Credit: SZALON logo by Mia Bosna
September 26th SZALON - the 35 Year Celebration Program!
1. Pianist Kayoung An will perform Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, Op. 23, from her home in New York
2. Mimi Stillman performs her own composition, “Huldah for solo flute” and Piazzolla’s “Libertango” from her home in Philadelphia
3. Derek Brown will perform original songs in his one-of-a-kind "BEATBoX SAX" solo tenor sax style from his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan
4. Alicia Svigals will perform a selection of traditional East European Jewish klezmer fiddle tunes, from a hotel room in Madison, Wisconsin
5. Amy Barston, cello will perform “Stolen” for solo cello by Allison Loggins-Hull, a work that musically depicts the confusion, anxiety, anger, and bravery of a young girl sold into marriage, from Andrea’s Salon in Philadelphia
6. Xiaohui Yang will perform Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op.60 from Andrea's Salon in Philadelphia
7. Bill Koutsouros’ Opa Band: Bill Koutsouros, Greek bouzouki, John Koutsouros, guitar, Bill Phipps, percussion perform original traditional infused Bouzouki music from Andrea’s Salon in Philadelphia
8. Jordan Dodson, guitar will perform Concierto de Aranjuez – Adagio cby Joaquin Rodrigo with Xiaohui Yang, piano from Andrea’s Salon in Philadelphia
9. Tania Stavreva, pianist, will perform her original composition "A Gift of Light” and Michael Nyman’s “Big My Secret” and “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” from "The Piano", from her studio in Manhattan, New York
10. Bet Williams, vocals/guitar, will perform her original compositions TBA at a country club in Pennsylvania
11. Singer/songwriter Bert Lee will offer two original songs, one brand new, the other from the back pages of his repertoire performing from his home in Gravesend, Brooklyn
12. Umer Piracha will perform 14th Century Sufi Music, Solo for Vocals, Ukulele and Tanpura Drone from his home in NY
Performer Bios, Program Information, and Link for Donations
Below you will find links that some of the performers have included where you can buy music and other merchandise, find additional content, or make a donation. Please consider supporting these musicians for donating their time and artistry this evening!
During these trying times for performers, your contributions are greatly appreciated.
For donations please click here, where you could contribute to the most current performance. To donate to specific performers, please see the links under their bios for the SZALON in which they performed.
Donations for the current SZALON will be collected on behalf of all performers by our fiscal sponsor, Crossroads Music. For questions about donations, please contact Gerardo Razumney at Zalon.Donations@AOL.com.
The SZALON is a labor of love. All team members are volunteering their time, including Andrea, who is also covering expenses. You may contribute to cover part of the SZALON expenses, by indicating this on the PayPal donation form.
Kayoung An
“Passionate”, “expressive”, “bold” and “sensitive is how critics glowingly described pianist Kayoung An’s performance with the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie at the Seoul Arts Center. It “penetrated deep into the heart, evoking an image of an artist painting on a canvas with a brush”. Kayoung An has also appeared as a soloist with the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonians, Amadeo Philharmonic Society, and Contemporary Repertoire Orchestra. Her performances have been broadcast on Cogeco TV, KBS Classic FM (Musical Common Ground) and KBS-TV (Music Anchor Desk). She has also been interviewed by Lusiter, Music Today, Music Journal, and the East Hampton Star. She has worked with prominent conductors Gábor Hontvári, Lawrence Golan, Francis Fortier and others. Winner of the First Prize at the New York International Artists Association Piano Competition and the Silver Award winner at the Paris International Competition, Kayoung An made her debut in Weill Carnegie Recital Hall in 2013. She has been a top prize-winner at the IBLA Grand Prize International Competition, Kiwanis Music Competition, Korea All-States National, Darius Milhaud Performance Prize, Duxbury Chamber Competition, CIM Concerto Competition, Kumho Young Artist, and uJung Rising Star Auditions. She also has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Babayan International Academy, Norfolk (Conn.) Chamber Music Festival, and the Rimsky-Korsakov Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kayoung An has been awarded piano performance degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music (B.Mus.), the New England Conservatory (M.Mus.), and the Colburn School (Artist Diploma). She was awarded the coveted Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) by the Manhattan School of Music. Dr. An is currently on the faculty at New Jersey City University.
https://www.facebook.com/pianistkayoung
Instagram @anka.brava
Mimi Stillman
Flutist Mimi Stillman, internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist, is renowned for her virtuosity, insightful interpretation, and innovative programming. “Stillman is not only a consummate and charismatic performer, but also a scholar whose programs tend to activate ear, heart, and brain.” (The New York Times) She has appeared with orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, and at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, National Sawdust, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, and Verbier Festival. Ms. Stillman is the founding Artistic Director of Dolce Suono Ensemble, performing Baroque to new music and Latin genres with 55 world premieres in 16 seasons. A Spanish-speaker, she created the popular Música en tus Manos project to engage the Latino community in chamber music. At age 12, Mimi Stillman was the youngest wind player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with the legendary Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner, and earned her Bachelor of Music degree. She holds an MA in History from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a published author on music and history, including her award-winning Nuits d’Etoiles: 8 Early Songs of Claude Debussy, Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, and Journal of the Mozart Society of America. She is highly regarded for expanding the repertoire through her commissions and arrangements, and can be heard on several critically acclaimed recordings. A Yamaha Performing Artist and Clinician, Ms Stillman has taught masterclasses and had residencies at universities including Florida, Texas, California, Virginia, Indiana, and New York, Eastman School of Music, École normale de Musique de Paris, the National Flute Association, and conservatories of Milan and Puerto Rico. She connects with a worldwide audience through her "Tea with Mimi" livestreams and is passionate about reaching out to underserved populations globally through online sessions and instructional videos to help flutists and flute teachers of all ages improve their skills. She is on the faculty of Temple University and Curtis Learning. www.mimistillman.com
Please follow on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram: @mimistillmanflute
www.youtube.com/mimistillmanflute
www.facebook.com/mimistillmanflute
www.instagram.com/mimistillmanflute
Derek Brown
From his 30+ million views across social media to his appearance on international television and NPR’s Weekend Edition, Billboard-charting saxophonist/innovator Derek Brown and his one-of-a-kind solo “BEATBoX SAX” project has been exploding across the world music scene.
As described by jazz journalist/historian Scott Yanow, "Brown performs unaccompanied solos that occasionally make one recall Bobby McFerrin in his early prime and the great saxophonist Eddie Harris . . .utilizing slap-tonguing, circular breathing, a wide interest in musical styles and dazzling coordination to create rather unique music."
www.derekbrownsax.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/beatboxsax
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Alicia Svigals
Klezmer violinist/composer Alicia Svigals is a founder of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, who she co-directed for seventeen years. She has worked with violinist Itzhak Perlman, the Kronos Quartet, playwrights Tony Kushner and Eve Ensler, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and many others. She has received commissions and awards for her compositions including her score to the 1918 film the Yellow Ticket (which she performs live with pianist Marilyn Lerner), and has been a Macdowell Fellow. Her most recent CD is Beregovski Suite, a duo with jazz pianist Uli Geissendoerfer exploring klezmer melodies collected in the early 20th century by Soviet Jewish ethnomusicologist Moshe Beregovski. Svigals currently collaborates with pianist/composer Donald Sosin on original scores for newly-restored 1920’s silent films, including The Ancient Law and City Without Jews, and the soon to be released restoration of Elinor Antin’s faux-20’s silent Man Without a World.
Donate to Alicia at https://paypal.me/svigalsklezmer or by Venmo: @Alicia-Svigals.
Website with concert calendar and email list signup is AliciaSvigals.com
https://www.facebook.com/AliciaSvigals.Violin
CDs: Beregovski Suite https://uligeissendoerfer.bandcamp.com/album/beregovski-suite
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Amy Barston
Praised as “passionate and elegant” by The New York Times, cellist Amy Barston has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on stages all over the world, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Ravinia, Caramoor, Haan Hall (Jerusalem), The Banff Centre, Prussia Cove (Englad), The Power House (Australia), and Chicago’s Symphony Center. At seventeen, she was soloist with the Chicago Symphony on live television, won Grand Prize in the Society of American Musicians’ Competition, and won First Place and the Audience Prize in the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition. Amy earned her Masters at Juilliard with Joel Krosnick. She also worked with Yo Yo Ma. She has performed as soloist with dozens of orchestras all over the world, and made her first solo appearance with orchestra in Guelph, Canada when she was twelve. Amy is a devoted teacher at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division. Her students commute for lessons from hundreds of miles away, some as far as Alaska and Japan. She is visiting cello professor at Xiamen University, artistic director of the Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival, and cellist of The Corigliano Quartet, which has been hailed by Strad Magazine as having "abundant commitment and mastery," and whose Naxos CD was named recording of the year by both the New Yorker and Gramophone. Amy’s recent recital performances include Bali, Australia, Taiwan, New Zealand, Canada, New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Rochester, Seattle, Chicago, and China.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3L4qGlXSGMvPTyHG0n96bK
https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Souvenirs-Amy-Sue-Barston/dp/B0047HKX90
Xiaohui Yang
A winner of the 2016 New Orleans International Piano Competition and the 2017 Naumburg
International Piano Competition, Chinese pianist Xiaohui Yang was hailed as a “magician of sound and virtuosity” (La Libre Belgique), having been featured in performances throughout four continents, including in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Ozawa Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Seoul Arts Center. Ms. Yang has been a soloist with ensembles such as the Louisiana Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Curtis Symphony, and Poland’s Capella Bydgostiensis. Solo and collaborative performances include recitals for Portland Piano International, Shriver Hall Concert Series (Baltimore), Union College Concert Series (Schenectady, NY), Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (Chicago) and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY). Ms. Yang has been in residence at important music festivals, such as Marlboro, Tanglewood, Ravinia and Taos. She has also been invited to perform on tours with Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute and Curtis on Tour at concert halls in the United States, Korea, and Greece. Ms. Yang studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Ignat Solzhenitsyn and at the Juilliard School with Robert McDonald, and currently she is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree under tutelage of Boris Slutsky at the Peabody Conservatory.
Donate to Xiaohui via Paypal at yxhshp@gmail.com
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Bill Koutsouros’ Opa Band
The Opa Band of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania currently performs both as an instrumental duo and as a full ensemble featuring Philadelphia's own John Koutsouros on Guitar and his son Bill on Bouzouki, Outi and Toubeleki! Their repertoire includes Traditional Greek Rembetika, Laika, Nissiotika, Demotika, Éntekhno and Eastern Mediterranean Music. The Opa Band is perfect for small and large celebrations, weddings, christenings, festivals, charity, corporate and educational events. The Opa Band brings the “kefi” with their unique blend of traditional Greek music to every performance, Opa!
John Koutsouros was born in Philadelphia in 1950. His interest and love of music started at a young age. His Grand Father, owner of a barber shop and pool hall on Locus Street in Philadelphia’s “Greek town” played the mandolin. John got ahold of a guitar and never stopped playing. He began performing and touring with American bands such as Vanilla Soul and various Greek musicians. John has been a professional Greek, Eastern Mediterranean and American music guitarist throughout the Philadelphi area and beyond since the late 1960s. He has performed with many area Greek bands and musicians at countless Greek events, dances and night clubs.
Bill Koutsouros was born in 1974. Growing up around constant music and dance with his father performing with several Greek and Middle Eastern Ensembles and his mother an eminent dancer, it was only natural that he follow in their path. His musical journey truly began at age 15 with his first red electric guitar and the formation of his band, Black Rainbow. Playing original music, in and around Philadelphia into his college years, Bill was inspired to open his mind and learn about music and cultures from around the world. He became particularly interested in his own Greek heritage as well as Greek, Middle Eastern, and Indian music traditions. As a result, He began acquiring and teaching himself to play the Bouzouki, Cumbus, Outi, Saz, Toubeleki, Riq and other ethnic instruments. In 1995 Animus was formed. Starting as an acoustic duo, Animus has since evolved into an original Bouzouki driven World Fusion ensemble taking "World Fusion" music to exciting new extremes. Currently, Bill plays the Bouzouki, Toubeleki, Guitar, Oud, and the Riq in Animus and The Opa Band. Bill has shared his Greek inspired music at many great events and venues such as Drexel University, Penn Museum, World Cafe Live, The Kimmel Center, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Sunoco Philadelphia Welcome America Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Festival and more.
Jordan Dodson and Andrea Clearfield
Performance Today describes classical guitarist Jordan Dodson as “one of the top young guitarists of his generation.” A winner of Astral’s 2013 National Auditions, he is an active soloist and chamber musician based in New York City. He has received awards from the 2011 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition, the 2010 Indiana International Guitar Competition, and the 2008 American String Teachers Association Competition. In 2013, he was a Young Artist in Residence on American Public Media’s Performance Today. He recently appeared as soloist with the Alabama Symphony, Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra and gave the regional premiere of A Concerto of Colours by Stephen Goss with the CCM Chamber Players. Mr. Dodson’s recent performance and teaching schedule has taken him across the U.S. and abroad to such venues as New York’s (Le) Poisson Rouge, Roulette (Brooklyn), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, National Sawdust (Williamsburg), and the Museo Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, and to such music festivals as the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Festival Daniou in France. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, Mr. Dodson has commissioned and premiered dozens of pieces internationally. He performs in several New York City chamber ensembles including the Metropolis Ensemble and The Weeklies and recently collaborated with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), NOW Ensemble, the American Modern Opera Company, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Contemporaneous. In the fall of 2011, Mr. Dodson was one of two students selected to inaugurate the Curtis Institute of Music’s classical guitar studio, bringing to the school not only a new instrument, but also new repertoire and new possibilities for music-making. Curtis Dean John Mangan said Dodson fulfilled the school’s need for “ambassadors for the instrument and its repertoire who could create interest among their peers, along with a desire to collaborate.” Jordan Dodson holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and his teachers have included Clare Callahan, David Starobin, and Jason Vieaux. He plays a Gary Lee guitar.
Bet Williams
A long-time favorite on the singer/songwriter, Americana music scene, Bet Williams infatuates audiences with her astounding 4-octave-range voice, intelligent lyrics and a highly charismatic stage presence. Full of raw emotion and a startling honesty, she ventures places most singer/songwriters hesitate to go. On festival stages or in small theaters, Bet creates huge soundscapes with her voice and acoustic guitar that reach beyond the boundaries of folk, blues, world music or rock. “Bet Williams is a performer who is seething with life,” according to NPR. No wonder she has appeared on stages with artists such as Taj Mahal, Joan Osborne, Herbie Hancock, Arlo Guthrie and Lucinda Williams.
“A blues roots, new folk tone poet with a highly charismatic stage presence and an astonishing four octave range voice.” – New York Daily News
Tania Stavreva
International multi-award winning Billboard Top 10 artist and "Bulgarian-born piano dynamo" (Time Out NY) Tania Stavreva is described by the critics as "most unique, most exciting, mesmerizing, world class, bold, dynamic, magnificent, hot, fearless, terrific and fascinating!" She is one of the most versatile young artists of her generation who "just might be able to reignite a bigger interest in classical music - especially with young people" says MainlyPiano.com. Some career highlights include solo performances at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Weill Recital Hall and on October 11, 2021 she will be performing at the Zankell Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has appeared also at Lincoln Center (New York), the Grammy Museum Theater/Clive Davis Auditorium (Los Angeles), Berlin Philharmonie (Berlin, Germany), Koerner Hall (Toronto, Canada), Place Des Arts (Montreal, Canada), Wheeler Opera House (Aspen, CO) and more. She has been featured on BBC Music Magazine, Billboard Magazine, ABC 7, NY 1 News, NY Daily News, AXS, CNN, Keyboard Magazine to name a few. Her "knockout" (The Huffington Post) album Rhythmic Movement reached Billboard Classical Top 10 and won 19 international music awards. Ms. Stavreva's orchestral experience includes collaborations with top orchestras and conductors including most recent collaboration with Grammy-nominated conductor Vladimir Gorbik. Tania Stavreva has appeared also at non-traditional music venues such as The Hard Rock Cafe (Hollywood, CA), Webster Hall (New York) and Paradise Rock Club (Boston, MA) and she has collaborated with artists such as two time Grammy-award winning drummers Will Calhoun (Living Colour) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer) as well with Amanda Palmer (The Dresden Dolls). Other experimental collaborations include projects with visual artists Danny Setiawan and Derick Little where Tania was body painted - connecting live music and body painting through music-color synesthesia. In 2012Tania Stavreva made her acting debut on Off-Off Broadway in New York in Shakespeare's The Tempest. More about Tania: www.TaniaStavreva.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TaniaStavreva.Official
Twitter: www.twitter.com/taniastavreva
Instagram: @ tania_stavreva
YouTube: www.youtube.com/taniastavreva
Bert Lee
Bert Lee has long been an icon in the New York songwriting scene. He's performing this evening from his home in Gravesend, Brooklyn. He offers for us two original songs, one brand new, the other from the back pages of his extensive repertoire.
You can find Bert's Music at https://bertlee.bandcamp.com and updates about his shows and live streams on Facebook at Bert Lee Songs and Music.
You also can find his novels and short stories on Amazon at Bert Lee: Books
Umar Piracha
Umer Piracha is a classically trained singer and translator of ancient Sufi (mystical/spiritual) poetry and music, that originated in the royal courts of 14th century India (and present day Pakistan). He has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York with the Raga-Jazz act "Charu Suri & Friends", and has been featured on New York Public Radio’s New Sound, NPR and John Schaefer’s New Sounds | Voice | Healing | Meditation | Transcendence | Conversation
Venmo: @FalsaMusic
Paypal: www.paypal.me/falsamusic
Weblinks: https://linktr.ee/falsamusic
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