Thursday, July 30, 2009

Peacefest Concerts @ Music Island July 31, Aug 1

FRIDAY JULY 31, 2009
10:00 am Naftali Torok
11:00 am Cindy Ecksol

SATURDAY AUGUST 1, 2009
12:00 pm SLT Benito Flores
2:00 pm SLT Enniv Zarf



For the second year in a row Music Island is delighted to host a number of concerts as part of SL Peacefest. With all the proceeds going to selected organizations working for global peace, this is a chance to feel good and do good at the same time.

On Friday the focus will be on world music with Naftali Torok's European folk fiddle at 10 am SLT, followed by Cindy Ecksol's American folk roots music at 11 am.


Saturday the mood turns classical with Italian pianist Benito Flores at 12 noon SLT and composer/pianist Enniv Zarf at 2 pm.

Check the Peace Fest blog for the full weekend schedule
TELEPORT TO MUSIC ISLAND NOW

Charlie Navarathna films Jaworower concert

It's hard to convey the experience of a virtual concert to those who are not active within Second Life. Thank you Charlie for filming Izabel's concert and sharing it with the world.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Enniv Zarf, piano August 1 @ 2 pm

Have you missed Enniv?

I know I have! The seemingly irrepressible Second Life artist simply wore himself out with all his activities in two worlds. I don't know of anyone in SL that has been more active. Enniv composes, performs, hosted an SL television program, did machinama and was an important part of the SL Shakespeare company.... phew makes me tired just listing the things he has been involved with.

After a two month break Enniv's back and I am so pleased that--while he's determined to cut back for the sake of his own health and sanity-- he has agreed to perform on Music Island.

Everytime Enniv has brought a project to Music Island, it has been something new and exciting. The last time Enniv performed at Music Island, he wanted to be inspired by the audience. I found a collaborative online writing site SKRBL and we were able to project the collaborative writing onto the screen for Enniv to relate to musically.

Previously Enniv has worked with particle artists, sculptors and photographers to create events that push the limits far beyond what is possible in real life.

What is his plan for August 1? Join us and see.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Enniv Zarf/Paul Kwo has studied piano since he was five and he has received a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano and a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Southern California.

He has studied composition with Frank Ticheli, Tamar Diesendruck and David Fick; piano, with Norman Krieger, Lucinda Carver, Francois Regnat and Charles Fierro; Jazz voice, with Matt Falker; Jazz piano, with Russ Ferrante. He has also had the opportunity to work with Bernard Rands, Steven Hartke, Menachem Wiesenberg, David Tcimpidis and Chen Yi. Paul has also studied acting with Joseph Hacker, Jack Rowe, Michael Keenan, Palmer Fuller and Jan Hennigan, and playwriting with Velina Houston.

As a composer, his piece Nanking 1937- recieved the Jimmy McHugh Composition Prize, Endowed by Lucille Meyers at USC. The piece also was placed among the top seven by the New York Youth Symphony's 2006 First Music Competition receiving a special recognition. Also in 2005 Paul's Ancient Sacrament for the Organic Machine was placed among the top seven by NYYS's 2005 First Music competition. The piece led him to be a finalist in the 2004 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards . Furthermore, ERM Media's has awarded his Ancient Sacrament for the Organic Machine to be included in their 'Masterworks of the New Era' Volume Ten, recorded with the Kiev Philharmonic to be released in 2007. Even while he was a senior in Gabrielino High School , Paul was given the opportunity to provide the arrangement of the Alma Mater for the Band. His symphonic poem Maganddore was accepted by USC's New Music for Orchestra concert in 2006. His music was also performed at the Society of Composer Inc. Region VI Conference at Rice University Syzygy Concert (New Music at Rice) 2006, and his solo piano work Surge has been performed by Chenny Gan at Wintergreen Performing Arts on February 25, 2006 at Wintergreen, Virginia, and has been recorded and released on her 2006 Solo Piano Album.

His career as a pianist has allowed him to perform several of his own compositions at various venues. In addition, he has performed under the batons of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Larry Livingston, Robert Reynolds, Carl St. Clair, Shelly Berg, Don Crockett and Timothy Su, and alongside Yo-Yo Ma and Chinese singer Wei Wei. He is also very active as a pianist and teacher in Southern California.

He is currently working in Los Angeles as an Actor/Filmmaker/Musician/Educator along with being inside the virtual world of Second Life as the above along as an Entrepreneur and Visual Artist.

Benito Flores, piano Sat Aug 1 @ 12 pm

The rising star of the Italian piano keyboard returns to the Music Island stage in support of the Peace Festival (additional Peace Festival events will be happening at Music Island, throughout the Cedar Island region and across Second Life)

About the Artist:

ALESSANDRO MARANGONI pianoforte (Benito Flores in Second Life)

Alessandro Marangoni was born in Italy, in 1979. He studied piano with Marco Vincenzi, obtaining a diploma with honours (summa cum laude) and he studied with Maria Tipo and Pietro De Maria at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.

He is graduated with honours in Philosophy at Università di Pavia , with a thesis about the philosophy of music by Fernando Liuzzi, as a merit scholar of Almo Collegio Borromeo, one of the most ancient and important italian colleges.

After several national and international awards, he has appeared in many recitals, chamber music concerts and concerts with orchestra in different important musical centres and associations throughout Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Great Britain: recently he played with Orchestra Filarmonica of Turin, Associazione Musicale Lucchese, Fondazione Walton in Ischia, Cittadella in Assisi, Engadiner Internationale Kammermusik-Festspiele, Sagra Musicale Umbra, Italian Cultural Institute in London, Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, Saint John’s College in Cambridge etc. achieving both critical and popular success.


He has always dedicated substantial time to chamber music: with the cellist Vittorio Ceccanti, with Nuovo Quartetto Italiano, with the flutists Mario Ancillotti and Stefano Parrino, with the singers Daria Masiero and Carlo Zardo. He played Mozart’s Concertos K 449 & K 271 on tour with Amadeus Kammerorchester Salzburg (Mozarteum), conducted by Simone Fontanelli.

He playedwith great critical acclaim in Spain with Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra and in Bratislava with Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the great Italian conductor Aldo Ceccato. He has recently started an artistic cooperation with the actress Valentina Cortese for future projects.

Since 2006 Alessandro has been the pianist of Trio Albatros Ensemble who perform the works of many Italian composers such as Bettinelli, Chailly, Mosca, Gaslini, Solbiati, Festa etc. who have also written some original works for this ensemble. Alessandro has recorded all the "Peches de vieillesse" by Rossini (on Naxos) and previously released a CD of the piano works by Victor de Sabata (La Bottega Discantica), for the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his death.

Izabela Jawororer, violin July 25 @ 12 pm


Izabela has been performing one movement of the Four Seasons each season throughout the past year, beginning with "Winter" in December '08. Here in high summer, she brings us the third movement, with complementary repertoire for a hot weekend at Music Island.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Izabela Spiewak (Izabela Jawororer in SL) started her career as a winner of the Wieniawski/Lipinski Competition at the age of 17, in Poland. She is a graduate of the State Music School for gifted children which she joined at the age of 8 and attended for 12 years on full scholarship. Subsequently she earned a Performing Artists' Degree with honors from the acclaimed Warsaw Conservatory. Ms. Spiewak recorded for Polish Radio and TV and was part of the Polish Radio and TV Orchestra.

Ms. Spiewak was offered a full scholarship to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute under the direction of Leonard Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas. She studied and performed with distinguished masters such as Menachem Pressler, Martha Argerich, Lynn Harrell and Pinchas Zuckerman. She recorded with Leonard Bernstein, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, YoYo Ma and Yehudi Menuhin. She was privileged to play for Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, and the Pope John Paul II. She is an active recitalist and a leader of the Arcangelo Piano Quartet (since 1997). In addition to her busy performing career, she keeps a prominent teaching studio where she shares her expertise with talented young violinists.

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