Classicals & Supper w/Grneta Ensemble

The trio of Vasko Dukovski, Ismail Lumanovski and Alexandra Joan with special guest Erno Kallai on violin will play a special program this Sunday.

PROGRAM:
* Bela Bartok, Five Romanian Dances Arr. for Two Clarinets and Piano
* Felix Mendelssohn - Concert Piece No. 2 in D minor for Two Clarinets and Piano
Presto
Andante
Allegretto Grazioso
* Olivier Messiaen- Quartet for The End of Time
"Praise to the immortality of Jesus", for violin and piano
* Nicholas Csicsko- Macedonian Bloody Weeding for Two Clarinets and Piano

****************************** Short Break***************

* Bela Bartok, Contrasts
Verbunkos - Recruiting Dance
Pihenő - "Relaxation"
Sebes - Fast Dance
* Gerald Cohen, Grneta Variations for Two Clarinets and Piano
* Mohammed Fariouz, Ughnia't Mariam for Two Clarinets
* Amilcare Ponchielli, Il Convegno for Two Clarinet and Piano

Grneta Ensemble is
Alexadnra Joan, Piano
Vasko Dukovski, Clarinet
Ismail Lumanovski, Clarinet

Special Guest:
Erno Kallai, Violin

1st Prize winners of the Arriaga Chamber Music Competition in 2010, praised for “the strength and intelligence of their playing” (lucidculture.com), the members of The Grneta Ensemble have been enchanting audiences with their temperament, virtuosity and original concert programs. Initially comprised of clarinetists Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski, the group became a trio in 2008, welcoming pianist Alexandra Joan and forming a unique combination of instruments.

All three are Juilliard graduates, prize winners in international music competitions and have been coached by Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima at the Juilliard School.

Sharing the same Eastern European background, these young musicians create engaging and unusual recital programs mostly inspired by folk elements and improvisation, bringing the popular to classical. Their repertoire includes works from the romantic era (Mendelssohn, Ponchielli) as well as original arrangements of instrumental pieces, music from the Balkans. Committed to preserving and continuing the clarinet duo tradition, The Grneta Ensemble has revived and performed many forgotten works as well as made many arrangements for its instrumentation. In addition the ensemble has inspired and commissioned a few new works such as “The Macedonian Bloody Wedding” by Nicholas Csicsko, inspired by and based on the first Macedonian play with the same title as well as “Grneta Variations” by Gerald Cohen.

Vasko Dukovski:

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.

Ismail Lumanovski:

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.

Alexandra Joan:

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.