ABOUT DAVID KRAKAUER

"David Krakauer is such an overwhelmingly expressive clarinetist who moves so seamlessly between different genres that for a minute you’d almost think that there’s no appreciable difference between jazz, klezmer and formal classical music.”
- The Wall Street Journal
 
 Only a select few artists have the ability to convey their message to the back row, to galvanize an audience with a visceral power that connects on a universal level. David Krakauer is such an artist.  Widely considered one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet, he has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music.    

In 2015 he received a Grammy nomination  in the Chamber music/small ensemble category as soloist with the conductorless orchestra "A Far Cry", and a Juno nomination for the CD "Akoka" with cellist Matt Haimovitz.  New  releases include his 2015 album "Checkpoint" with his band Ancestral Groove and "The Big Picture" on his own label, Table Pounding Records in 2014. 
 Highlights of  Krakauer’s lauded career include performances with the Kronos, Emerson, Tokyo, Orion and Miro String Quartets; performing during the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall with renowned jazz pianist Uri Caine; an eight-year tenure with the Naumburg Award-winning Aspen Wind Quintet and performing in the International Emmy Award-winning BBC documentary Holocaust, A Music Memorial from Auschwitz. 
 
Krakauer  is in demand worldwide as a guest soloist with the world’s finest orchestras including the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Baltimore Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Phoenix Symphony, the Dresdener Philharmonie, and the Seattle Symphony.  Krakauer’s discography contains some of the most important clarinet recordings of recent decades. The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Osvaldo Golijov and the Kronos Quartet/Nonesuch) received the Diapason D'Or in France. The Twelve Tribes was designated album of the year in the jazz category for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. He has also recorded with violinist Itzhak Perlman/ the Klezmatics (Angel) and Dawn Upshaw/ Osvaldo Golijov (Deutsche Gramophon). His unique sound can be heard in Danny Elfman's score for the Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock and throughout Sally Potter's The Tango Lesson.

Writer Mark Stryker hinted at the visceral nature of Krakauer's performance in his Detroit Free Press review:
"Krakauer played with astounding virtuosity and charisma. A furiously improvised cadenza leapt between low and high registers in a way that suggested John Coltrane, building to an excited peak. After the concerto he also offered an encore, improvising by himself with an air of ritual, before playing a swift klezmer dance with the orchestra."

ABOUT KATHLEEN TAGG

“...this is a superbly turned out artist, a performer broaching scant detour between conception
and delivery, and a musician of such grand endowment and  unsparing discipline...with which she honored her natural gift and therefore the music she plays and the public she plays to…”
- New York Concert Review, Carnegie Hall Debut Recital

South African-born pianist, composer and producer Kathleen Tagg, praised for her combining of "outstanding technique with deep musicality", has been based in New York since 2001. She has performed on four continents in leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, had her original music performed in venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center, appeared on a host of classical, world music and multi-genre recordings and produced numerous CDs and inter-disciplinary programs from South Africa to Los Angeles. Her work has been released on record labels NAXOS, Universal, Table Pounding Records and Gallo Africa. A 2014 SAMA nominee for best classical album, she has performed in recital with some of the world’s leading musicians, and the remarkable breadth of her collaborations defines her multi-faceted career.
 
Kathleen has performed often in venues such as Lincoln Center, Symphony Space and multiple Carnegie Hall recitals, including her 2004 acclaimed solo recital debut as winner of the Artist International auditions, when she was described by critics as “a superbly turned out artist, a performer broaching scant detour between conception and delivery, and a musician of such grand endowment” (NY Concert Review). Since then she has appeared frequently at consulates and cultural organizations across the United States, and has performed live on WQXR New York and WGBH Boston. Known for her explorations in sound color, whether in virtuosic standard repertoire or her own creations exploding the sound of the piano from the inside out using extended techniques, she crosses boundaries seamlessly.  In 2014 she released a recording of the songs of Jake Heggie with American soprano Regina Zona on the NAXOS label, and is currently recording a new electro-acoustic project, Breath and Hammer, with her duo partner, Grammy-nominated clarinetist David Krakauer.
 
Kathleen completed her studies at the University of Cape Town, Mannes College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, which awarded her the Helen Cohn Award as the outstanding Doctoral graduate, and where she taught for four years.In 2014 she was appointed to the faculty of SongFest at Colburn in Los Angeles.
 
With her great interest in new music, Kathleen has premiered countless works, many written for her. In 2012 she released the SAMA-nominated album Soul of Fire with singer Zanne Stapelberg, featuring her work as pianist, arranger, producer and music director. They launched a new Afrikaans show, Spieël Speel, in 2013, featuring all-new original songs with lyrics by leading South African luminaries. Music from Soul of Fire was also used on Deon Meyer’s new film, Die Laaste Tango, and Kathleen’s arrangement and performance were featured on the soundtrack, released on Gallo Africa in 2013.
 
Recent performances include her and Sophie Jaff’s Orchestrated Songs at Lincoln Center in New York, performances and workshops in India and USA with the Sabina Rakcheyeva Ensemble, and the release of the group's debut album, and Allora and Calzadilla’s critically acclaimed Stop, Prepare, Repair at New York’s Gladstone Gallery. She recorded the music of Pulitzer prizewinner Tom Kitt for the Broadway Lullabies Project, and performed on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre at the launch in 2012. She launched a new project with South African jazz pianist Andre Petersen in July 2015 with a multi-city tour of South Africa. The project aims to reimagine the idea of what a piano duo sounds like, creating completely new arrangements of South African jazz standards, original tunes and traditional melodies using extended techniques and virtuosic writing.  Her musical Erika’s Wall, created with Sophie Jaff, received its premiere run in Chicago in 2010 by The Music Theater Company, and she was named a fellow of the Dramatist Guild of America in 2014/15.
 
“It is Tagg, the ever consummate professional that emerges as the real star of the show. Her artistic integrity and musical reliability remain undimmed throughout as she coaxes an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colour from the piano where languidly sensuous moments intertwine with flashes of tempestuous fire and eloquently spaced silences. Grippingly executed martellato passages, offset against arpeggio flourishes and chord punctuations display Tagg’s complete mastery of the flamenco idiom."  
-  CUE Magazine

“It is lovely to watch Tagg and Krakauer playing from the same invisible page where mood and phrasing are written. Their synergy of interpretation travels immediately to the audience…  After the last note of the enchantment had faded, no-one wanted to come out of meditation.”— Andy Wilding,  Fine Music Radio ​

From symphonies to big band jazz, from chamber works to Latin American music and film scores – Carlos Franzetti has no limits.  Nominated this year for a Latin Grammy® Award in the category of Best Tango Album and as Producer in the category of Best Album of the Year, Carlos Franzetti won this prestigious award in 2013 for Best Classical Composition, having previously been a 2012 Latin Grammy® Nominee in the category of Best Classical Composition, a 2012 Grammy® Nominee in the category of Best Instrumental Arrangement, the 2009 Latin Grammy® Award Winner in the category of Best Instrumental Album, a 2007 Latin Grammy® Nominee in the category of Best Instrumental Album, a 2006 Grammy® Nominee in the category of Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his opera, “Corpus Evita,” a double 2003 Grammy® Nominee for “Poeta de Arrabal,” in the categories of Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement, and the 2001 Latin Grammy® Award Winner for Best Tango Album, “Tango Fatal.”  Carlos Franzetti has received many outstanding grants and awards, including the 2002 New Jersey Council on the Arts Composers’ Fellowship, The Yamaha Composers Award, The Trofeu Laus from Spain, a Clio Award, The Prensario Award, ACE Award and Premio Konex from Argentina, The Foundation for New American Music, The Penfield Music Commission Project, several grants from Meet The Composer, and two gold records.  Mr. Franzetti adjudicates for SGAE and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.

Carlos Franzetti’s compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by the International Sejong Soloists, the New World Symphony, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas the Moab Music Festival, and the Queens Symphony Orchestra; he conducted his arrangements of music by Steve Kuhn (with Mr. Kuhn performing) at the Caramoor Festival and at the Israel Opera in Tel Aviv.  Collaborations with major orchestras include the opening concert of the VI International Music Festival in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon with the Orquesta Filarmonica, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony (Washington, D.C.), the St. Louis Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the National Symphony of Mexico, the National Symphony of Argentina, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the Czech National Symphony, the City of Prague Philharmonic, the Modus Chamber Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Bratislava Radio Orchestra, and orchestras in Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Sweden, Norway and France.  He performs and records with jazz artists Arturo Sandoval, Steve Kuhn, David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard, Jane Monheit, Jon Faddis, Ruben Blades and Paquito D’Rivera and scores films for major producers and directors Sidney Lumet, Alan Pakula, Jerry Schatzberg, Harry Belafonte, and Edgardo Cozarinsky.  Credits include “La Pelicula del Rey,” “Q&A,” “Misunderstood,” “Beat Street,” “The Mambo Kings,” “See You in the Morning,” “Dans le rouge du couchant,” “Ronda Nocturna,” and “Tango Fatal.”

His latest recordings are his solo piano CD, “In the Key of Tango” on Sunnyside Records, a collaborative recording with Ruben Blades, “Tangos,” also on Sunnyside Records, and a DVD on Amapola Records, “Circo de Arrabal.” Recent recordings include “Pierrot et Colombine” on Sunnyside Records, "Alborada" on Amapola Records, "Puñaladas en el alma" with the renowned Catalonian singer Dyango on Sony Records, "Unica" with Puerto Rican singing sensation India, “Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 2” with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra on Amapola Records and a solo jazz piano recording, “Mambo Tango,” on Sunnyside Records.  Other recordings include “Film Noir” on Sunnyside Records, “Duets” with Eddie Gomez on Acqua Records, “The Carlos Franzetti Trio Live In Buenos Aires” on Amapola Records, “Graffiti” on Sonorama Records, and “Scenes of Spirits” with the Graham Ashton Ensemble on Signum Records.  2006 recordings include “Songs for Lovers” on Chesky Records.  2005 recordings by Carlos Franzetti are “Corpus Evita, an Opera in Two Acts” on Amapola Records and “Carlos Franzetti and the Jazz Kamerata,” on Chesky Records.  2004 recordings are his double CD, “Reflexiones,” on Amapola Records, “Promises Kept” with Steve Kuhn on ECM Records, and the Grammy® Nominee/Latin Grammy® Winner “Coral” with David Sanchez on Sony Records. “Carlos Franzetti - You Must Believe in Spring” was released on Amapola Records in May 2003 and EMI Argentina in October 2004. He conducted, arranged, and co-produced the 1997 Grammy® Award Winner, “Portraits of Cuba” for Chesky Records.  Music Director of Orquesta Nova, his 2 CDs for Chesky Records received international critical acclaim. Several works are included on “Images Before Dawn – Symphonic Music of Carlos Franzetti,” for Premier Recordings.  World premieres and recordings of his compositions include “Gauchito and the Pony,” an opera for children, “Concierto del Plata” for guitar and chamber orchestra, released by Klavier Records, “Millenium Concerto for Flute and Orchestra,” commissioned by the Municipal Government of Buenos Aires, Argentina and premiered in September 1999, and “Piano Concerto No. 2,” commissioned by the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires as part of their 50th Anniversary season and premiered in September, 1996 at the Teatro Colon.  This concerto is included on a CD with “Sinfonia No. 1,” released by Amapola Records.  Sinfonia No. 1” was performed by the Bratislava Radio Orchestra in November 2000, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon in July 2003, and the National Symphony of Mexico in February 2005.  Other projects include the 1999 Grammy® Award Nominee, “Remembrances,” for Chesky Records, the 1999 Grammy® Award Nominee, “Obsesion,” for Sony Records, produced by Branford Marsalis, “Tango” with the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, released on DMP Records, and the 2002 Latin Grammy® Nominee “Tango Bar” on Chesky Records.  

A citizen of the United States for many years, Carlos Franzetti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1948. He began his musical studies at age 6 at the National Conservatory in Buenos Aires.  He later studied piano privately with Guillermo Iscla and Lucia Maranca and composition with Manuel Juarez.  During the years 1971 - 1973 he studied composition with Humberto Hernandez Medrano in Mexico.  After coming to the United States in 1974, he studied conducting with Vincent LaSelva at the Juilliard School.  

Biographies of Carlos Franzetti are listed in Latin American Classical Composers Second Edition by Michel Ficher and Furman Schleifer, published by Scarecrow Press, Maryland 2002, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, published by MacMillan Press Ltd., London 1988, Diccionario de Compositores, published by La Nacion/Corregidor, Buenos Aires 1998, and Chronology of Western Classical Music Volume 2 by Charles J. Hall, published by Rutledge Great Britain Taylor & Francis Books, Inc.

Fanny Azzuro has won top prizes at numerous international piano competitions and often performs solo recitals and chamber music with world renowned musicians. She is currently studying at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique with Théodore Paraskivesco, as well as with Pierre-Laurent Aimard for chamber music repertoire. In 2009, she came in as the Fourth Prize winner in the Cincinnati World Piano Competition and performed at several prestigious festivals in France. She performed in a creative duo with the famous jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan, and gave recitals in Provence. She was also awarded the SACEM prize at the Piano Campus competition.

In 2008, she won First Prize at the Vulaines-sur-Seine competition and appeared with the French Alps Orchestra, playing the Schumann Concerto. Fanny graduated from both Paris and Montpellier Conservatoires de Région with Olivier Gardon and Suzan Campbell. She has worked with eminent teachers: Aldo Ciccolini, Jacques Rouvier, Jean-François Heisser, Jay Gottlieb, Pascal Devoyon, Tuija Hakkila.

A native of Mazatlán, México, Baritone José Adán Pérez is an alumnus of Los Angeles Opera Plácido Domingo’s Young Artist Program, the AVA of Philadelphia, Aspen Opera Theater, IVAI Israel and SIVAM Opera Program.

James Jorden, the New York Observer: “Among a strong ensemble, the standout was José Adán Pérez as the barber Figaro, with a bright buzzy baritone and an innovative take on the character, here a middle-aged single dad.”

Zachary Woolfe, the New York Times: "As Sergeant Belcore, José Adán Pérez had an impressive New York debut, his voice smooth, clear and rich.”

George Loomis from Financial Times: “The voice is firm and agreeable, his Italian is fluent and, without overacting, he amusingly made Dandini into the ham he is meant to be.”

After his operatic debut in LA Opera as Marcello in “La Bohème” under the baton of Maestro Plácido Domingo, he has collaborated with NY City Opera, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Italy, Theater Basel in Switzerland, Bellas Artes Opera, PORTopera of Maine, LoftOpera, Opera North of New Hampshire, LA Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, LA Opera Orchestra, LA Master Chorale, Pasadena Pops, Colburn Chamber Music Society, OFUNAM, Bellas Artes Opera Orchestra, Jalisco Philharmonic, Michoacan Symphony, Yucatan Symphony, Sinaloa Symphony of the Arts, Angela Peralta Chorus, to mention some.

Also performing at the Aspen Music Festival, Cervantino International Arts Festival, Guadalajara Cultural Festival, Credomatic Music Festival of Costa Rica and Sinaloa Cultural Festival.

Mr. Pérez has been part of important recording projects like the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s “Il Postino” with the Los Angeles Opera releasing a DVD later broadcasted on PBS Great Performances; the american premier of Schreker’s “Die Gezeichneten” with Los Angeles Opera; Fauré’s Requiem with the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra; and the recent Latin Grammy nominated album “Únicamente la Verdad” a contemporary opera composed by Gabriela Ortiz.

His voice has served the distinguished batons of Plácido Domingo, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Michele Mariotti, Grant Gershon, Israel Gursky, Angel Romero, Michael Christie, Will Humburg, Nikša Bareza, Marco Balderi, Eduardo Diaz-Munoz, Douglas Kinney Frost, Marco Parisotto, Enrique Patrón, José Areán, Ivan Lopez Reynoso, Juan Carlos Lomónaco, James Demster, among several. 
 
Before beginning his musical pursuits, Mr. Pérez, a Bachelor of Science from Tecnológico de Monterrey, worked several years in the automobile industry as a quality engineer.

Michiyo Morikawa, pianist, was born in Nagano, Japan and began playing the piano age of five. Ms. Morikawa was a volunteer music teacher at the La Gran Familia Orphanage in Mexico. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Karl Ulrich Schnabel and a Professional Studies diploma from the Mannes College of Music. Currently, she continues her musical studies with Germán Diez. Ms. Morikawa has received several honors including First Prize and the Special Composer's Prize at the XII Concurs de Piano Premi Ciutat de Berga in Spain, the Japanese American Association Piano Competition in New York City, Special Prize at the frist Concurso Internacional de Piano "Ignacio Cervantes" in Cuba, and First Prize at the UNAM Young Soloist Auditions in Mexico City. She has performed concerti with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, and, in Mexico, the Filarmonica de Jalisco, the Sinfonica de Coyoacan, and the UNAM Chamber Orchestra. She is a frequent recitalist in the New York area, as well as Latin America, Europe and Japan.  As a chamber musician and accompanist, Ms. Morikawa has performed with brass players including trumpet player Stephen Burns, Philip Smith and Thomas Smith of the New York Philharmonic, John Rojak of the American Brass Quintet, Stefan Dohr of the Berlin Philharmonic, Scott Thornton of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Michael Rossi of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.  Ms. Morikawa is currently a piano teacher at the Third Street Music School Settlement and at Greenwich House Music School in New York City.

"His technique has been beautifully schooled for such music. He plays with a wide but never exaggerated dynamic range. His rhythmic sense is superb; the scansion of his phrases proceeds beautifully with never a note out of place. He offers the blend of passion and intelligence that characterizes the mature artist." ---- Dave Saemann (Fan fare magazine)

Dizhou Zhao started his piano studies at age four in his hometown of Shanghai. His talent was quickly evident at his young age as he won first prize at the competition in Shanghai and as he performed his first public concert at age seven. The following year, Dizhou was invited to record five piano sonatas by Mozart. His early success continued throughout his career bringing him numerous awards from competitions around the world. He received first prizes in the Dorothy MacKenzie competition, the Southern Highland International Competition in Australia, and the Louisiana International Competition which engaged him for concerts in France, Russia, and Australia and a solo performance at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Other awards received by Dizhou include the Special Chopin Award in the USASU Piano Competition in Arizona, third prize in the Tbilisi International Piano Competition in Georgia, the third prize in the Viardo Competition in Dallas, and 2nd prize in the World Competition in Cincinnati. He also won the "Special Recognition" Award in the "San Antonio International Competition" in TX.

In 2008, Dizhou was invited to record his first solo CD in Moscow, released under the "classical record" label. Dizhou's performance of the Stravinsky piano concerto with the Queensland orchestra received rave reviews and was recorded for the ABC radio for broadcast. His two solo recitals in the Newport Music Festival also received great reviews by Channing Gray from the Providence Journal.

His engagements in the early 2011 would include all Chopin recitals in Texas, Bergamor music festival and teaching Master classes in Italy and China.

Dizhou completed both his Bachelor and master Degree with a distinguished performance honor under the guidance of Alexander Korsantia.

Currently, he is working with Mr. Sharon Boaz in Boston University for his DMA degree with full scholarship award, after receiving Artist Diploma from Longy school of music.

Recognized for his intense richness of tone, remarkable technique and exceptional musicality, the Russian-born violinist Artur Kaganovskiy was discovered and brought to the United States as a child prodigy at the age of six by the renowned violinist Isaac Stern. A graduate of The Juilliard School, his primary teachers includes Grigory Kalinovsky, Lewis Kaplan and Masao Kawasaki.

Winner of the Waldo de Mayo International Violin Competition and recipient of the Fritz Kreisler and Joseph Fuchs scholarship awards at The Juilliard School, Artur Kaganovskiy made his Carnegie Hall debut at the Stern Auditorium in 2007, performing Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the conductor David Gilbert and members of the New York Philharmonic. Since then, his solo engagements have taken him throughout Europe, in North and South Americas and China, collaborating with orchestras including the Napa Walley Symphony, Brussels Chamber Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Serbian National Philharmonic, Transilvania Philharmonic Orchestra, The National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova, Oradea Philharmonic Orchestra and Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Among the many solo and chamber music engagements in his 2018-19 season, Artur Kaganovskiy will embark on a Spanish tour with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, performing Bach’s Double Concerto with acclaimed violinist Shlomo Mintz in 2019.

His newest album of the Tchaikovsky and Brahms violin concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine was just released on April 6th, 2018 by Centaur Records.

Artur Kaganovskiy plays on his 1740 Carlo Antonio Testore “ex-Pikayzen” violin.

New York City based concert violist, Eszter KAGANOVSKIY is member of the Kaganovskiy Duo, World Chamber Virtuosi and Memling Ensemble performing regularly with members of the Metropolitan Opera and musicians of Lincoln Center. Eszter has performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Lincoln Center, Zankel Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She is a former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony, and has performed under such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Seiji Ozawa, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Mark Elder, Cliff Colnot and Emil Simon among others.

Mrs. Kaganovskiy holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy, Masters Degree from Western Illinois University, and Performance Certificate from DePaul University. A recipient of many awards and scholarships, she had the President’s Award at Western Illinois University and the Viola Award at DePaul University. Her major teachers include Rami Solomonow, Daniel Panner, Lawrence Dutton, Sorin Gherbanovschi, and Derzsi Albert. She has been featured in masterclasses with Lawrence Dutton, Csaba Erdelyi, Christian Euler, Cyrus Forough and Yehuda Hanani. She has performed regularly at the Bowdoin International Festival in Bowdoin, Maine; at the Bayreuth Young Artists Festival in Bayreuth, Germany and the International Bachakademie in Stuttgart, Germany. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with many of the world’s top artists, comprising of Ilya Kaler, Liana Isakhadze, Robert Levin, Alexander Fiterstein, Erich Kruger, Alexander Peskanov, Mark Peskanov, Rami Solomonow, Hans-Jacob Eschenburg , Gernot Sussmuth and Anthony Newman.

Recent performances include performing the Telemann Viola Concerto with the Higieno Ruvalcaba Chamber Orchestra in Guadalajara, Mexico; a Kaganovskiy Duo tour of Tuscany, Italy; Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with the Moldovan Chamber Orchestra in Moldova after a personal invitation from the US Ambassador of Moldova, William H. Moser, to perform at his residency, resulting in a performances at the Regina Viorii Festival of solo and chamber music works; chamber concerts at Yale University with New York Chamber Consortium Ensemble and the Bruch Double Concerto with her husband, Artur Kaganovskiy and the Szekely Philharmonic in Romania. Her popular music appearances include performing with Imagine Dragons on Saturday Night Live.

A Duo violin-viola album with Artur Kaganovskiy, as part of the “Hill and Hollow Music” series will be released on Centaur Records. Mrs Kaganovskiy has been also member of the Chelsea Symphony Orchestra “Joy and Sorrow” Album, conducted by Yaniv Segal which was nominated for the 2015 Grammy as best classical ensemble.

Among her upcoming performances can be mentioned the Bruch and Stamitz Double Concertos  and the Sinfonia Concertante with Artur Kaganovskiy,violin and the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Benjamin T. Rossen is a 16 year-old pianist, composer and French hornist. He started piano at age four and currently studies with Jeffrey Cohen at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division (MSM), where he is the recipient of the Rosetta Goodkind Scholarship. Benjamin has won first prize in piano competitions held by Steinway & Sons, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), Music Teachers National
Association (MTNA), New York Piano Festival & Competition and the National Young Arts Foundation. In addition, he was a competitor at the 2019 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition & Festival. Benjamin has performed as soloist with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta and the MSM Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras. An avid chamber musician, Benjamin is an alumnus of the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Festival MusicAlps. He has also performed in master classes in the United States and Europe. A burgeoning composer, Benjamin is a MTNA National Winner for his chamber composition, which was premiered at the CMS Young Musicians Concert. His original work for the piano was awarded first prize in the MTNA Composition Competition Eastern Division. Furthermore, he was selected to perform his original composition at the New York State Standard Music Association Young Composer Honors Concert. He is the founder of his school’s Music Creators Society, where he facilitates collaboration between composers, artists and writers to produce interdisciplinary works.

As a chamber musician and solo performer, Mai Kagaya has appeared before audiences of Stern auditorium, Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, and Steinway Hall, and also the Kaufman Center. In addition to these personal engagements, Ms. Kagaya performs concerts as a member of the New York Piano Duo, and performs frequently with Alexander Beridze in Aspen, CO, Palm Beach, FL, and NYC.

In her native Japan, Ms. Kagaya had already established herself as a virtuoso performer with a sensitive touch and sophisticated artistry while still a teenager. In 2003, she won the Dorothy MacKenzie Award at the International Keyboard Institute & Festival. As a result of her successful appearances, she was invited back to the festival the following year. She was also awarded numerous prizes by the Piano Teachers' National Association Competition and the Japan Piano Teacher's Association Competition, which led to her triumphal Tsuda Hall debut in Tokyo in 2001.

In 2004, Ms. Kagaya was selected to perform at the prestigious Hamarikyu-Asahi Hall in Tokyo. In 2006 she appeared as a soloist with the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Fukuoka City. Her performances were critically acclaimed and she was invited to study in the United States. In 2008, Mai performed with the Mannes Community Orchestra and Doctors Orchestra presented by the Mannes Extension Division as a winner of the Concerto Competition.

Ms. Kagaya performed at master classes presented by legendary pianists and teachers, Alicia de Larrocha, Earl Wild, Victor Merzhanov, and Mikhail Voskresensky. Among her private coaches was German Diez, an assistant pianist to Claudio Arrau.

Ms. Kagaya earned her BM degree at the Toho Conservatory in Japan with Yoriko Takahashi. She holds a Master of Music degree from Mannes College of Music where she studied with esteemed pianist and pedagogue Jerome Rose.

Hailed by American Record Guide as an “exceptional artist,” pianist Alexander Beridze thrills audiences and critics alike with his dazzling precision and range, as well as his insightful eloquence and sensitivity. Gold Medalist of the 2009 World Piano Competition, Beridze made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in 2011 where critics called his performance “brilliant, superb and simply electrifying” and “a splendid one that passed by almost too quickly.”

A native of the Republic of Georgia, Beridze has performed as soloist with the major orchestras in his home country, including the Tbilisi State Symphony, the Georgia National Symphony Orchestra, and the Republic of Georgia State Opera and Ballet Symphony. He made his US concerto debut performing under the direction of Vladimir Feltsman in New York in 2004. In addition to his Alice Tully recital, he has concertized at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall, the Russian Consulate, and Harris Hall in Aspen. Devoted to chamber music, his collaborations include concerts with cellist Yehuda Hanani.

Beridze gave a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in the fall of 2014, where he performed works by Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. This program was also featured on his released debut solo recording by NY Classics, and was broadcast on radio throughout the United States and Canada.. His media credits include performances that have been broadcast to 57 countries from New York’s RTVI, and NTV America, two of the most popular channels in Russia and post-Soviet countries. An appearance as a special guest on Voice of America counts among his many radio credits.

Attending conservatory as his country was suffering from the devastating effects of separating from the collapsed Soviet Union, Beridze persevered in his study of piano performance, winning the major Georgian competitions, receiving Georgia's President's Grants in 2001 and 2005, and the Vladimir Spivakov Award in 2003. He first came to international attention as the winner of the 2004 Jacob Flier International Piano Competition, run by legendary pianist Vladimir Feltsman, who invited Beridze to move to the United States to study with him at the Mannes School of Music.

A passionate teacher, Beridze is on the faculty of the Center of Musical Excellence in New York City and has served as Artist in Residence at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. In 2009, he founded the New York Piano Festival, where he serves as Artistic Director, organizing an international concert and master class series and providing concert opportunities to young students to perform in venues throughout New York City. In the Republic of Georgia, Beridze received undergraduate and advanced degrees at Tbilisi State Conservatory. Upon arriving in the United States, he earned a Professional Studies degree at the Mannes School as a student of Vladimir Feltsman and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers, State University of New Jersey.

Beridze also holds a doctorate in journalism from Tbilisi State University. As a correspondent for Krivis Palitra, a weekly newspaper in the Republic of Georgia, he was the author of more than 500 articles on music and interviewed many of the world’s most renowned musicians, including Rostropovich, Rozhdestvensky, Bashmet, and Vengerov.

Dedicated to raising funds for cancer research, he has produced and performed numerous charity concerts.