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Brunetto Latini from the Dante Suite by Bruce Saylor :
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"a perfect demonstration of supreme ability”
"a brilliant artist" New York Times
Acclaimed for his artistry and technical brilliance, violinist Gil Morgenstern has performed in many of the world’s great concert halls. The New York Times has hailed his playing as “a perfect demonstration of supreme ability;" “a rare poet of the violin” reported The South China Morning Post; “Morgenstern played a program that tested every part of a violinist’s equipment and he did it all beautifully” wrote The Washington Post.
Mr. Morgenstern’s career has taken him to international venues including Wigmore Hall, London; Cultural Center Concert Hall, Hong Kong; the American Academy, Rome; Salone dei Cinquecento, Florence; El Teatro Sucre, Ouito; Arts Centre and State Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. He has also toured the U.S. extensively, performing in recital and as guest soloist with many leading orchestras. Of his interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major the Santa Barbara News Press raved, “Violinist Morgenstern – that’s the name to remember. While he dazzled everyone with his dexterity, he realized all the artistic nuances. His bowing was magnificent; his tone just plain gorgeous.” Mr. Morgenstern has also shared the stage with such eminent musicians as Philippe Entremont, Lynn Harrell, André-Michel Schub, Jeffrey Kahane, Sharon Isbin, and Heinz Holliger, and has collaborated with United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa and performance artist Laurie Anderson.
Mr. Morgenstern’s discography includes works by Beethoven, Fauré, Copland, Ravel, Kodaly, Sessions and the award-winning American composer George Tsontakis. His latest recording, 20th Century Duos for Violin and Cello, was the No. 1 classical CD for over a month on eMusic, the largest online store for independent music in the world, and was one of the top ten best selling classical music albums on Amazon.com. Of the CD The New York Times raved, “the music is terrific and the performances compelling on this surprisingly exciting and excellently engineered recording.” Mr. Morgenstern records for the MMC, Engine Company and Koch International Classics labels, and can regularly be heard on National Public Radio and classical music radio stations across the country.
In addition to performing, Mr. Morgenstern is the artistic director of the Reflections Series, which presents performances in New York, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florence and Capri, Italy. The 2009-2010 season is inspired by art exhibits at the Rubin Art Museum in New York and features solo and chamber music, with visual art, poetry, and prose from around the world, in combinations that invite the audience to reflect anew on universal themes. Mr. Morgenstern is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of Nine Circles Chamber Theatre, a creative organization dedicated to exploring the collaborative nature of inter-disciplinary performance, and of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, a diverse chamber group specializing in Classical, Romantic and contemporary works of mixed instrumentation.
Mr. Morgenstern’s many prizes and honors include a command performance for President Ford at the White House, Gold Medals in The Washington International and National Society of Arts and Letters Competitions, and the Jaycees of America’s “Outstanding Young American" award.
In 1998, Mr. Morgenstern appeared as violin soloist in U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s translation of Dante’s Inferno which toured the country and was broadcast on PBS and NPR, for which it received a Peabody nomination. The violin plays a central and unique role in this production and is an integral part of the dramatic action. Highlights of Mr. Morgenstern’s recent seasons include performances with the Julliard Dance Company at Lincoln Center, NCNY Dance Company at An Appalachian Summer Festival and with the Brooklyn Ballet; the premieres of staged versions of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Venus and Adonis with Claire Bloom and John Neville, and Samuel Beckett at 100 at New York City’s 92nd Street Y and at Harvard University. Morgenstern’s performance in the Nine Circles Chamber Theatre production of When Samson Met Delilah toured Holland to rave reviews and his recent appearance in Toronto was broadcast throughout Canada on CBC. In addition, his “Falling Bodies,” an original Nine Circles Chamber Theatre work of music and words based on the lives of the scientist-poet Galileo Galilei and poet-scientist Primo Levi, sold-out performances in New York and is now touring internationally. Mr. Morgenstern lives in New York City.
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