Joshua Bell –
back in town
On May 11, the Athenaeum will welcome violin virtuoso Joshua Bell back. The artist, who had performed in Romania for the first time last year, will be accompanied by pianist Sam Haywood. The programme will feature Sonata Opus no. 30 in E minor by Sebastian Bach and Sonata in B major by Maurice Ravel. Joshua Bell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He has since performed with almost all of the world’s major orchestras and conductors. As well as the standard concerto repertoire, Bell has performed new works, Nicholas Maw’s violin concerto is dedicated to him, the recording of which won Bell a Grammy and gave the world premiere of the work in 1993. He performed the solo part on John Corigliano’s Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film The Red Violin and was also featured in Ladies in Lavender. Bell also made an appearance in the movie Music of the Heart, a story about the power of music, with other notable violinists. Bell’s instrument is a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin called the Gibson ex Huberman, which was made in 1713 during what is known as Antonio Stradivari’s “Golden Era.” Tickets for the Bucharest concert can be bought in the Eventim network and online.
Jazz with
Ari Roland quartet
The American Cultural Institute and the US State Department organize a five day jazz session throughout Romania, having as main star the Ari Roland quartet.
Bassist Ari Roland grew up inside the New York underground bop scene, where the hard core players travel, and where the music is always at its most challenging. Known as a singular standout by his teenage years, Ari quickly found himself accompanying the greatest of the inner circle, such as saxophonist “C” Sharpe, and pianist Frank Hewitt. Ari could be found regularly playing in the company of Jimmy Robinson, Lou Donaldson, Junior Cook, and Vernel Fournier. In this series of events, the musician’s quartet will be among the ten selected ambassadors of music who will spread the rhythm of US jazz throughout the world in a programme entitled “The Rhythm Road- American Music Abroad,” initiated 15 years ago. The concerts will kick off today in Ramnicu Valcea, in Pitesti on March 30, in Craiova on March 31, in Drobeta on April 1 and in Bucharest on April 2. All concert, but the one in Bucharest will have free entry.
Greek iconic musician to perform at Zone Arena
Greek legendary musician George Dalaras will perform in Bucharest on May 2, kicking off his Encore Tour Europe 2010. The event hosted by Zone Arena will gather together other important Greek musicians as well, Despina Olympiou and Michalis Tzouganakis. .George Dalaras is probably the best known Greek singer today; he is of international fame and has recently been selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He was born in Nea Kokinia, Piraeus. In his almost 40 year singing career, Dalaras has performed in thousands of concerts, and in 1983, entered the era of the live Greek club. Two historical concerts occurred in the Athens Olympic Stadium, attended by more than 160,000 people.
