The Italian Academy Presents Elissa Cassini & Roy Amotz, 3/28

The Italian Academy presents Re-Inventing Bach, a unique, out-of-the-box duo recital featuring the unexpected combination of flute and violin performed by violinist Elissa Cassini and flutist Roy Amotz. From J.S. Bach to Stefano Gervasoni, this bold juxtaposition of historical extremes offers an innovative exploration of the similarities and contrasts between these two treble instruments. Central to the program are Gervasoni's colorful and imaginative transcriptions of Bach's Inventions. Both keyboard lines are re - written, using both the violin and the viola in combination with all the flutes, including piccolo and bass flute. From wood to wind or bow to breath, this fertile opposition urges the performers to expand their expressive range, seeking a new unity of sound both complex and beautiful. The re-invention of instrumental roles and the reconsideration of the very notions of tradition and innovation leave the listener with the understanding of music's inherent ability to indeed, re-invent itself. Re-Inventing Bach is part of the Duplexity Project series and will take place on Wednesday, March 28th at 7pm. Admission is free.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 7pm
The Italian Academy
1161 Amsterdam Avenue (Just south of 118th Street)
New York, NY 10027
FREE ADMISSION
http://italianacademy.columbia.edu/event/re-inventing-bach

The Duplexity Project is an international series of virtuoso instrumental duos transcending the traditional recital format. Since its launch in 2015, Duplexity has attracted notable musicians such as Philip Setzer from the Emerson Quartet and presented programs such as 'Ravel Un-Ravel-ed' with Ashley Bathgate (Bang On A Can - New York), ' Bar Talk ' with Daniel Rowland ( Brodsky Quartet - London ) and
'Re- Inventing Bach' with flutist Roy Amotz (Meitar Ensemble - Tel Aviv). Duplexity's forays into dance, drama and new media offer innovative musical contexts for the violin and promote an evolving dialogue between artists and their audiences. duplexityproject.com

Elissa Cassini, Violinist
A "Truly communicative" (The New York Times) and " impeccable and powerful soloist " (Neue Musik Zeitung), Franco-American violinist Elissa Cassini's captivating performances explores the full expressive range of the violin. Her concerto appearances include the celebrated favorites by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Beethoven, Schumann and Sibelius. She recently performed Philip Glass's concerto, the 'American Four Seasons' with the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne in Rennes under Laura Jackson. Expanding on the traditional repertoire, Elissa's passion for new music was sparked when Pierre Boulez invited her as concertmaster to the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in 2009. She has since collaborated with internationally acclaimed composers such as Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Alexandre Lunsqui, Philippe Leroux, Tristan Murail and Kaija Saariaho. Elissa's premieres include Jérôme Combier's concerto 'Conditions de Lumière,' performed with the Argento Ensemble and the Cairn Ensembles in New York, Montreal and Paris under Guillaume Bourgogne, Anders Eliasson's Concerto for Violin and Strings, with the Arcos Chamber Orchestra at the Berlin Konzerthaus and Nicolas Bacri's Concerto Op. 116, with the Orchestre de Massy in France. Elissa performed her Carnegie Weill Hall debut recital as a recipient of the "Artists International" prize, the same year she received her Masters degree from the Juilliard School. New York audiences have since heard Elissa perform at Zankel and Merkin Halls, Miller Theater, the Park Avenue Armory and Le Poisson Rouge. Seeking to transcend the traditional recital format, Elissa created the Duplexity Project, an innovative series of virtuoso instrumental duos promoting an evolving dialogue between artists and their audiences. elissacassini.com
Photo: Balázs Böröcz

Videos:
A Duo Voci - Re-Inventing Bach

Elissa Cassini's 2017 performance of the Bach Chaconne in a French country chapel
Video by Damien Stein

Roy Amotz, Flutist
Praised by critics as "Phenomenal" and "breath-taking," flutist Roy Amotz performs worldwide as a soloist and in various chamber music formations as well as in the orchestral field. His range of musical activity includes early music, classical and romantic repertoire as well as contemporary music. Mr. Amotz won first prizes in the International Flute Competition in Volos, Greece (2007) and in the Pergamenschikov Competition in Berlin with Trio Vis (Ira Givol, Cello and Matan Porat, Piano) in 2009. Mr. Amotz has performed at the International Chamber Music Festival in Jerusalem, Verbier Festival and Lucerne Festival. He has been a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra since 2007, and since 2013, holds the principal flute position of the Geneva Camerata, a new innovative ensemble that performs music of all periods and styles, from early baroque all the way to contemporary music. Mr. Amotz is also currently member of the acclaimed Ensemble Meitar, founded with the objective of performing and recording contemporary Israeli chamber music. The Ensemble's New York Debut at the MATA Festival in 2013 was highly praised by The New York Times. royamotz.com
Photo: Tim Flavor

Stefano Gervasoni, Composer
"A sonic world of great wealth, subtlety, refinement, expressive but also organic, that immediately captures one's attention" (Philippe Albèra)

Stefano Gervasoni began studying composition in 1980 on the advice of Luigi Nono: this encounter, as well as others with Brian Ferneyhough, Peter Eötvös and Helmut Lachenmann, turned out to be decisive for his career. Gervasoni studied with György Ligeti in Hungary before attending the IRCAM Course in Composition and in Computer Music in Paris, which led to his residency at Villa Medici in Rome in 1995.

With commissions from prestigious institutions such as the WDR, SWR, Orchestra Nazionale della RAI, Festival d'Automne in Paris, Radio France, IRCAM, Casa da Musica in Porto, Festival Archipel in Geneva, Ensemble Divertimento in Milan, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Contrechamps in Geneva, Maerzmusik in Berlin, Ars Musica Brussels, Festival Musica in Strasbourg, the French Ministry of Culture, Milan Teatro alla Scala and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Stefano Gervasoni has established himself as one of the most important Italian composers of his generation. His catalogue includes chamber and vocal music, concertos, orchestral and ensemble works and an opera (Limbus - Limbo).

Winner of numerous prizes, including the recent Premio della Critica Musicale "Franco Abbiati" ( 2010 ), he was grant-holder at the Fondation des Treilles in Paris, DAAD in Berlin and composer-in-residence at the Domaine de Kerguéhennec during the period 2008-2010. He was invited professor at the ESMUC in Barcelona for the 2012-13 season and has also taught at the Darmstadt Ferienkurse, at Royaumont (Paris), at Toho University in Tokyo, at Columbia University in New York and at Harvard University in Boston. Composer-in-residence at Lausanne Conservatoire, he is currently professor of composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. stefanogervasoni.net