WOMEN FROM THE EAST

Event

Women from the East - Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra

The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra performs works by four renowned female composers from the East at Reykjavík Arts Festival. The conductor will be the Russian-born French conductor and pianist, Vladimir Stoupel. He is renowned for an extraordinary technical command that enables him to explore the outermost limits of expression, and to mesmerise audiences with his musical intensity.

The composers are:

    * Teh Tze Siew, born in Pulau Pinang, lives and works in Kelim.

    * Sofia Gubaidulina, born in Chistopol in the Tatar Republic of the Soviet Union.

    * Frangis Ali-Sade, born and educated in Baku in Azerbaijan.

    * Lera Auerbach, born in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Urals bordering Siberia.

Soloists at the concert will be the artistic director Rut Ingólfsdóttir, violin, Sigurður Bjarki Gunnarsson, cello, Anna Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, piano, Frank Aarnink, percussion, Sigurgeir Agnarsson, cello, and Hrólfur Vagnsson,  bayan.

Conductor

Vladimir Stoupel, pianist and conductor:

Vladimir Stoupel is an individualist with an extraordinarily rich tonal and emotional palette. The Washington Post recently praised his “protean range of expression” and Der Tagesspiegel Berlin described his performance as “enthralling and atmospherically dense.” His extraordinary technical command allows him to explore the outermost limits of expression, mesmerizing audiences with his musical intensity. His recent release of the complete Scriabin Sonatas on the Audite label was deemed „one of the best complete editions of Scriabin's piano sonatas“ by ARTE, and among other distinctions, received the "Excellentia" Prize from the classical music magazine Pizzicato.

Since making his conducting debut at the age of seventeen in Moscow, Vladimir Stoupel has maintained an active profile as a conductor in addition to his esteemed work as a pianist. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Philharmonie Neubrandenburg, Leipziger Pops Orchestra, Berliner Kammerphilharmonie, Camerata Hamburg, Junge Europa Philharmonie, Berlin Sinfonietta, the Alfred Schnittke Philharmonic in Saratov (Russia), Polish Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Europea and Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic (Poland). His performances have been hailed by critics as “enchanted” (Frankfurter Allgemeine) and “confident” (Der Tagesspiegel Berlin).

Composers

Teh Tze Siew was born in Pulau Pinang in 1971. She began her piano studies at the age of ten, and was active as an erhu player with the Chinese Orchestra during her secondary schooldays.  Her compositions include a Chinese ensemble which was once performed by Xi'an Chinese Orchestra led by Zhang Lie, and a work for voice and cello, string quartet and several works for piano.

Frangis Ali-Sade was born and educated in Baku in Azerbaijan. In recent years she has lived and worked in Germany. Her music has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet, who performed her piece Oasis at the Barbican in January 2005. She wrote Dervish in 2000 for Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project.

One of the most widely performed composers of the new generation, Lera Auerbach is the youngest author on the roster of Hamburg's prestigious international music publishing company Hans Sikorski. Lera Auerbach has appeared as a solo pianist at such prestigious venues as the Bolshoi Saal of Moscow Conservatory, Tokyo's Opera City, New York's Lincoln Center and Washington's Kennedy Center.

Sofia Gubaidulina's is one of most renowned Russian composer. Her compositional interests have been stimulated by the tactile exploration and improvisation with rare Russian, Caucasian, and Asian folk and ritual instruments collected by the "Astreia" ensemble by the rapid absorption and personalization of contemporary Western musical techniques.  In January 2007, Gubaidulina was the first woman composer to be spotlighted by the BBC during its annual “composer weekend”.

Musicians

The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra
The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1974 under the leadership of Rut Ingólfsdóttir. It initially comprised a dozen young musicians who had recently returned to Iceland to perform with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. The ensemble was founded with the dual objective of offering the public regular performances of chamber music from the Baroque era to the twentieth century and of providing performing musicians with varied and challenging performance opportunities. It can be said without hesitation that the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, now one of the cornerstones of Icelandic musical life, has succeeded in its mission. It is a frequent guest at the Reykjavík Arts Festival and has appeared at numerous music festivals in other countries. In May 2003, the RCO toured Belgium and Russia under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 2004 the group received the Icelandic Music Award for its recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concerti, performed under the baton of Jaap Schröder.

Programme

• Lera Auerbach      Serenade for a Melancholic Sea op. 68 for violin, cello, piano and strings.
• Frangis Ali-Sade   Concerto for percussions and chamber orchestra
• Teh Tze Siew      Bamboo Forest for 12 musicians
• Sofia Gubaidulina Seven Words for cello, bayan and strings