio Orchestra and Jerusalem Symphony. He has worked with such esteemed conductors as David Zinman, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Schlomo Mintz, Daniel Oren, David Allan Miller, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Larry Rachleff, David Shillon, Paolo Olmi, Aldo Ceccata, Leopold Hager and Tadeusz Strugala.
Although Gandelsman has been performing as a soloist since he was a child, he discovered his true love for music through lifelong friendships that were formed at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student. From 1997 to 2001, Gandelsman was the concertmaster of Wild Ginger Philharmonic, a groundbreaking orchestra founded by his classmate and conductor David Goodman.
As part of a strong desire to break down barriers between artists and their audiences, Gandelsman, along with Max Treitler, began a performance series in New York City in 2003 called “In a Circle.” Through this project, Treitler and Gandelsman have been able to present music genres such as Persian, folk, bluegrass, mugham and rock on the same programs as Western classical music.
Join us as we celebrate Johnny’s outstanding new album and welcome a true violin master back to the Upstate.
Horizon has the J S Bach: Complete Cello Suites (Transcribed for Violin) double-CD in-stock for Johnny’s performance along some other favorites. Call 864-235-7922 or email info@horizonpro.wpenginepowered.com for curbside delivery or visit our webstore HERE.
