A classical dream, violinist Gabriel Bolkosky and pianist Sarah Bob will play Beethoven sonatas and other memorable gems.
Detroit-born, Bolkosky is a sought-after performer and teacher who plays with the “overwhelming serenity of a masterwithout a hint of coldness.”
Hailed as “sumptuous and eloquent” by the Boston Globe, Bob is an active soloist and chamber musician noted for her charismatic performances and diverse repertoire.
Bolkosky is executive director of The Phoenix Ensemble, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to helping artists and the educational community.
In 2008-09, as a first violinist of the Phoenix String Quartet, he is guest artist-in-residence at the University of Michigan.
His debut solo album, This and That, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim and features both jazz and classical music. Other recordings include explorations of klezmer with Into the Freylakh (The Shape of Klez to Come), of the nuevo tango music of Astor Piazzolla (The Oblivion Project Live), children's folk music with the children's-music group Gemini (The Orchestra Is Here to Play), and contemporary music of
composers such as Xenakis and Boulez with his former group Non Sequitur (Non Sequitur).
Bolkosky is a sought-after guest artist, performer, and teacher at schools and workshops throughout North America, including at Harvard, Dartmouth, Brandeis, and Princeton and many Suzuki institutes In Ann Arbor, He directs one of The Phoenix Ensemble's signature events, PhoenixPhest!, an annual chamber music festival held each May, and maintains a private violin studio.
In May 2008, Bolkosky made his debut at Carnegie Hall with Opus 21. He has collaborated with composer Margaret Brouwer and has made guest appearances as a soloist with the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra and the Miami Ballet. His group, The Oblivion Project, performed in the Diego Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts in September 2008.
For more information visit gabrielbolkosky.com
Hailed as "sumptuous and eloquent" by the Boston Globe, pianist Sarah Bob is an active soloist and chamber musician noted for her charismatic performances, colorful playing and diverse programming.
A strong advocate for new music and considered a "trailblazer when it comes to championing the works of modern composers and combining art media in the process..." (Northeast Performer), she is also the founding director of the New Gallery Concert Series, a series devoted to commissioning and uniting new music and contemporary visual art with their creators. She is an original member of many ensembles including her piano/percussion group, Primary Duo, the 20th and 21st century focused Firebird Ensemble, and Radius Ensemble, a fresh and creative chamber music collective that presents both the traditional and cutting edge.
Recognized as a risk taker and cited for an "ideal combination of all-stops-out abandon and sure-footed technical control" by 21st Century Music, she is a grant recipient of the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music and top prizewinner of the International Gaudeamus Competition 2001. She is also the recipient of the St. Botolph Club Foundation's 2005 Grant-in-Aid Award, an honor that recognizes the quality of her work and artistic merit and received the first annual John Kleshinski Award in honor of her daring, exciting and high quality New Gallery Concert Series presentations.
Sarah resides in Boston and can be heard playing the music of Lee Hyla on the Tzadik label, Curtis K. Hughes on Cauchemar Records solo piano by Lior Navok on NLM Records and collaborations with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project on New World and Oxingale Records.
Recent performances have brought Sarah to a variety of venues including Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Boston's own Jordan Hall, Goethe Institute and Tsai Center, The Chan Centre in Vancover, B.C., Dampfzentrale in Bern, Switzerland and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
Current recording projects include the upcoming CD release of music by Elena Ruehr, chamber music by Eric Moe under the BMOP/sound label, and the music of Lee Hyla, Curtis K. Hughes, and Tamar Diesendruck with the Firebird Ensemble. For more information, please go to www.sarahbob.net.
Critics rave about Bob's vibrant presentation of new and contemporary works:
