Sybarbite5 and the cell announce 2010 residency

’ÄúSYBARITE5@the cell,’Äù 338 W. 23RD STREET: JANUARY 22-24; OCTOBER 22-24; DECEMBER 10-12

NINE-CONCERT RESIDENCY JUXTAPOSES THE WORKS OF STRAVINSKY, DVORAK, AND MOZART WITH RE-IMAGINED ARRANGEMENTS OF RADIOHEAD AND OTHER WORKS WRITTEN FOR SYBARITE5

Sybarite5, known for breaking down musical boundaries, embarks on a nine-concert residency, ’ÄúSybarite5@the cell.’Äù The residency, part of the ensemble’Äôs Alternative Venue Initiative, continues the group’Äôs tradition of innovative programming in non-traditional performance spaces.

The three weekend-long programs explore the spectrum of Sybarite5’Äôs artistic mission, juxtaposing the works of Dvorak, Mozart, Piazolla and Stravinsky, with arrangements of Radiohead songs and works by contemporary composers Piotr Szewczyk, Dan Visconti, Matt Van Brink, Deborah Barnekow and Thomas Osborne.

As Louis Levitt the Director of Sybarite5 says, ’ÄúOur programming has always tried to reflect our commitment to both the traditional chamber music repertoire and the music of our generation. By performing the music of Radiohead alongside composers like Stravinsky and Dvorˆ°k we hope to move chamber music into the future while still respecting the traditions of the past.

"We are excited to embark on this residency with the cell. We hope this collaboration will establish a new venue for New York’Äôs music lovers to hear interesting chamber music. Chelsea will now have a resident string quintet at their front door.’Äù

Nancy Manocherian, Founding Director of the cell, ’ÄúWe are thrilled to expand our programming to include top-notch chamber music. We look forward to collaborating with Sybarite5 to establish a new home for great music.’Äù

Tickets for individual programs are $20; tickets for all three programs $50 available by calling (513) 543-1981 or rsvp@sybarite5.org or at the cell box office: 338 W.23rd Street, NYC.

The complete programs are as follows (subject to change):

January 22, 2010 (repeated January 23, 24, 2010)

ORIGINS/ROOTS/UMAMI:
Examining the roots of the ensemble, in classical music and as individuals.

Piotr Szewczyk - The Rebel
Igor Stravinsky - Pulcinella Suite, arr. Levitt/Barnes
---
Dan Visconti - Black Bend
Astor Piazolla - Tango Suite
Radiohead Remixed Project - Arr. Paul Sanho Kim
Selections TBD


October 22, 2010 (repeated October 23, 24, 2010)

EXPLORE/INNOVATE/ADVANCE:
Exploring new works commissioned for the ensemble along with pieces that have changed the landscape of classical music.

Matt Van Brink - Tureasca
Deborah Barnekow - Yesterday’Äôs Rose (NY Premier)
Led Zeppelin
Selections TBD
---
Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo a la Turk
Radiohead Remixed
Selections TBD
Thomas Osborne- Furioso: Vendetta for String Quintet

December 10, 2010 (repeated December, 11, 12, 2010)

JUXTAPOSE/CONTRAST/SHUFFLE:
Pressing the shuffle button on a live iPod: Sybarite5. Mozart, Radiohead, Stravinsky, Dvorak, Led Zeppelin, Visconti & many more.

About Sybarite5:

Devoted to expanding the repertoire for string quintet, SYBARITE5 challenges conventional musical boundaries to boldly step forward into a new genre of chamber music. SYBARITE5 has been featured on American Public Radio’Äôs Performance Today, the CBS Early Show, Strings Magazine and the international classical music channel Medici.tv. They have performed at Lincoln Center in New York City and numerous Aspen Music Festival Concerts in Colorado. In August of 2008, they were invited to perform for former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice & Madeline Albright. Their innovative fusion of the Baroque with multi-media resulted in the critically acclaimed DIDO Project; a new production of Henry Purcell’Äôs Dido and Aeneas, performed at the Samsung Experience in New York City.

They were the first string quintet admitted to the Aspen Music Festival and School’Äôs Advanced Quartet Studies program, where they worked with Earl Carlyss of The Juilliard Quartet, bassist Edgar Meyer, as well as the Cavani, American, and Ying String Quartets.

Recent projects include: Radiohead Remixed- commissioning, performing, and recording classical works inspired and influenced by the British band Radiohead; as well as The DIDO Project- melding art technology & humanism in the heart of New York’Äôs Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.

Other ongoing projects include: the Alternative Venues Initiative seeking out untraditional performance venues as well as an International Composition Contest. In June of 2009 SYBARITE5 represented the Aspen Music Festival in a new capacity as the AMFS Alumni Ensemble.

Based in New York City, SYBARITE5 is a non-profit arts organization that continues to perform and educate at the Aspen Music Festival and across the US.

For more information on Sybarite5 please visit www.sybarite5.org

About the players:

Sami Merdinian, violin

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, among other venues. Also a member of Sejong Soloists 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.

Sarah Whitney, violin

Sarah Whitney, an active solo, and chamber musician, has been heard worldwide across stages in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States. As a chamber musician, Ms. Whitney has performed as guest artist on the Cleveland Institute of Music Faculty Concert Series, the Cleveland Composer’Äôs Guild and the Memphis Chamber Music Society Solo Concert Series As a soloist she received second prize in the 2000 Philharmonic Society of Arlington, MA Young Artists Competition. Most recently, Ms. Whitney led the Cleveland Central Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra as concertmaster on tour to Carnegie Hall and again returned to the stage with the New World Symphony. She has participated in festivals in Italy, France, and China as well as the Aspen Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West and the Spoleto Music Festival USA. She has also collaborated with the Josh Ritter Band and can be heard on their latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, produced by Sony Music BMG. Ms. Whitney received her M.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her B.M with honors from the University of Michigan. Her teachers include Kathleen Winkler, Aaron Berfosky, Cyrus Forough, Stephen Shipps, Paul Kantor and William Preucil. Ms. Whitney plays on a Luigi Sofritti violin made in 1885.

Angela Pickett, viola

Angela Pickett has performed as a violist, violinist, and fiddler throughout North America and Europe. A member of the Princeton Symphony, Angela has also performed with Wet Ink Music, Ne(x)tworks, Continuum, and recently premiered a new version of Helmut Lachenmann’Äôs Mouvement with the Argento Chamber Ensemble. In 2006, Angela performed Ann Southam’Äôs Re-Tuning for viola and tape at the 34th International Viola Congress, and a subsequent performance of Re-Tuning at the 2006 International Sound Symposium was recorded for national radio broadcast. As a fiddler, she has performed with Irish tenor John McDermott, the Chieftains, and appeared on numerous recordings of Irish/Newfoundland traditional music. A doctoral candidate in viola performance at the Manhattan School of Music, Angela completed a Masters degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music in her hometown of St. John’Äôs, Newfoundland, Canada. Angela has attended Tanglewood Music Centre, Aldeburgh Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Centre d’ÄôArts Orford, and has twice been a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’Äô Grant for Classical Musicians. Angela’Äôs principal teachers include Michael Tree, Samuel Rhodes, Karen Tuttle and Karen Dreyfus.

Laura Metcalf, Cello

Cellist Laura Metcalf enjoys an active performing career in and around New York City, having been heard recently such venues as Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, the French Consulate of New York, the Tenri Cultural Institute, the J.P. Morgan Library, St. John the Divine Cathedral, and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. As a member of the Stella Piano Trio, she gave her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in 2006, and in 2007 participated in the ARD Competition in Munich, Germany, where the trio was the top-ranked North American ensemble. She gave her New York concerto debut in 2007 performing Beethoven’Äôs Triple Concerto with the Ensemble 212 Orchestra, and was named a semi-finalist in the 2007 Hudson Valley Concerto Competition. Laura has performed at music festivals including Taos, IMS Prussia Cove, Sarasota, Aspen, and Fontainebleau (France). As an orchestral musician, she was recently appointed assistant principal cellist of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, and performs regularly as a member of Michael Tilson Thomas’Äôs New World Symphony. She studied with Timothy Eddy and Michael Reynolds, and is a faculty member at the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music.

Louis Levitt, double bass

Louis Levitt has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New World Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Orchestra of the S.E.M. and was principal of the Springfield Symphony. An active chamber musician Mr. Levitt has performed along side the Grammy nominated Quartet San Francisco, and multiple Grammy-winning composer Bob James. Other appearances include the Aspen Music Festival Salida Chamber Series, American Modern Ensemble, LaSalle Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati Ohio, as well as the Telluride Music Festival in Colorado. He has appeared as a soloist performing Frank Proto's Carmen Fantasy with orchestra, Jean Francaix's Mozart New Look, and most recently David Anderson’Äôs Capriccio at the WABASS Institute for 21st Century Bassists. Mr. Levitt received his degrees from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music where he studied with Albert Laszlo. He has also received multiple fellowships to the Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Paul Ellison, Albert Laszlo, Eugene Levinson, Bruce Bransby, and Stuart Sankey. Mr. Levitt is originally from Sarasota Florida, where he studied with John Miller.

About the cell:

the cell’Äôs mission is to incubate and present new works that mine the mind, pierce the heart and awaken the soul. the cell is located at 338 W. 23rd Street, NYC.

For more information please visit www.thecelltheatre.org org>