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        N  e  w  s  l  e  t  t  e  r           Issue 18    January-February 2013
Featured Artists

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

SofiaSoloists  

 

FEATURED ARTIST

 

 Sofia Soloists PR2     
Sofia Soloists
  

Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra (SSCO) has performed over 3000 concerts all over the world. The ensemble has toured many countries, mainly in Europe, but also made ten tours in the United States, fourteen in Japan, seven in Korea, China, Australia, and South America.

 

They have performed in many prestigious venues: New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall, and the Barbican, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Herkulessaal-Munchen, the Salle Gaveau Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palau de la Musica Barcelona, Seoul Art Centre, the Sydney Opera House, and Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Bunkakaikan and Art Space Centre, as well as the Osaka Symphony Hall.

 

The orchestra has more than 600 works in its repertoire, ranging from Baroque to contemporary music. They have premiered over 100 works, some of which written especially for them. Their discography comprises over 60 CDs, with many available online through Amazon, ArkivMusic, and Naxos. Some of their most brilliant repertoire have been published by Sony Classical-BMG, Harmonia Mundi, Columbia, Denon, Decca, SABA, Victor, and Gega New.

 

Recently, Sofia Soloists performed in concerts and tours in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Russia. Their upcoming performances will include several concerts in Bulgaria, including a concert at the most prestigious Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, as well as tours in Korea in September (this is the eighth tour for the ensemble in this country), followed by a tour in Japan in October-November, 2013 (the ensemble's fifteenth tour in Japan). Concerts in the Philippines are on the way also, scheduled right after the Japan tour. The year 2013 will conclude with a tour in Germany and several concerts in Bulgaria in between. Please visit www.SofiaSoloists.com for more information. 

 

NYETrio

 

 
NYETrio 2013(1.04mb)  
New York Empire Trio
 
      
New York Empire Trio has just announced the completion of its search for a new violinist after a full month of auditioning some great violinists in NYC. The lucky one is Natasha Lipkina, a graduate from the Moscow Conservatory and Indiana University. She has won prizes at the Enescu Violin Competition (Romania) and the Shostakovich Chamber Music Competition (St. Petersburg, Russia). She has performed on Moscow Radio and TV programs as well as at festivals such as Marlboro, Norfolk, Grand Teton, Manchester in the US, Rauma (Finland), Waterloo (Belgium), and Musique et Amitie (Switzerland) festivals, among others. Ms. Lipkina has performed with orchestras such as New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, St. Luke's Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra (with Claudio Abbado), and made several tours as a soloist in Japan with the New York Symphonic Ensemble. Natasha is a sought after chamber musician and a recording artist featured on Saturday Night Live, the Today, and David Letterman Show as a member of a string quartet. She collaborated and performed with members of the Borodin String Quartet, Guarneri String Quartet, and Beaux Arts Trio. She taught at NY University and is a founding Director of InterPlay Chamber Music in NYC.
  
New York Empire Trio will perform in NYC on February 23, 2013, at Nayack College, followed by a two-week residency/tour (Feb. 25-March 10) organized by Quad City Arts, IL. Shortly after that, the trio has an upcoming concert in New York at the Old Stone House Chamber Music Series as well as a tour in the Caribbean Islands in mid April. 

 

Please visit www.NYEmpireTrio.com for more information

KalinIvanov  

  

Kalin Ivanov PR 1
       
Kalin Ivanov
cellist

 

In January, Kalin Ivanov attended three conferences in New York: Association of Performing Arts Presenters, (APAP), Young Global Leadership Foundation Conference, and the Chamber Music America (CMA) 35th Anniversary in New York.

 

On January 14, 2013, he performed at the
OPENING GALA of Young Global Leadership Foundation, Global Negotiation and Mediation Colloquium 2013 along with the world-renowned soprano from Vienna, Monika Riedler and pianist Christopher Schmitt. Last September in New York, Kalin Ivanov was named Global Ambassador for the Performing Arts and Global Representative for Bulgaria by the same organization
 
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Later this month, on February 22, 2013, also in New York, Mr. Ivanov will perform as a soloist of the New York Chamber Players Orchestra with Giacomo Franci, conducting, and will record the new concertino of the American composer Eric Koening, which the composer dedicated to Kalin Ivanov. The world recording of the concertino will be available later this year on CRS (Contemporary Record Society) label. Right after this performance, on February 23rd, Kalin will have a concert in Manhattan with New York Empire Trio at Nayack College. One day later, he will be flying with New York Empire Trio to complete a two-week residency/tour organized by Quad City Arts, IL, starting on February 25th and finishing on March 10th. Please visit www.KalinIvanov.com for more information.
 
 
 
TamaraP 
  
     
 Tamara Poddubnaya
Pianist
   

At the beginning of the year, Tamara Poddubnaya led a four-day Master classes and a solo recital at the Rostov-on-Don Conservatory in Russia. On January 4th and 7th, Tamara performed two solo recitals at the Moscow Chopin Festival and Christmas Festival organized by Belcanto Foundation.

  

On Jan. 12, 2013, at the Glinka Hall (St. Petersburg Philharmonic's Hall) in St. Petersburg, Tamara performed chamber music by Schubert and F. Bridge. 

  

On January 24-25, 2013, Tamara Poddubnaya led a two-day Master class at the Music Academy in Manchester, New Hampshire.

 

In February, Ms. Poddubnaya will perform a Recital (February 15) and give a Master Class (February 16th) organized by the Franco-American Heritage Center, Steinway Series in Lewiston, Maine.

 

Finally, Tamara has shared some exciting news about one of her students who has won a gold medal at the Forte International competition in New York on Saturday, February 2, 2013.

 

Please visit www.TamaraPoddubnaya.com for more information. 

 
  
 
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Newsletter Editor: Mila Hover
Dear Friends and Colleagues! Kalin Ivanov, Art. Dir.
 
I hope you had a wonderful beginning of the year 2013! For us at BVAI, it started with a preparation and participation in three conferences in New York in January: CMA, APAP, and YGLF. We want to thank all of you who stopped to say hello!

 

2013 already looks very exciting for the artists at BVAI, and from this newsletter you can learn more about our upcoming events and new accomplishments.

 

As this is our first Newsletter for 2013, we extend our very best wishes to you for the New Year!


Happy readings!

 

Yours,
Kalin Ivanov, Artistic Director

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BrooklynBaroque  
  
Brooklyn Baroque, Fall 2012 concert
Brooklyn Baroque

 

"These fantastic artists have some strange power-their performance is so compelling and lively that it seems to reach right out of the speakers and grab my attention and does not let go." American Record Guide

 

Brooklyn Baroque debuted in the fall of 2000, when cellist David Bakamjian joined the long-standing duo of Baroque flutist Andrew Bolotowsky and harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky. Since then, the group has performed frequently in the New York area and has been invited to play across the country. The trio is the ensemble-in-residence at the 18th century Morris-Jumel Mansion, where it performs in a yearly series. Brooklyn Baroque specializes in the music of Bach and his contemporaries, but its concerts often range further back into the seventeenth century or as far forward as Beethoven. The ensemble's debut CD, Northern Lights (QC 1005), a program of German Baroque works, won critical acclaim, as did its second disc, The Pleasures of the French (QC 1007).

 

In the fall of 2012, Brooklyn Baroque collaborated with Well-Tuned Words for two concerts featuring English music. They also performed and recorded new works for period instruments by Beth Anderson with recorder player Gregory Bynum. Brooklyn Baroque's harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky gave performances in Italy and Amsterdam. Her recording of the harpsichord music of Johann Ludwig Krebs to commemorate his 300th birthday will be released next month (February 2013). Video of the concert of Brooklyn Baroque with Well-Tuned Words: click here.

Please visit www.BrooklynBaroque.com for more information.

 
 
StankovEnsemble
  
Stankov Ensemble PR 2012
Stankov Ensemble
 

At the beginning of January, Ivo Stankov (violin) and Ivan Donchev (piano) embarked on a two-year-project recording the entire cycle of the Beethoven Sonatas for violin and piano. Their first recording was made at the Vatican Radio, with provisional release date of 1 June 2013. The album will be released under the most established Bulgarian classical music label GEGA NEW. On the 3rd of February, Ivan and Ivo will be guest soloists with the Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria), performing the Mendelssohn concerto in D minor for violin, piano, and orchestra, under the baton of the Italian conductor Giuseppe Lanzetta. Ivo has been recently appointed as an adviser to the Whitgift School, one of the top five schools in the United Kingdom in A level/IB. In the third week of February, there will be auditions at the music schools in all major Bulgarian cities, where a full scholarship worth $150, 000 (for a 4 years course at the school) will be offered to a gifted Bulgarian student elected from a Bulgarian music school. Ivo will be helping with the selection process and also will be teaching the winner of this scholarship. Forthcoming engagements in the next few months also include performances with the Burgas Symphony Orchestra of Beethoven's Triple Concerto, and recitals at the Varna International Music Festival in Bulgaria. Please visit www.StankovEnsemble.com for more information. 

IvoVarbanov
  
Ivo Varbanov
pianist

Ivo Varbanov, Cadogan Hall, London, 12.11.12
Ivo Varbanov performing at Cadogan Hall, London as a soloist of Isis Ensemble

  

BV Artists International is pleased to introduce another exceptional musician and recording artist.

  

Here are some highlights of his piano career: Ivo Varbanov and the cellist Seeli Toivio won 1st Prize and Special Prize in the XXV International Chamber Music Competition in Finale Ligure (Italy) in 1998. His first CD of piano works by Mussorgsky (Gega New) had excellent reviews in BBC Music Magazine, Suono, HFN&RR, In Tune, and Kultura. His second CD with Seeli Toivio (Gega New) was a world premi�re of works for cello & piano by Ildebrando Pizzetti.

 

Ivo is a founding member of the Voland Quartet, a two pianos and percussion ensemble dedicated to contemporary music. Their first CD, with works by B�la Bart�k, Aleksandr Arutiunian, Gheorghi Arnaoudov, Ari Ben-Shabetai, Christo Yotzov, and Jerzy Bauer was released on Gega New label. Varbanov's fourth CD with piano works by Johannes Brahms was released in May 2007 on Gega New label. His performances and interviews have been broadcast on Bulgarian National Radio, BBC Radio, RAI3, Classic FM+, Bulgarian National TV, BTV, and TV Bulgaria. Varbanov's performances include concertos, recitals, and chamber music in Bulgaria, Italy, the UK, France, Spain, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany, Holland, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and the USA.

 

The highlights of Ivo's 2012/2013 season include concerts in London at the Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cadogan Hall with the Isis Ensemble, recitals in King's Place, a 7 concert cycle of Brahms chamber music works with piano, and two commercial recordings.

 

Career highlights include the South Bank Centre and Wigmore Hall (London), Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), Bulgaria Hall (Sofia), Philharmonic Hall (St. Petersburg). He is a recipient of the Ivan Vazov Award for the popularisation of Bulgarian Culture abroad, and in 2011 he was also awarded the Silver Lion Award from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

FeaturedVideo

 

FEATURED VIDEOS
SOFIA SOLOISTS 
March Music Days 2012 -

Festival March Music Days 2012 -

"Sofia Soloists" - Part 1

 

O.Respighi - Ancient Dances and Arias
J.S.Bach - Concert for two violins
P.Sarasate - "Jota Navara" for two violins

Plamen Djouroff, Conductor

 

Soloists:
Mincho Minchev - violin
Nikolay Minchev - violin

 

***
BROOKLYN BAROQUE  
Bach: Allegro ma non presto (Brooklyn Baroque and Courtney Westcott)
Bach: Allegro ma non presto
(Brooklyn Baroque and Courtney Westcott)

 

 


BV Artists International

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