Violinist Itamar Zorman to Release VIOLIN ODYSSEY, A QUEST FOR NEW VIOLIN REPERTOIRE

On Friday, June 3, 2022, violinist Itamar Zorman will release a new album Violin Odyssey on First Hand Records. Born out of Zorman's 2020 live-streamed video series Hidden Gems, while the world was locked down and live-concerts were stalled, the album is a virtual voyage around the world that yielded the discovery of many lesser known and rarely played works for violin. From this musical treasure trove, he selected 10 pieces for Violin Odyssey, made with pianists Ieva Jokubaviciute and Kwan Yi and recorded by Grammy Award-winning producer Judith Sherman at Baldwin Auditorium at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina last year. The album is supported by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

The far-reaching geographical origins of the repertoire - from New Zealand to the United States by way of Sudan, China, Russia, Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Israel and Mexico - reveal a fascinating variety of styles and cultural diversity in these seldom-heard works. As part of his research, Itamar consulted musical experts and talked with the composers themselves. Lockdown allowed time for deeper thought on global issues in society and the environment and these played a part in mapping out the repertoire, which also bears traces of family ties at home and abroad: Itamar chose a piece composed by his father Moshe Zorman in Israel, explored pieces written for children with his small daughter, and collaborated closely with his wife, pianist Liza Stepanova, who accompanied him on the first Hidden Gems live-streams.

Two larger works set the framework of the album - Slavonic Sonata (1917) written by Croatian noblewoman Dora Pejačević and the Second Sonata for Violin and Piano (1927) by Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff. While sharing Eastern European flavor, the two sonatas, written only 10 years apart, are worlds apart stylistically. Pejačević's sonata continues and expands on the Romantic tradition of works for violin and piano, while Schulhoff's draws from a wide range of sources from jazz to expressionism.

These particularly dramatic works are complemented by a program of shorter pieces with evocative titles that suggest little adventures and encounters on a traveler's journey, starting with Wanderings by Israeli composer Moshe Zorman. More time spent with his little daughter opened Itamar's ears to the Children's Suite by Russian born Joseph Achron - a collection of miniature scenes from childhood, from March of Toys to chirping Birdies.

Lively encounters with street vendors in Mexico are apparent in Afilador and Tierra p'a las macetas by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas in which one hears urban sounds and costermongers' cries, while the exhilarating pulse and pace of folk dancing resound in Grazyna Bacewicz's virtuosic Oberek No 1. Dance tempos are also apparent in Sudanese composer Ali Osman's Afromood with its African rhythms and jazz influences enhanced by percussionist Julia Thompson on tambourine, while a mysterious glacial lake with a rising and falling tide (caused by the breathing of an ancient monster living in its depths according to Maori legend) is the inspiration for Gareth Farr's Wakatipu.

Chinese composer Gao Ping takes a folk song as the theme for his contemplation of the earthquake that tragically devastated his Sichuan homeland in Questioning the Mountains. Finally, the journey ends with Summerland, a vision of beauty in the afterlife, composed by American William Grant Still, a major historical figure whose achievements included being the first African-American to conduct a leading symphony orchestra in the US and the first to have an opera produced by a major company.

About Itamar Zorman

Itamar Zorman is one of the most soulful, evocative artists of his generation, distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling. Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has wowed audiences all over the world with breathtaking style, causing one critic to declare him a "young badass who's not afraid of anything" (CultureMap Houston). His "youthful intensity" and "achingly beautiful" (Bachtrack) sound shine through in every performance, earning him the title of the "virtuoso of emotions" (Göttinger Tageblatt). Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist Itamar Zorman is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia.

Zorman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, KBS Symphony Seoul, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Kremerata Baltica, RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin) and American Symphony. He has worked with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, David Robertson, James DePreist, Karina Canellakis, Yuri Bashmet, Michael Stern, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Thierry Fischer. Mr. Zorman has performed around the world in halls such as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and Teatro Massimo Palermo. As a recitalist he performed at Carnegie Hall's Distinctive Debut series, Wigmore Hall, People's Symphony Concerts, Merkin Hall, the Louvre Museum, Suntory Hall Laeiszhalle Hamburg and HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt.

Itamar Zorman was invited to the Verbier, Marlboro, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brevard, Classical Tahoe, MITO SettembreMusica, and Radio France Festivals. He has also collaborated with a number of legendary artists such as Richard Goode (including performances at Carnegie Hall and Library of Congress), Mitsuko Uchida, Steven Isserlis and Jörg Widmann.

As part of an ongoing exploration of the music of Paul Ben-Haim, Mr. Zorman released a CD of the works for violin and orchestra with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Philippe Bach for BIS Records, in April 2019, entitled Evocation. His first solo CD recording, entitled Portrait, features works by Messiaen, Schubert, Chausson, Hindemith, and Brahms and was released by Profil - Editions Günther Hänssler.

Itamar Zorman is also a committed chamber player. He is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project and a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, with which he won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prize in the 2011 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, 1st prize in the 2011 Arriaga Competition, and a bronze medal in the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar Zorman began his violin studies at the age of six with Saly Bockel at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel-Aviv. He graduated in 2003 and continued his studies with Professor David Chen and Nava Milo. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a student of Hagai Shaham, and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School in 2009, where he studied with Robert Mann and Sylvia Rosenberg. He then went on to receive an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music in 2010 and an Artist Diploma from Julliard in 2012 under the tutelage of Sylvia Rosenberg, and he is an alumnus of the Kronberg Academy where he studied with Christian Tetzlaff and Mauricio Fuks. He is also the recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and has taken part in numerous master classes around the world, working with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, and Ivry Gitlis.

Zorman is currently a Visiting Guest Artist at the Eastman School of Music. He plays on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù, from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel. Learn more at www.itamarzorman.com.

Violin Odyssey Track List

1. Grazyna Bacewicz - Oberek No. 1 (1949)*
2. Moshe Zorman - Wanderings (1994)*
3-10. Joseph Achron (arr. Jascha Heifetz) - Children's Suite, Op. 57 (c. 1925)**
11-13. Dora Pejačević - Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 43 "Slavonic Sonata" (1917)*
14. Silvestre Revueltas - Afilador (1924)*
15. Silvestre Revueltas - Tierra p'a las macetas (1924)*
16. Ali Osman - Afromood (2010)**
Julia Thompson, tambourine
17. Gao Ping - Questioning the Mountains (2008)*
18. Gareth Farr - Wakatipu (2009)
19-22. Erwin Schulhoff - Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 (1927)**
23. William Grant Still - Summerland (1935)*

Itamar Zorman, violin
Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano *
Kwan Yi, piano **

Violin Odyssey (FHR119)
Producer: Judith Sherman
Engineer: Chris Boerner
Recorded February 2021 in Durham, North Carolina