Credit: ZALON logo by Mia Bosna
January 30th ZALON Program!
1. Pianist Young-Ah Tak will perform Beethoven’s 6 Variations on “Nel cor più non mi sento” from her studio at Crane School of Music, SUNY, Potsdam, NY
2. From London, Noemi Gyori will present “Kokopelli” for solo flute by Katherine Hoover inspired by the Hopi tribe
3. Classical guitarist William Kanengiser will perform a work he commissioned from Andrea Clearfield “Reflections on the Dramyen” (after “Dramyen Tsering Wangmo”) from his home in Whittier, CA
4. Suzie Brown will play her 1970’s inspired folk-pop live from her home studio in Nashville, TN, accompanied by her husband Scot Sax on bass guitar and his very own soul-shoe
5. Shinjoo Cho will perform music by Astor Piazzolla for solo bandoneon and tango songs by Tinta Roja with her bandoneon-guitar duo from her home studio in Fishtown, PA
6. Violinist and violist Karen Bentley Pollick performs a mother/daughter themed set live from her mother’s home in Seattle with her own piece Gemini Funk and an excerpt from Kalba by Lithuanian composer Zibuokle Martinaityte
7. Lindsey Goodman performs from her home in Pickerington, Ohio, sharing new works for solo flute by American composers Roger Zahab and Josh Oxford
8. Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter John Byrne will perform from a rehearsal space in Fairmount, Philadelphia several songs written during the pandemic for a 2022 record release
9. Tatyana Tenenbaum performs a solo for voice, movement, microphone, memory and textile in conversation with her paternal grandmother, Selma from her home in NY
10. Michael Firman will play a piece of solo shakuhachi music from the Buddhist tradition, Daha (打波) or Pounding Wave Prayer from his home studio in Naperville, IL
Young-Ah Tak
Praised for her “winning combination of passion, imagination, and integrity” (New York Concert Review), pianist Young-Ah Tak enjoys a remarkable career that has taken her throughout the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany, Italy, Korea and Japan. Ms. Tak made her New York debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra. Subsequently, she has since appeared with numerous orchestras including the Roanoke, Lansing, North Arkansas, Orchestra of Northern New York, Imperial, Venice, Filharmonia Pomorska (Poland), and with major orchestras in her native Korea including the Korean Symphony Orchestra. Other notable performances have been presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Jordan Hall in Boston, Columbia University, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Ravinia Festival. Ms. Tak has received her degrees from The Juilliard School (BM), the New England Conservatory (MM), and The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University (DMA). She studied with Leon Fleisher, Russell Sherman, Wha Kyung Byun, Martin Canin, and Yong Hi Moon. Ms. Tak currently serves as an Associate Professor of Piano and Head of the Piano Area at the Crane School of Music in SUNY Potsdam. Her recordings are available from Albany Records, MSR Classics, and on Steinway’s Spirio. Ms. Tak’s most recent All-Beethoven CD released on the Steinway & Sons Label has garnered some respectful reviews. Ms. Tak is a Steinway Artist.
Website: www.youngahtak.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ie2509/videos
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youngahtak
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youngahtak.pianist
Steinway CD: https://www.steinway.com/music-and-artists/label/beethoven-piano-sonatas--young-ah-tak
Videos:
Noemi Gyori
Noemi Gyori graduated with honours from the Liszt Academy of Music and completed post-graduate studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, studying with Henrik Prőhle, Barbara Gisler-Haase and András Adorján. She is the first flautist to hold a PhD in Flute Performance from the Royal Academy of Music in London.Noemi has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in 28 countries. She is a recipient of the European Cultural Prize for Young Artists (2011), the Career Prize of the Salon de Virtuosi Foundation New York (2012) and the Performers’ Prize of the Artisjus Music Foundation Hungary (2006, 2009). Noemi is the principal flautist of the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich. Noemi is an Associate Tutor in flute at the Royal Northern College of Music, Tutor at the Junior RNCM and at The Manchester University.
https://www.instagram.com/noemiflute/
https://www.facebook.com/noemigyoriflute
Videos:
William Kanengiser
William Kanengiser has forged a career that expands the possibilities of the classical guitar. A prize-winner in major competitions, he has toured throughout North America, Asia and Europe with his innovative programs and expressive musicianship. He recorded four CD’s for the GSP label, playing music as diverse as Caribbean, Eastern European, and jazz. A member of the guitar faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music since 1983, he has given master classes around the world and produced instructional videos. As a founding member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, William Kanengiser has given hundreds of recitals and concerto appearances around the world, and has recorded over a dozen releases. Their Telarc release “LAGQ Latin” was nominated for a GRAMMY®, and it was their Telarc title “LAGQ’S Guitar Heroes” which won a GRAMMY® as the best classical crossover recording. In Spring 2020 their recording of the title work on Pat Metheny’s “Road to the Sun” hit #1 on the Apple Music Classical chart. Most recently, “The Singing Guitar” with the Conspirare choir, was nominated for a Grammy. Kanengiser’s “Diaspora Project”, sponsored by the Augustine Foundation, commissioned seven new works for guitar that focus on issues of migration and assimilation. It included “The Walls” by Sergio Assad and solo guitar pieces by Dusan Bogdanovic, Ian Krouse, Golfam Khayam, Matthew Dunn, Bryan Johanson, and Andrea Clearfield. His collaboration with Andrea resulted in the new composition “Reflections on the Dramyen”, inspired by the Tibetan guitar and a Tibetan gar-glu (court) song. It will be premiered in Washington DC. on January 29th, 2022.
Suzie Brown
A 1970s-inspired folk-pop songwriter, SUZIE BROWN has chased her unique muse for a decade, making modern-day roots music that nods to the soul singers, heartland rockers, and blues artists who came before her. Gluing the sound together is the unforced voice and honest, autobiographical songwriting of a Renaissance woman who's not only an acclaimed musician, but also an Advanced Heart Failure cardiologist and mother of two. Her songs have earned recognition from the NewSong Music Competition, International Songwriting Competition, Independent Music Awards, and Forbes Magazine. "I love everything about you, Suzie — you're wearing a lot of hats, and wearing them all well," said broadcast journalist Gayle King during an episode of CBS This Morning that showcased Brown's unique balancing act between music, medicine, and motherhood. Brown turns that balancing act into music, rolling with the punches, adjusting to the changing times, and writing the ever-evolving soundtrack to her journey.
https://www.suziebrownsongs.com/home
https://www.facebook.com/Suziebrownmusicpage/?ref=pages_you_manage
https://www.instagram.com/suziebrownsongs
Donations: Paypal email suzie@suziebrownsongs.com
Videos:
Shinjoo Cho
Pianist, bandoneonist, and accordionist Shinjoo Cho is a solo and chamber musician embodying many musical traditions. She has collaborated with international musicians and choreographers and has performed in prestigious concert halls and theaters throughout the U.S., Canada, Korea, and South America. In 2012 and 2016, she participated in the Marlboro Music Festival under the baton of Leon Fleisher and appeared as a guest soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra. During her 2014-2016 residency in Argentina, Shinjoo’s notable appearances include solo piano performance for the President of Argentina, Teatro Colón debut with Branford Marsalis Quartet during the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, and Música Maestra ensemble by Diego Schissi at Centro Cultural Kirchner Symphonic Hall. Shinjoo is currently director of the contemporary & tango music ensemble Oscuro Quintet and a member of Aces of Rhythm in NY.
Karen Bentley Pollick
Karen Bentley Pollick is one of America’s leading contemporary musicians, performing a wide range of solo repertoire and styles on violin, viola, piano and Norwegian Hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) to extend the boundaries of the concert experience, from the Baroque to cutting-edge contemporary music and live improvisations. A native of Palo Alto, California she studied with Camilla Wicks in San Francisco then attended Indiana University to study with Josef Gingold. Karen holds BM and MM degrees from IU, with a cognate field in Choral Conducting.She currently serves as concertmaster of Valse Café Orchestra in Seattle, and Principal Second Violin and Festival Artist with the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra in Boulder. She plays on a violin made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume in 1860 and a viola made in 1987 by William Whedbee. Karen’s debut recording for Toccata Classics presents Hermann Graedener’s two violin concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and winner of a Silver Medal in the 2019 Global Music Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the album and instrumental solo performance categories. Her second recording for Toccata Classics featuring Chamber Music of Russian pianist/composer Ivan Sokolov garnered a Gold Medal in the 2020 Global Music Awards. A founding member of Virtuosos de Cámara in Puerto Vallarta, she has collaborated with Peruvian guitarist Alfredo Muro in Duo KarMu and with Mexican musicians and circus artists in San Pancho. Her contribution to EXTRACTION: Art on the Edge of the Abyss was the world premiere of Pietà for amplified violin, electronics and orchestra by Jerry Mader, and the US premiere of ROMANTARCTICA for solo flute, viola and orchestra by Henning Kraggerud.
Lindsey Goodman
Flutist Lindsey Goodman is a soloist, recording artist, chamber collaborator, orchestral musician, educator, and clinician. Renowned for her “generous warmth of tone and a fluid virtuosity” (Charleston Gazette), Lindsey has performed solo and chamber concerts, taught masterclasses, and given presentations at countless series, festivals, and universities. Performances “played with conviction” (New York Times) have been heard across three continents, including at Carnegie Hall, Eastman School of Music, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Google headquarters, University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, several National and Canadian Flute Association conventions, across China, and on the podcast Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone. A committed advocate for living composers and electroacoustic music, Lindsey is an active commissioner of new works with 150 world premieres to her credit. For over 18 seasons, she performed as solo flutist of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. Lindsey is principal flutist of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, adjunct lecturer of flute at Ashland University, Marietta College, and West Virginia State University, and solo flutist of the new music ensemble What Is Noise. Lindsey received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Northwestern University, and Duquesne University. She resides in central Ohio with her husband, percussionist, composer, and educator Chris Carmean, and their dog Jack.
Audience members can donate via:
PayPal to ljgflute@gmail.com
Venmo @LindseyJGoodman1
www.facebook.com/LindseyGoodmanFlutist
Twitter: @LindseyJGoodman
Instagram: @LindseyJGoodman
John Byrne
Dublin native and Philadelphia resident, John Byrne’s latest record A Shiver in the Sky (2019), shows his band of multi-instrumentalists vibrantly executing ten new originals. Strings, horns and guitars escort Byrne’s vocals through a set of songs about living and pushing forward through negative times. Following up After the Wake (2011), Celtic Folk (2013) and The Immigrant and the Orphan (2015), A Shiver in the Sky focuses on triumph over trauma. Support from radio all over the country pushed the album to #1 on the Roots Radio Report Alternative Folk Chart in January 2020. The Philadelphia Inquirer writes: “One of the few musical artists today who truly manage to be traditional and modern at the same time.”
Donations - venmo www.venmo.com/JOHN-BYRNE-0
Paypal - www.paypal.me/johnbyrneband
https://www.facebook.com/John-Byrne-Band-136852154178/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6she5fBwY8sVDBJDKkH94E
Videos:
Tatyana Tenenbaum
Choreographer/composer Tatyana Tenenbaum employs breath, voice, fascia and musculature to excavate spaces of memory, power and transformation. Her work sits at the juncture of experimental music and dance and has been described as “rich polyphony” (The New Yorker) and “transcending the fraught history between utterance and stance through an exacting inquiry” (Critical Correspondence). She has been commissioned and presented by The Chocolate Factory Theater, Temple University, Movement Research, School for Contemporary Dance & Thought, and Danspace Project, and Pliegues y Despliegues festival in Bogotá, Colombia. She co-organized the collective terrain/s platform on voice and body at Danspace Project in conversation with curator Lydia Bell and artist Jasmine Hearn. She has graciously performed with and learned from Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks, Daria Faïn and Robert Kocik, Jennifer Monson/iLAND, Emily Johnson/CATALYST, Okwui Okpokwasili & Peter Born, and Hadar Ahuvia, among others. Tatyana and Hadar received a 2021 New Jewish Culture Fellowship for their collaborative work. Tatyana sees her multidi Description (optional)sciplinary work within a lineage of musical theater; a cultural site of assimilation, invention, violence, and resiliency for her Jewish ancestors who settled in New York City/Lenapehoking.
https://tatyanatenenbaum.bandcamp.com
Videos:
Michael A. Firman 優禅
Michael A. Firman 優禅 has been studying the shakuhachi since 1993. He started his studies with Michael Furuta, a student of Tadashi Tajima. After meeting Dai Shihan (Grand Master) Michael Gould at the World Shakuhachi festival in Boulder Colorado in 1998 he began studies with him. His interests in the flute vary greatly, although his focus is on traditional Japanese music. He plays and performs Minyo (folk music), Sankyoku (older chamber music), Shinkyoku (more modern chamber music), and Honkyoku (the music of the Buddhist tradition). In 2011 He attained the rank of Jun Shihan (traditional teaching degree). In 2015 he attained the rank of Shihan (traditional masters degree). These ranks were awarded to him by Michael Chikuzen Gould.
https://www.facebook.com/mafirman/
https://www.facebook.com/YuzenShakuhachiDojo/
https://soundcloud.com/mafirman/sets/shakuhachi-1/
Videos and Recordings:
An informal performance of a piece on a historic instrument:
I performed the music for this short animation of a Japanese folk song/poem:
A special thank you to our wonderful Tech Team!! Thank you for volunteering your time.
Learn more about them on our Team Page.