|
JAY ELFENBEIN (director, vihuela darco, vielle, rebab, psaltery): The performances of Jay Elfenbein have been described by the New York Times as "virtuosic...played magnificently" and "with virtuosity and flair." Principal bassist and violone player with the New York Collegium, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, and the Washington Bach Consort, among others, he has also appeared as a viola da gamba soloist in both Bach Passions throughout the Northeast, including the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), and on bass violin with Tragicomedia and Concerto Pallatino. He has recorded for Sony Classics, CBS, PGM, and Newport Classics, among others, and can be heard playing vihuela and vielle on Paul Simon's Warner Brothers release, "You're the One." Mr. Elfenbein is the founder and director of the Ivory Consort, which continually receives critical raves for both its live concerts and its CD "Music in the Land of Three Faiths," and of GambaDream, a creative new jazz/contemporary ensemble that features the electric viola da gamba and has also a released a CD.
Mr. Elfenbein is a published composer whose work has been commissioned and performed in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Europe, and South America. He works in a wide variety of genres, and has written for many vocal and instrumental combinations, including early instruments. His orchestral and large jazz works have been premiered in New York City.
MARGO GEZAIRLIAN GRIB (voice, vielle) performs with New York's Ensemble for Early Music, the New York Collegium, and the Long Island Baroque ensemble. Early Music America wrote in its review of the Ivory Consort's recording "Music in the Land of Three faiths," "If one performer deserves special note, it is Margo Gezairlian Grib, whose unique voice is perfect for these songs." Other featured solo recordings include the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Music of Medieval Love with NY's Ensemble for Early Music, and Einstein on the Beach, by Robert Wilson and Philip Glass, also performed in opera houses around the world. She recorded Mr. Glass's score for the film "Kundun." An extensive theatre resume includes work with playwright David Mamet, the Atlantic Theatre Co. and the London Shakespeare Company. Ms. Grib received an award from the NY Council on the Arts for her performance of early music. Ms. Grib has taught music and theatre at Columbia University and New York University.
REX BENINCASA (voice, percussion, hurdy-gurdy) has been a freelancing drummer and world music percussion specialist in New York for 26 years. Along with hundreds of television/radio sound tracks and commercial recordings, he has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the New Music Consort, Flamenco Latino, Zorongo Flamenco Dance, Pilar Rioja, the Grammy Orchestra, Amanecer Flameco Progressivo, the Pittsburgh Ballet, the Washington Ballet and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Rex has recorded cds and/or movie soundtracks for Karen Mason, Andrea Marcovicci, Stephanie Pope, Foday Musa Suso, Philip Glass, Sesame Street, NFL Films, the Sons of Sepharad, the Ivory Consort, and the Gerard Edery Ensemble, to name but a few. His most recent Broadway appearances have been with Fosse, Elaine Stritch, The Full Monty, Man of LaMancha, Little Shop of Horrors, The Frogs, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, All Shook Up, and Hairspray. Mr. Benincasa likes all kinds of music.
DENNIS CINELLI (saz, gittern, mandora) maintains an active international career as a soloist, chamber musician and basso continuo player on guitars, lutes and mandolins. A well-known personality with a range of repertoires, he is heard by a worldwide audience from his recorded selections on the tour Art & Music at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and on a Christmas CD with pop artist Jewel on Atlantic Records. He has concertized throughout North America and Europe performing at the International Toscanini Early Guitar Festival/Competition Stresa, Italy; Festival de Wallonie, Belgium; Lincoln Center, Boston Early Music Festival and the Lute Society of Americas Summer Seminar. Additional appearances include collaborations with the American Symphony, the Bach Aria Group, Artek, Ars Antigua, the American Virtuosi, the New York Collegium, and Lord Chamberlains Consort. An endorsee of LaBella Strings, Mr. Cinelli is an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University.
DAPHNA MOR (zurna, ney, recorder) has performed throughout Europe, Israel and the United States as a soloist and ensemble player. Her appearances include solo recitals in Croatia, Germany and Switzerland; recitals at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Trinity Church, New York; performances with the New York Collegium and Washington Bach Ensemble. Awards include first prize in Settimane Musicali di Lugano Solo Competition, and two-time winner of the Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition. Ms. Mor teaches in the the New York Collegium outreach program and early music workshops around the United States. She has performed for film scores, popular recordings and in festivals all over North America, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and Israel.
HAIG MANOUKIAN (oud) has played with many of the best musicians in Turkey, Armenia, and the Arab world, and has been a featured soloist in New York's Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He has toured with the ensembles Transition and Taksim. During part of each year he and Souren Baronian travel across Europe, playing and teaching as they go. Mr. Manoukian is considered one of the world's finest players of the oud, the fretless ancestor of our modern lute, and a master of improvisation. More recently, inspired by extensive travel in southern Spain and by his work with Taksim, Mr. Manoukian has absorbed flamenco and jazz influences into his Middle Eastern style.
|