Cuarteto Latinoamericano
Cuarteto Latinoamericano is known worldwide as the leading proponent of Latin American music for string quartet. This award-winning ensemble from Mexico consists of the three Bitrán brothers, violinists Saúl and Arón and cellist Alvaro, along with violist Javier Montiel.
The Cuarteto was nominated for a Grammy award in 2002 in the field of Best Chamber Music Recording as well as for a Latin Grammy. The Cuarteto records for Elan, New Albion, Urtext and Dorian Recordings among others. The Villa-Lobos anthology of 17 string quartets is recorded on 6 volumes for Dorian Records and has recently been re-released as a box set by Brilliant Classics.
The Cuarteto has performed as soloist with many orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, with the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, the Orquesta Filarmúnica de la Ciudad de México, the Dallas Symphony and the Smon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela, under Eduardo Mata. The Cuarteto has toured extensively around the world including performances in Europe, North, Central and South America, as well as in New Zealand and Israel and they have appeared in a wide range of venues from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Dartington Festival, Orford Arts Center, and the Ojai Festival. They have collaborated with many artists including cellist Janos Starker, guitarists Narciso Yepes and Sharon Isbin, pianists Santiago Rodriguez, Cyprien Katsaris and Rudolph Buchbinder, and tenor Ramon Vargas.
The Cuarteto has been in residence at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh since 1987, and at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Cuarteto Latinoamericano is represented by MCM Artists.
Web site (English): http://music.web.cmu.edu/cuarteto/index.html
Web site (Spanish): http://www.cuartetolatinoamericano.com
Albert Regni
Albert Regni is currently the principal saxophonist with the New York Philharmonic, New York Ballet Orchestras and formerly of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has concertized, toured and recorded extensively with each of these organizations.
Symphonic appearances have also included the orchestras of Leningrad, Odessa, St. Petersburg, Israel, Baltimore, Los Angeles, the National Symphony (Washington, D.C.) and Rotterdam, Holland.
His solo saxophone recordings Extended Saxophone on CRI, Three Dark Paintings on Open Loop, El Amor on Sons on Sound have all received international acclaim.
Mr. Regni is an active participant in music for television, recordings and film and was recipient of a Gold Record and Grammy recognition for his work on the television series Twin Peaks. He has played on the soundtracks for over 40 major motion pictures and has recorded a vast array of music from classical, chamber, jazz, pop, and more than 20 original Broadway cast albums as a concert and studio musician in New York City. The acclaimed TV documentary West Side Story, conducted by Leonard Bernstein with Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras, features him as principal solo clarinetist.
He has been a visiting professor of saxophone at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York; associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin; Saxophone Professor at the College of New Jersey, and is currently adjunct professor of saxophone at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Mr. Regni will perform Villa-Lobos' Fantasia for soprano saxophone, Op. 630, with the VCU Symphony Orchestra during the festival.
Website: http://www.alregni.com
Sonia Rubinsky, piano
Sonia Rubinsky exemplifies the great tradition of virtuoso pianists: a profound and serious musical commitment combined with an exciting and refined technical gift. Her ongoing drive to learn new repertoire has resulted in an active body of works that includes numerous concertos and countless solo works encompassing all periods from the Baroque to the present day.
Ms. Rubinsky is of Slavic origin. She lived 13 years in Brazil, seven in Israel, and the rest of her adult life in New York. She gave her first concert at the age of five and a half, and was soloist with orchestra at the age of 12. At the age of 16, she played for Arthur Rubinstein, who immediately exclaimed upon hearing her : “What a temperament!” Miss Rubinsky appears in the movie Arthur Rubinstein in Jerusalem.
Encouraged by this extraordinary ma ître, Miss Rubinsky obtained her Doctor of Arts Degree from The Juilliard School in New York. She has appeared as recitalist in many of the most well known concert halls in the US, Europe, and Brazil, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Bargemusic, Merkin Concert Hall, and the Miller Theatre in New York; Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA; Jordan Hall, Boston; Tel-Aviv Museum of Art -- Recanati Hall, Israel; Teatro Municipal de São Paulo, Sala S ão Paulo, Brazil; and Aga-Zaal, Holland. She is a recipient of the prestigious William Petschek Award as well as a “Best Recitalist of the Year” award from the São Paulo Association of Music Critics. She won the Carlos Gomes Prize as Pianist of the Year for 2006.
As soloist, Sonia Rubinsky has played with a considerable number of orchestras, including the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York, as well as the Richmond, Springfield, Syracuse, Jacksonville, Cheyenne, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras. In Brazil, Miss Rubinsky has appeared with its most notable orchestras including the S ão Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), the Orchestra of the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo and of Rio de Janeiro, and the University of São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSUSP).
Miss Rubinsky is in the process of recording the complete works of Villa-Lobos for piano for Naxos (a total of 8 CDs). Volume VI will be released in 2007; volumes VII and VIII will be released in 2008. Together with her widely acclaimed Vol. I – chosen “One of the best five recordings of 1999”, Bryce Morrison, Gramophone Magazine; also nominated for a GRAMMY, 1999 -- , Vols. II, III, IV and V are already available worldwide and have received rave reviews. Volume V was recently chosen as one of the 10 best releases of October 2006 by Gramophone Magazine – Editor’s Choice. Miss Rubinsky has also recorded for Nonesuch/Elektra (John Adams), Daghlian label (Debussy, Villa-Lobos and Messiaen), and Albany Records (Jorge Liderman).
Website: www.soniarubinsky.com
Contact: Ivan Cavalcanti: arsviva@wanadoo.fr
