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Musical Bridges Around the World presents International Music Festival

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Photo courtesy of Cristina Pato

Musical Bridges Around the World features five concerts at Empire Theatre available as part of a subscription and three free concerts at San Fernando Cathedral.

Empire Theatre schedule

  • January 27: Founder's Concert - A Celebration of Musical Bridges’ founding artists - award winning jazz pianist Valeri Grokhovski, piano, Mark Cheikhet, violin, and partnership with the members of the San Antonio Symphony. In high demand globally, Valeri Grokhovski was one of the first Musical Bridges’ artists, and a favorite of San Antonio audiences. Blending Jazz and Classical styles, this brilliant pianist juggles Bach, Mozart, Puccini and Rachmaninov with ease, giving their work new life through jazz improvisation. The program will be enriched by the violin timbre, played by Mark Cheikhet. Cheikhet founded and was first violinist in the “International String Quartet,” which played in Hollywood and became well known for imaginative interpretations of new works by modern composers in the Los Angeles area.
  • January 28: America's Jazz Icons: Billy Hart Quartet - Billy Hart, one of the leading drummers of our time, is making jazz history with his quartet. Hart made an indelible mark on the jazz world in the ’60s and ’70s with his work with such jazz legends as Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Eddie Harris, Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis. Performing with the creative group of pianist Ethan Iverson (Bad Plus), saxophonist Mark Turner (Fly), and bassist Ben Street (Orange Then Blue), Hart explores new territory, pushing the boundaries of post-bop and straight-ahead, of free jazz and composition, all the while embracing beauty and soulful communication. Turner’s rich, gorgeous tenor and Iverson’s exquisite technique combine to create a nearly infinite variety of textures and colors. Street and Hart have an uncanny connection that nables them to move effortlessly between swinging, tight grooves and sonic landscapes.
  • February 1: Tales from the Edge of Spain - This concert is a unique artistic event with Cristina Pato, Galician bagpiper, and Victor Prieto, Galician accordion, celebrating San Antonio’s Spanish heritage. Member of the Silk Road Ensemble led by Yo-Yo Ma and an adviser to the Silk Road Project, Cristina Pato appeared on the Grammy Award-winning album Songs of Joy and Peace (2008) and in the documentary Music of Strangers. Pato will be joined by Grammy Award Winner Victor Prieto (accordion) whose “trance-like power of Tuvan singing, haunting beauty of Celtic music, heat of Latin jazz and iconic brand of New York jazz, united by the brute yet flexible accordion,” and their band Latina.
  • February 3: International Sister City Jazz Ensemble - The creation of a Sister City International Jazz Band is an innovative project for MBAW’s 5th International Music Festival. The ensemble includes saxophonist Shlomi Kohen (Tel Aviv, Israel); guitarist Prasanna (Chennai, India); Mexican guitarist Oscar Zensei Gonzalez, bassist Vico Diaz, and jazz singer Magos Herrera; saxophonist and flutist Anke Schimpf (Darmstadt, Germany), jazz pianist Sonoda Tomoko (Kumamoto, Japan), accordionist Victor Prieto (Galicia, Spain) and other accomplished, versatile musicians from San Antonio Sister cities: Windhoek (Namibia) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan). San Antonio’s legendary jazz pianist Dr. Aaron Prado has been commissioned to compose a new work for the Festival’s Grand Finale.
  • February 4: "Barynya" Russian Folk Dance Ensemble - Russian music, dance and song ensemble Barynya (Russian: Барыня), established in the year 1991 in New York City, is a world renowned group that enjoys exalting stature as the premier Russian folk ensemble outside of Russia. Barynya presents Russian, Cossack, Ukrainian, Jewish and Gypsy Roma traditional dancing, music, songs, and virtuoso performances on instruments including the balalaika, garmoshka (Russian folk button accordion) and balalaika contrabass. Barynya has been invited to perform at some of the most prestigious cultural venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the Smithsonian Institute of America in Washington D.C., the United Nations in New York, and the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C.

San Fernando Cathedral schedule

  • January 30: Gems of China - Zhang Jianzhen and Chen Yan, all the way from Suzhou, China, San Antonio's friendship city, will present the unique and exquisite art of Pingtan. Suzhou Pingtan, an ancient musical/oral performance art form, is a gem of Chinese art. It lives up to its reputation as the most beautiful voice of China. Pingtan originated in Suzhou. It is a regional variety of the talking and singing art form, performed in Suzhou dialect. “Storytelling, joke cracking, music playing, singing and acting” are the performing techniques, while “reasoning, tastes, unexpectedness, interest, and refinement” are the artistic features.
  • January 31: Czech This Out! - Heritage of Bohemian-Czech music will be presented to music lovers during this concert. San Antonio audiences will have the unique opportunity to see a living legend of Czech classical and European jazz music – Felix Slováček senior and also two young stars of the current Czech musical scene – clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Felix Slováček junior, who is likely to replace his father as the top Czech clarinet player and also the pianist Viacheslav Grokhovski, Jr., from the famous Grokhovski musical family. 
  • February 2: Hexameron - Featuring gold medalists of previous San Antonio International Piano Competitions, including Scott Cuellar, Richard Dowling, Mei Rui, Lo-An Lin, Mi-Jung Im and Roger Wright, this concert celebrates the merger of MBAW and San Antonio International Piano Competition. The famous collaborative piece for six pianists twelve hands by Franz Liszt and his virtuoso contemporaries will be complemented by piano extravaganza of favorite piano duos and trios, such as Barber of Seville fantasy for 6 hands, Lutoslawski's Paganini variations and Libertango by Astor Piazzolla for 2 pianos.

Musical Bridges Around the World features five concerts at Empire Theatre available as part of a subscription and three free concerts at San Fernando Cathedral.

Empire Theatre schedule

  • January 27: Founder's Concert - A Celebration of Musical Bridges’ founding artists - award winning jazz pianist Valeri Grokhovski, piano, Mark Cheikhet, violin, and partnership with the members of the San Antonio Symphony. In high demand globally, Valeri Grokhovski was one of the first Musical Bridges’ artists, and a favorite of San Antonio audiences. Blending Jazz and Classical styles, this brilliant pianist juggles Bach, Mozart, Puccini and Rachmaninov with ease, giving their work new life through jazz improvisation. The program will be enriched by the violin timbre, played by Mark Cheikhet. Cheikhet founded and was first violinist in the “International String Quartet,” which played in Hollywood and became well known for imaginative interpretations of new works by modern composers in the Los Angeles area.
  • January 28: America's Jazz Icons: Billy Hart Quartet - Billy Hart, one of the leading drummers of our time, is making jazz history with his quartet. Hart made an indelible mark on the jazz world in the ’60s and ’70s with his work with such jazz legends as Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Eddie Harris, Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis. Performing with the creative group of pianist Ethan Iverson (Bad Plus), saxophonist Mark Turner (Fly), and bassist Ben Street (Orange Then Blue), Hart explores new territory, pushing the boundaries of post-bop and straight-ahead, of free jazz and composition, all the while embracing beauty and soulful communication. Turner’s rich, gorgeous tenor and Iverson’s exquisite technique combine to create a nearly infinite variety of textures and colors. Street and Hart have an uncanny connection that nables them to move effortlessly between swinging, tight grooves and sonic landscapes.
  • February 1: Tales from the Edge of Spain - This concert is a unique artistic event with Cristina Pato, Galician bagpiper, and Victor Prieto, Galician accordion, celebrating San Antonio’s Spanish heritage. Member of the Silk Road Ensemble led by Yo-Yo Ma and an adviser to the Silk Road Project, Cristina Pato appeared on the Grammy Award-winning album Songs of Joy and Peace (2008) and in the documentary Music of Strangers. Pato will be joined by Grammy Award Winner Victor Prieto (accordion) whose “trance-like power of Tuvan singing, haunting beauty of Celtic music, heat of Latin jazz and iconic brand of New York jazz, united by the brute yet flexible accordion,” and their band Latina.
  • February 3: International Sister City Jazz Ensemble - The creation of a Sister City International Jazz Band is an innovative project for MBAW’s 5th International Music Festival. The ensemble includes saxophonist Shlomi Kohen (Tel Aviv, Israel); guitarist Prasanna (Chennai, India); Mexican guitarist Oscar Zensei Gonzalez, bassist Vico Diaz, and jazz singer Magos Herrera; saxophonist and flutist Anke Schimpf (Darmstadt, Germany), jazz pianist Sonoda Tomoko (Kumamoto, Japan), accordionist Victor Prieto (Galicia, Spain) and other accomplished, versatile musicians from San Antonio Sister cities: Windhoek (Namibia) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan). San Antonio’s legendary jazz pianist Dr. Aaron Prado has been commissioned to compose a new work for the Festival’s Grand Finale.
  • February 4: "Barynya" Russian Folk Dance Ensemble - Russian music, dance and song ensemble Barynya (Russian: Барыня), established in the year 1991 in New York City, is a world renowned group that enjoys exalting stature as the premier Russian folk ensemble outside of Russia. Barynya presents Russian, Cossack, Ukrainian, Jewish and Gypsy Roma traditional dancing, music, songs, and virtuoso performances on instruments including the balalaika, garmoshka (Russian folk button accordion) and balalaika contrabass. Barynya has been invited to perform at some of the most prestigious cultural venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the Smithsonian Institute of America in Washington D.C., the United Nations in New York, and the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C.

San Fernando Cathedral schedule

  • January 30: Gems of China - Zhang Jianzhen and Chen Yan, all the way from Suzhou, China, San Antonio's friendship city, will present the unique and exquisite art of Pingtan. Suzhou Pingtan, an ancient musical/oral performance art form, is a gem of Chinese art. It lives up to its reputation as the most beautiful voice of China. Pingtan originated in Suzhou. It is a regional variety of the talking and singing art form, performed in Suzhou dialect. “Storytelling, joke cracking, music playing, singing and acting” are the performing techniques, while “reasoning, tastes, unexpectedness, interest, and refinement” are the artistic features.
  • January 31: Czech This Out! - Heritage of Bohemian-Czech music will be presented to music lovers during this concert. San Antonio audiences will have the unique opportunity to see a living legend of Czech classical and European jazz music – Felix Slováček senior and also two young stars of the current Czech musical scene – clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Felix Slováček junior, who is likely to replace his father as the top Czech clarinet player and also the pianist Viacheslav Grokhovski, Jr., from the famous Grokhovski musical family.
  • February 2: Hexameron - Featuring gold medalists of previous San Antonio International Piano Competitions, including Scott Cuellar, Richard Dowling, Mei Rui, Lo-An Lin, Mi-Jung Im and Roger Wright, this concert celebrates the merger of MBAW and San Antonio International Piano Competition. The famous collaborative piece for six pianists twelve hands by Franz Liszt and his virtuoso contemporaries will be complemented by piano extravaganza of favorite piano duos and trios, such as Barber of Seville fantasy for 6 hands, Lutoslawski's Paganini variations and Libertango by Astor Piazzolla for 2 pianos.

Musical Bridges Around the World features five concerts at Empire Theatre available as part of a subscription and three free concerts at San Fernando Cathedral.

Empire Theatre schedule

  • January 27: Founder's Concert - A Celebration of Musical Bridges’ founding artists - award winning jazz pianist Valeri Grokhovski, piano, Mark Cheikhet, violin, and partnership with the members of the San Antonio Symphony. In high demand globally, Valeri Grokhovski was one of the first Musical Bridges’ artists, and a favorite of San Antonio audiences. Blending Jazz and Classical styles, this brilliant pianist juggles Bach, Mozart, Puccini and Rachmaninov with ease, giving their work new life through jazz improvisation. The program will be enriched by the violin timbre, played by Mark Cheikhet. Cheikhet founded and was first violinist in the “International String Quartet,” which played in Hollywood and became well known for imaginative interpretations of new works by modern composers in the Los Angeles area.
  • January 28: America's Jazz Icons: Billy Hart Quartet - Billy Hart, one of the leading drummers of our time, is making jazz history with his quartet. Hart made an indelible mark on the jazz world in the ’60s and ’70s with his work with such jazz legends as Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Eddie Harris, Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis. Performing with the creative group of pianist Ethan Iverson (Bad Plus), saxophonist Mark Turner (Fly), and bassist Ben Street (Orange Then Blue), Hart explores new territory, pushing the boundaries of post-bop and straight-ahead, of free jazz and composition, all the while embracing beauty and soulful communication. Turner’s rich, gorgeous tenor and Iverson’s exquisite technique combine to create a nearly infinite variety of textures and colors. Street and Hart have an uncanny connection that nables them to move effortlessly between swinging, tight grooves and sonic landscapes.
  • February 1: Tales from the Edge of Spain - This concert is a unique artistic event with Cristina Pato, Galician bagpiper, and Victor Prieto, Galician accordion, celebrating San Antonio’s Spanish heritage. Member of the Silk Road Ensemble led by Yo-Yo Ma and an adviser to the Silk Road Project, Cristina Pato appeared on the Grammy Award-winning album Songs of Joy and Peace (2008) and in the documentary Music of Strangers. Pato will be joined by Grammy Award Winner Victor Prieto (accordion) whose “trance-like power of Tuvan singing, haunting beauty of Celtic music, heat of Latin jazz and iconic brand of New York jazz, united by the brute yet flexible accordion,” and their band Latina.
  • February 3: International Sister City Jazz Ensemble - The creation of a Sister City International Jazz Band is an innovative project for MBAW’s 5th International Music Festival. The ensemble includes saxophonist Shlomi Kohen (Tel Aviv, Israel); guitarist Prasanna (Chennai, India); Mexican guitarist Oscar Zensei Gonzalez, bassist Vico Diaz, and jazz singer Magos Herrera; saxophonist and flutist Anke Schimpf (Darmstadt, Germany), jazz pianist Sonoda Tomoko (Kumamoto, Japan), accordionist Victor Prieto (Galicia, Spain) and other accomplished, versatile musicians from San Antonio Sister cities: Windhoek (Namibia) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan). San Antonio’s legendary jazz pianist Dr. Aaron Prado has been commissioned to compose a new work for the Festival’s Grand Finale.
  • February 4: "Barynya" Russian Folk Dance Ensemble - Russian music, dance and song ensemble Barynya (Russian: Барыня), established in the year 1991 in New York City, is a world renowned group that enjoys exalting stature as the premier Russian folk ensemble outside of Russia. Barynya presents Russian, Cossack, Ukrainian, Jewish and Gypsy Roma traditional dancing, music, songs, and virtuoso performances on instruments including the balalaika, garmoshka (Russian folk button accordion) and balalaika contrabass. Barynya has been invited to perform at some of the most prestigious cultural venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the Smithsonian Institute of America in Washington D.C., the United Nations in New York, and the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C.

San Fernando Cathedral schedule

  • January 30: Gems of China - Zhang Jianzhen and Chen Yan, all the way from Suzhou, China, San Antonio's friendship city, will present the unique and exquisite art of Pingtan. Suzhou Pingtan, an ancient musical/oral performance art form, is a gem of Chinese art. It lives up to its reputation as the most beautiful voice of China. Pingtan originated in Suzhou. It is a regional variety of the talking and singing art form, performed in Suzhou dialect. “Storytelling, joke cracking, music playing, singing and acting” are the performing techniques, while “reasoning, tastes, unexpectedness, interest, and refinement” are the artistic features.
  • January 31: Czech This Out! - Heritage of Bohemian-Czech music will be presented to music lovers during this concert. San Antonio audiences will have the unique opportunity to see a living legend of Czech classical and European jazz music – Felix Slováček senior and also two young stars of the current Czech musical scene – clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Felix Slováček junior, who is likely to replace his father as the top Czech clarinet player and also the pianist Viacheslav Grokhovski, Jr., from the famous Grokhovski musical family.
  • February 2: Hexameron - Featuring gold medalists of previous San Antonio International Piano Competitions, including Scott Cuellar, Richard Dowling, Mei Rui, Lo-An Lin, Mi-Jung Im and Roger Wright, this concert celebrates the merger of MBAW and San Antonio International Piano Competition. The famous collaborative piece for six pianists twelve hands by Franz Liszt and his virtuoso contemporaries will be complemented by piano extravaganza of favorite piano duos and trios, such as Barber of Seville fantasy for 6 hands, Lutoslawski's Paganini variations and Libertango by Astor Piazzolla for 2 pianos.

WHEN

WHERE

San Fernando Cathedral
115 Main Plaza
San Antonio, TX 78205
https://musicalbridges.org/2018musicfestpromo

TICKET INFO

All events are subject to change due to weather or other concerns. Please check with the venue or organization to ensure an event is taking place as scheduled.
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