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Norwood Village Green Concerts presents blues tonight, klezmer Sunday

Posted 6/19/14

NORWOOD -- The Norwood Village Green Concert Series continues its 2014 season with klezmer music with the ensemble Kleztory on Sunday, June 22 at 7 p.m. Similar to the music they perform, Kleztory is …

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Norwood Village Green Concerts presents blues tonight, klezmer Sunday

Posted

NORWOOD -- The Norwood Village Green Concert Series continues its 2014 season with klezmer music with the ensemble Kleztory on Sunday, June 22 at 7 p.m.

Similar to the music they perform, Kleztory is a rich mosaic of cultures including Russian, Canadian, Quebecois and Moldavian musical training and musical tastes such as classical, contemporary, jazz, blues, country and folk.

Meanwhile, bluesman Tas Cru will entertain at the Norwood park in the village green band shell June 19 at 7 p.m.

He will be accompanied by Chip Lamson, Meagan Janovsky and Laura Fitzsimmons Gilbert.

Tas Cru has been called "the master of the triple entendre." His songs are blues poetry, telltale life lessons crafted with verbal flair and delivered with a power and passion the heights of which only the seasoned concert entertainer can reach.

Through the use of innovative arrangements that are respectful of the original compositions, Kleztory has forged a unique and yet authentic musical path.

Kleztory has played in a wide variety of Montreal venues, and during the group’s history they have performed over 500 concerts in Canada, USA, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, and China.

Kleztory produced its first CD, entitled Kleztory – Musique Klezmer in 2001. Just year later they recorded a second CD in collaboration with I Musici de Montreal, under the direction of Yuli Turovsky, which saw international distribution on the Chandos Label in the spring of 2004. In March 2007 they released a third CD called Nomade. This album won them an Opus Prize in 2007 as the best Jazz/World Music album of the year in Québec. In 2013 Kleztory toured China. This year they launched thier new album Arrival and in April toured Costa Rica, complete with a new stage show.

The music of Russian-Canadian composer Airat Ichmouratov, recently named as Composer of Summer 2013 at Orford Arts Centre (Canada), has been performed by a wide range of ensembles and musicians in countries around the world, including Maim Vengerov, Stephane Tetreault, Quebec Symphony, Orchestre Metropolitain, and Yegor Dyachkov, just to name a few. Versatile in form and style Ichmouratov’s compositions have been influenced by Mahler, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Mussorgsky.

Born in Kazan, Russia, Ichmouratov studied clarinet at the Kazan State Conservatory. In 1993, when he was appointed as Associate clarinetist of the Tatarstan’s Opera and Ballet Theatre, and of the Kazan State Symphony Orchestra, he began to extensively tour Europe. He founded the Muczynski Trio, which won 1st prize and the Grand Award at the National Music Festival (Canada, 2002) and 1st Prize at the 8th International Chamber Music Competition in Krakow, Poland.

Elvira Misbakhova is a violinist who was born in Russia. She began studying violin at the age of seven and in 1994 entered the Kazan State Conservatory where she took up the viola, which was to become her principal instrument. For three years she was a member of the Kazan State Chamber Orchestra "La Primavera", as the assistant violist.

In 1999 Elvira came to Canada to pursue her Master’s degree at the University of Montreal under Eleonora Turovsky, and subsequently to complete her Doctorate in Interpretation. During the course of her musical studies she became the winner of the Concerto Competition and in October of 2001 she appeared as the soloist with the Symphony orchestra of the University of Montreal.

In 2002, she participated at both the prestigious Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and the world-renowned Bachacademie festival in Stuttgart, Germany under the direction of Helmuth Rilling.

Mark Peetsma has been performing live since 1995 when he first appeared with the art-rock/sound-sculptor Corpusse, creating a textured landscape with instruments and electronica. He then branched out into other areas of sound and music with his discovery of the double-bass, and has performed in many diverse styles ranging from Bluegrass and country to Swing Jazz, from Klezmer to old Blues. He has toured internationally and performed on CBC radio in the Montreal International Jazz Festival and on national television. He first toured Canada in 1997 with the Klezmer ensemble Les Gitans Sedentaires, appearing in the major Canadian jazz festivals. For the past 15 years Mark has co-hosted the weekly Olde Tyme Country and Bluegrass Sunday Nights in Montreal.

Alain Legault, guitarist, is a Montreal-born musician who is essentially self-taught. He began to play the guitar around the age of fifteen and was soon performing the songs of the great French singer songwriters such as Georges Brassens and Felix Leclerc, as well as accompanying many singer-songwriters in Montreal. His passion for East European music was ignited at a Jazzfest in 1997, after which he formed a Klezmer group called Les Gitans Sedentaires, with whom he performed over 200 shows. In 2000 he became the rhythm guitarist in Swing Dynamique, a gypsy jazz music ensemble, which performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

At the same time, with his long-time accomplice Mark Peetsma and clarinetist Airat Ichmouratov, he founded the Klezmer group that was to become Kleztory.

Melanie Bergeron is an accordion player, composer, arranger. After having completed her studies in Interpretation for classical piano at the University of Montreal, she formed the klezmer/gypsy band Gadji-Gadjo in 2002. She accompanied the show of contemporary dance Un deux sur le dos in New York. In 2006 she was with Quartango, and the accordionist for the album "Corteo”, a production of Le Cirque du Soleil.

Her music positions allowed her to work in Canada, United States, Europe, Mexico, Romania and more. Her band Gadji-Gadjo now have released three albums.

Admission is free but there is a “pass the bucket”. The series continues to take donations by check.

They can be mailed to Norwood Village Green Concert Series, 3 Bicknell Street, Norwood, NY 13668. All contributions are tax deductible.

For further information, visit www.nvgcs.org.