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(Left to Right) 1st Prize Winner: Grneta Duo+ (Ismail Lumanovski, clarinet, Vasco Dukovski, clarinet/basset horn, Alexandra Joan, piano); Joint 2nd Prize Winners: Sima Piano Trio (Sami Merdinian, violin, Ani Kalayjian, cello, Sofya Melikyan, piano) and Iktus Percussion Quartet (Danielle Weinberg, Chris Graham, Justin Wolf, Roy Campbell, percussion) |
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| A New York based ensemble
Grneta Duo+ has enchanted audiences with their unusual
instrumentation, combination of repertoire, enthusiasm
and virtuosity. In their seventh year of existence, the
Grneta Duo+ started as a friendly jam-session duo in a
locker room at the Interlochen Summer Festival where they
were heard by the director of the chamber music office
and asked to perform on the upcoming concert. From their
first performance the duo was immediately welcomed and
praised by the audience and since then has performed
extensively throughout Europe and the USA. The Grneta Duo+ has taken a great initiative in reaching out new audiences; as a four year member of the Gluck Community Service Fellowship affiliated with the Juilliard School the duo has performed over 60 concerts in hospitals, shelters, nursing homes, care centers and public schools throughout the New York City area. In addition, the duo has collaborated with the VOXARE String Quartet, The Balkan-Norway multimedia project, featuring classical music written by Balkan and Norwegian composers. Committed to preserving the clarinet duo tradition, Grneta Duo+ has revived and performed many forgotten works as well as made many arrangements for its instrumentation. In addition the duo has commissioned a few new works for two clarinets and a combination of piano or string quartet, one of them being “The Macedonian Bloody Wedding” by Nicholas Csicsko, inspired and based on the first Macedonian play with the same title. The composition is an interesting combination of modern and folk featuring the innate abilities of Grneta Duo+. |
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| The young, award-winning
Macedonian/Turkish clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski has
enchanted audiences with his enthusiasm and virtuosity,
combining the spirit of folk music with the discipline of
Classical music. To date, one of his career highlights is the New York début in 2008, of the Carter Clarinet Concerto with musicians from New Juilliard Ensemble and Lucerne Festival Academy with Maestro Boulez Conducting. Mr. Lumanovski’s United States debut took place in 2002 with his performance of Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in Interlochen, Michigan and his first appearance as soloist with the Macedonian Philharmonic was at the age of 13, playing the Weber Concertino. Lumanovski is the winner of numerous competitions including 1st prize of the 23rd, 24th and 25th Clarinet Competition of Macedonia, The Juilliard Clarinet Concerto Competition, the International Young Artist Competition in Bulgaria, the National Folk Music Competition in Macedonia and 2nd prize in the Andreas Makris Clarinet Competition in Colorado. In addition Mr. Lumanovski received the “Fine Arts Award” twice at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Born in Bitola, Macedonia, Ismail Lumanovski started playing the clarinet at age nine, attending primary school and high school in his city of birth. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School and is currently a student of Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, pursuing his Master of Music Degree. |
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| With his virtuosity and
mellow sound, the Macedonian clarinetist Vasko Dukovski
has mesmerized audiences throughout The U. S. A, Europe
and Asia. Mr. Dukovski is a winner of numerous competition prizes and awards including: First Prize at the International Woodwind Competition in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria; Special Prize at the Jeunnese Musicales Clarinet Competition in Bucharest, Romania; 2nd Prize at the National Clarinet Competition and 3rd Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Macedonia and at the first Andreas Makris Clarinet Competition in Fort Collins, Colorado; Fine Arts Award from the Interlochen Arts Academy, and Honors Award from the Eubie Blake Foundation in New York. Mr. Dukovski is an active soloist and a devoted chamber musician and has performed extensively throughout The United States, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia and Italy, as well as at the Lake Tahoe Music Festival, Skopje Summer Festival, Focus Festival, Juilliard Chamber Fest and Greenwich Music Festival. Mr. Dukovski has also been featured on the Macedonian National TV and Radio Stations and The Interlochen Public Radio. Dukovski is a great admirer, advocate and performer of contemporary music. He has collaborated with many young upcoming and established composers and has premiered several newly composed chamber works as well as a great deal of ensemble pieces. In addition, Mr. Dukovski is a member of the Contemporary Ensemble Future In REverse F I RE, Argento Ensemble, AXIOM Ensemble and the New Juilliard Ensemble. As an orchestral player, Mr. Dukovski has played under the batons of many important conductors such as Maestro James Conlon, Yves Abel, David Atherton, Otto-Werner Mueller, Diego Mason, Anne Manson and Thomas Wilkins amongst others. During the last three years Mr. Dukovski has taken great initiative in many outreach programs at The Juilliard School such as, The Gluck Community Service Fellowship, the Instrumental Music Program, the Concert Fellowship and the Morse Teaching Fellowship. Mr. Dukovski was born in Ohrid, the Republic of Macedonia and began his clarinet studies at the age of nine. He made his first solo appearance at the age of ten, and in January of 2006 he made his New York debut with the New Juilliard Ensemble performing the world premiere of the Triple Clarinet Concerto by Guus Jansen. Mr. Dukovski holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School and is currently a student of Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, pursuing his Master of Music Degree. |
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| French-Romanian
pianist Alexandra Joan is an active soloist and avid
chamber music musician. A regular performer in Europe,
she has appeared in Germany, Switzerland, France and also
in Israel and Montenegro. She made her chamber music
debut in New York in 2007 at Alice Tully Hall, and most
recently made her Carnegie Hall solo debut presented by
the Lagesse Foundation. She also performed at David
Dubal’s lecture series at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art and at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Along with the masterpieces of the 18th, 19th and 20th century, Alexandra Joan performs new music frequently and is also an advocate of the music of George Enesco. Ms. Joan’s appearances in international Festivals have included Roque d’Antheron International Piano Festival in France, Guebwiller, Colmar International Festival (Vladimir Spivakov), Oberstdorf Festival in Germany and other prestigious festivals and concert series in France. Ms. Joan has performed as soloist with “La Follia” Chamber Orchestra, The Montbeliard Orchestra, The Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra in France and The Orchestra of Radio and Television in Montenegro. Her solo and chamber music performances have been featured on Radio France, Radio Suisse Romande (Switzerland), on Montenegro Television and WQXR in New York. Ms. Joan has been a recipient of several important awards in France. She has received the “Vocation Prize” from the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation in 2005 and the ADAMI Grant in 2006 and 2007 to study in the United States. In 2001, she won the 3d Prize at the Andorra International Piano Competition. Born in 1984, Ms. Joan began her studies at the Colmar Conservatory with Rena Shereshevskaya and gave her first public performance at the age of six. In 2004 she completed her Bachelor of Music Degree at the Paris Conservatory under the tutelage of Brigitte Engerer. She worked with artists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Itamar Golan, Vladimir Krainev, Vera Gornastaeva, Staffan Scheja, Pnina Salzman and Emanuel Krasovsky. A recipient of the Florence Gould Scholarship, Alexandra Joan recently graduated from the Juilliard School of Music where she completed her Graduate Diploma as a student of Jerome Lowenthal’s. |
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| Based in New York City,
the Iktus Percussion Quartet (Roy Campbell, Chris Graham,
Danielle Weinberg, and Justin Wolf) is an ambitious and
dynamic young ensemble committed to expanding the
boundaries of the percussion genre. The group formed in
2005 while founding members Campbell, Graham, and
Weinberg were students at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory
of Music. The ensemble’s relationship with Purchase
continues through their residency there, which has led to
numerous recitals, collaborations, and the performance of
Laura Kaminsky’s Terra Terribilis, a concerto for
percussion ensemble and orchestra, with the Purchase
Symphony Orchestra in November 2008. By turns serial, minimalist, post-minimalist, groovy, and just plain bizarre, Iktus’ repertoire is engaging and provocative. Guided by an interest in exploring the limits of the definition of “percussion” music, the group has performed with setups ranging from the bafflingly complex to the nakedly simple. Iktus’ wide range of repertoire has brought them to perform at such diverse venues as Issue Project Room, Symphony Space, Tenri Cultural Institute, William Patterson University, New York Day of Percussion, Queens College, and Trinity Wall Street, among others. As a group with strong ties to the local artistic community, Iktus is dedicated to commissioning new compositions from emerging artists. Notable premieres include a concert of new works by members of Random Access Music, Forecast Music, and the Composers Collective. In their 2009-2010 concert season alone, Iktus will have premiered 26 new works at their Music for A Recession, Iktus + 1 and Percussion Labyrinth concerts. Performing, however, is only one of the ensemble’s endeavors. Through their residency at SUNY Purchase College, Iktus has participated in workshops for developing composers and acted as mentors and coaches for aspiring percussionists. As performer-educators, Iktus has also given masterclasses to various enthusiastic school audiences. Their goal is to turn a younger generation on to percussion music and to engender an interest in contemporary music in the process. Iktus has been the ensemble in residence at SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music since 2008 and is endorsed by Mike Balter Mallets, www.mikebalter.com, Paiste Cymbals, www.paiste.com, and Grover Pro Percussion, www.groverpro.com. |
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| Chris Graham is a freelance percussionist living and working in the Tri- State area. He has performed with a variety of groups at Columbia University, Princeton University, Queens College, William Patterson, Tenri Cultural Center, Issue Project Room, The Knitting Factory, Symphony Space, and Carnegie Hall. He has worked and performed with notable groups such as Newband, Talujon Percussion Quartet, and Mantra Percussion Group and is a co- founding member of the iKtus Percussion Quartet. Previous teachers include Raymond DesRoches, Dr. Dominic Donato, Tom Kolor, Joseph Perira, and Eduardo Leandro. | ||||||||
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| Roy Campbell, percussionist and one of the founding members of IKTUS Percussion Quartet, holds a Bachelor of Music degree from SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music and is also a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. During his college years, he studied with Dominic Donato, Tom Kolor, James Preiss, Erik Charlston and Jeffery Kraus. He has performed with many ensembles including Talujon Percussion Quartet, Riverside Symphony Orchestra, Artemis Chamber Ensemble, Astoria Symphony, One World Symphony and several ensembles at SUNY Purchase College. He was an active participant and performer in the 2004 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Nashville, TN. Roy’s interest in a broad spectrum of styles led him to drum set, classical percussion, non-western drumming and contemporary music. He has premiered works by a variety of composers and has performed at festivals, concerts and conventions throughout New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee. | ||||||||
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| Justin Wolf holds a BM from William Paterson University and an MM from SUNY Purchase College. He frequently performs with the world renowned New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, and freelances with orchestras and contemporary groups in the New York tri-state area. Specializing in 20th and 21st century music, he has premiered works by several composers including Ron Mazurek, and Stuart Saunders Smith. Justin has also participated in the Nancy Zeltsman Marimba Festival and a summer tabla workshop with Pandit Sharda Sahai. He has also maintained an active teaching career in northern New Jersey and Westchester County, NY. | ||||||||
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| Danielle Weinberg is a founding member of the Cadillac Moon Ensemble and IKTUS Percussion Quartet, which is the ensemble in residence at Purchase College. As an active performer, Weinberg has performed with NewBand (The Harry Partch Instrumentalists), Camerata New York, Artemis Chamber Orchestra, Chappaqua Orchestra, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, Astoria Symphony, Lost Dog new music ensemble and in Provence, France with the Orchestra d'Aubagne. Along with Cadillac Moon Ensemble, she was a semi-finalist of this year’s Concert Artist Guild Competition, is a featured artist for New Dynamic Records. Weinberg has also participated in the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, New York Day of Percussion, New Jersey Day of Percussion, and the Bang on a Can Marathon Concert with the Talujon Percussion Quartet. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase, where she was a graduate assistant and studied with Ray DesRoches, Dominic Donato, and Tom Kolor. | ||||||||
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| Praised for their
“powerful” and “heartfelt”
interpretations of classical and ethnic repertoire, Sima
trio is quickly becoming one of the leading, young trios
of its generation. Connected by their Armenian heritage,
the members of this NY based ensemble have studied with
such teachers as Dorothy Delay, Peter Oundjian, Joaquin
Soriano, Solomon Mikowksy, Timothy Eddy, and Ralph
Kirshbaum at Juilliard, Yale, Real Conservatorio Superior
de Madrid, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, and the
Royal Northern College of Music respectively. Winners of
international competitions, violinist Sami Merdinian,
cellist Ani Kalayjian, and pianist Sofya Melikyan, are
highly sought after soloists and chamber musicians who
have performed at such major venues as Carnegie Hall,
Teatro Colon, Palau de la Musica, Concertgebouw, Seoul
Arts Center, Shanghai Theatre, Salle Cortot, La Jolla
Sherwood auditorium, Orange County Performing Arts
Center, and Yerevan Philharmonic Hall, among others. In its inaugural season, Sima Trio’s upcoming engagements include a South American tour in Frutillar, Chile, Cordoba & Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as recitals at the Rutgers Zimmerli Arts Museum in New Brunswick, Little Rock Chamber Music Society, Fort Bragg Arts Center in California, Bulgari house concert, Brooklyn Library, Gradoux-Matt Violins, St. James church, Saugerties ProMusica Series in NY, and the Myra Hess Series in Chicago. |
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| Argentinian violinist
Sami Merdinian has received worldwide recognition for his
outstanding performances as a soloist and chamber
musician. Sami has recently appeared as a soloist with
the Montevideo Philharmonic, the Argentinian National
Symphony, The Charlemagne Orchestre, Symphony Pro Musica,
The Gagneung Philharmonic in South Korea, and
Philharmonia of the Nations at the Concertgebouw in
Amsterdam. As chamber musician, Mr. Merdinian has performed in Spoleto, Italy, The Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, The Festival of The Hamptons, Bargemusic, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw, and at the Aspen Music Festival with the Sybarite 5. Future engagements include concerts with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Salta Symphony in Argentina, as well as a recital in Al Bustan Festival in Beirut, Lebanon. Member of Sejong Soloist since 2008, Sami has performed throughout the United States and Asia, including a West Coast Tour with Gil Shaham, and has recorded for Universal Records. Mr.Merdinian has been prize winner in several international competitions including Gold Medal in the XII International Young Solo Instrumentalists Competition in Argentina and the New Talent Competition in Slovakia organized by the European Radio. He has also received the Rising Star Award by Tiffany & Co., and was named Outstanding Artist of the Year by the Argentinian Press. While at The Juilliard School and Yale University, Mr.Merdinian was a pupil of Dorothy Delay, Naoko Tanaka and Peter Oundjian, and has participated in masterclasses for artists such as Itzahk Perlman, Ruggiero Ricci, Emmanuel Ax, Pamela Frank and members of the Tokyo, Cleveland and Guarnieri String Quartets. |
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| Hailed by the Los Angeles
Times as “representing the young, up-and-coming
generation,” cellist Ani Kalayjian has appeared in
concert both as a soloist and chamber musician in the
United States, Canada, and Europe. Recent competition
success includes winning the Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust
competition in England where she was also granted the
Bohuslav Martinu Foundation Prize, and performed in
Prague in November 2006. Ani completed her masters degree
at the Royal Northern College of Music as a student of
Ralph Kirshbaum. Undergraduate studies were at Mannes
College of Music as a student of Timothy Eddy. Ani was one of two cellists accepted into the inaugural season of David Finckel and Wu Han’s Music@Menlo festival. She has taken part in the International Musician’s Seminar at Prussia Cove , Michael Tilson Thomas’ Carnegie Hall workshop, Pablo Casals Prades festival, Mendelsohn on Mull, Banff, Sarasota, Apeldoorn, London Masterclasses, New York String Seminar, Holland Music Sessions and the RNCM International Cello Festival. At Prussia Cove, she was featured in a BBC documentary playing in a masterclass with Steven Isserlis. Recent concerts have included appearances at the Lichfield Festival (2005 Gordon Clark Scholar), Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove in England, American String Project at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, and a Weill Recital Debut at Carnegie Hall. An active chamber musician, Ani has collaborated with Jorja Fleezanis, Toby Appel, Ani Kavafian, Kenneth Cooper, Eriko Sato, among others. Ani’s passion for chamber music has led her to performances on the Mostly Music chamber music series in NJ, as well as a tour with Trio Nareg with Ani Kavafian and Armen Guzelimian including performances at Chamber music in Historic sites, Hermitage Foundation, and Samueli Theatre at the 0range County Performing Arts Center in California. She has toured with the Bayside Trio around Maine and Massachusetts, including concerts at University of Southern Maine, Bates College, Elan Fine Arts Gallery, and Eastern Nazarene College. Recent engagements have included solo recitals at Harvard and Dartmouth Universities, Andover Library in MA, Trinity Church in NYC, Puffin Cultural Forum in NJ, a European and U.S. tour with Camerata Nordica, and chamber music recitals with Mark Peskanov and Doris Stevenson at Barge Music. Ani was chosen as a fellowship artist at the La Jolla chamber music festival in August 2008, was recently co-artistic director of AGBU’s Performing Artists at Weill Recital Hall, and toured in Maine at Colby College, St. Luke’s church, and Saco River Grange Hall with the Bayside trio in October 2008. Upcoming concerts include solo recitals in northern NJ, string quartet concerts at Tanglewood, Misericordia University, and in Princeton with the Brunell quartet, and a piano trio recital with Stefan Jackiw and Joyce Yang on the Sid Singer concert series in Mamaroneck, NY. |
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| Born in Yerevan, Armenia,
Sofya Melikyan began her musical training at the age of
five at the Tchaikovsky Specialized Music School of
Yerevan, studying piano with Anahit Shahbazyan. In 1994,
Ms. Melikyan moved to Spain, where she continued her
studies at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, under the
tutelage of pianist Joaquin Soriano. Upon graduating with
Highest Honor Prize in 1999, she worked with Galina
Egiazarova in Madrid, and Brigitte Engerer in Paris. In
2001 she began post-graduate studies in Ecole Normale de
Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot under the guidance of
pianist Ramzi Yassa, where she unanimously received the
Diplome Superieure d'Execution in 2003. Currently living
in New York, Ms. Melikyan has recently completed her
Master of Music degree in piano performance at Manhattan
School of Music of New York, where she was a scholarship
student of a Cuban pianist Solomon Mikowsky. Ms. Melikyan
has actively participated in Master Classes with such
musicians as Vitali Margulis, John O'Connor, Fanny
Solter, Francois-Rene Duchable, Piotr Paleczny, Menahem
Pressler and Horacio Gutierrez. Sofya Melikyan has been awarded First Prize and a Prize for outstanding Music Talent at the Marisa Montiel International Piano Competition in Linares, First Prize at the Ibiza International Piano Competition in Spain, First Prize for Music Interpretation awarded by “Amigos del Colegio de Espana” Association in Paris. She has also received top and special prizes at the 15th Jose Iturbi and Maria Canals International Competitions in Spain. To date, Ms. Melikyan toured throughout Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Armenia, Italy, Serbia and U.S. She appeared as a soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Malaga Symphony Orchestra, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, New Europe Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Andalucía, among others. Ms. Melikyan’s Festival appearances include solo recitals, chamber music and concerti performances at prestigious Domenico Scarlatti, Valladolid, Canary Islands, Ibiza International Festivals in Spain, BEMUS International Music Festival in Belgrade, as well as Creil Festival in France. Recent performance activities include a debut recital at Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York, concerts in “Palau de Valencia” in Spain, “Salle Cortot” in Paris, “la Caixa Forum” and live broadcast on National Radio of Catalonia in Barcelona, appearance at the Dame Myra Hess Series and live broadcast on WFMT in Chicago, three concerts as a soloist and in ensemble at the First Armenian Music Festival in Juan March Foundation’s Concert Hall in Madrid. An avid chamber musician she has been mentored by Daniel Epstein at the Manhattan School of Music, performing to much critical acclaim with various ensembles in Europe and U.S., including Silvestri ensemble and regularly performing with musicians of Radio and Television Orchestra of Spain. In 2005 her piano duo was a winner of Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition at Manhattan School of Music. She has made many live recordings for Radio and Television broadcasts in Europe and U.S. To name a few: National Radio and Television of Spain, National Radio and Television of Armenia, Chicago WFMT Radio station, Muzzik French Television Station, among others. Ms. Melikyan has also released two CDs featuring the music of Haydn, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Albeniz, Dutilleux and Khachaturian. |
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