“Unifying Worlds: from Beethoven to Enescu” in Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago
Shooting to stardom as Teodora Enache and known today as TEODORA BRODY, the marvelous voice of Romanian jazz who has captivated audiences with her fascinating presence and brilliant talent, brings to the United States her mesmerizing “Unifying Worlds: from Beethoven to Enescu”, an original, genre-defying mélange of classical and jazz. Accompanied by a quartet of seasoned international musicians, after more than a decade away from her fans on this side of the Atlantic, Teodora tours America with concerts in New York, Washington, DC, and Chicago, jointly presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and the Romanian Embassy to the U.S., with the support of numerous sponsors. Don’t miss the chance to experience Teodora Brody Quartet`s captivating performances!
IMPORTANT DETAILS! The New York concert is FREE but registration is required. Please note that, based on your confirmation, you will be issued a 0 $ ticket at the entrance of the concert hall. Tickets are allotted on a first come, first served basis (regardless of the time when the registration was made). Doors open at 8:00 pm and the concert starts at 8:30 pm.
TEODORA BRODY QUARTET
Teodora Brody - vocal
Calin Grigoriu - guitar
Andrei Kivu - cello
Bertram Lehmann - brazilian percussion
UNIFYING WORLDS: FROM BEETHOVEN TO ENESCU
Since 2020, Teodora Brody has dedicated her time and expertise into unifying the genres of classical, jazz and world music – something she is in a unique position to do, due to her training and multi-faceted approach to music-making. "Unifying Worlds" is the result, effortlessly fusing these genres together as a quartet. In 2023, Teodora recorded the genre-defying album Rhapsody with the London Symphony Orchestra, with music from Bartók, Beethoven, and Romania’s own Enescu. Beginning in June 2024 with an album launch in London and touring through the U.S. and Europe, Teodora Brody will present "Unifying Worlds" in a variety of formats, including her own quartet of guitar, cello, Brazilian percussion, and live electronics. The tour will culminate with a performance in Romania, which will serve as a home-coming for Brody, to present her achievements in her home country, where she made her name.
Vision - Teodora Brody
Arrangements - Teodora Brody and Calin Grigoriu
Orchestration for quartet - Calin Grigoriu
PROGRAM OF THE U.S. TOUR:
Chicago, IL
Tuesday, June 18, 7:00 PM - Northeastern Illinois University, Auditorium / Registration at https://shorturl.at/y1DR9
SOLD OUT!
Washington, D.C.
Thursday, June 20, 7:00 PM - The Kennedy Center / Registration at https://shorturl.at/u09zr
SOLD OUT!
New York, NY
Friday, June 21, 8:00 PM - Baruch Performing Arts Center / Engelman Recital Hall / Registration at https://shorturl.at/KNUNq
IMPORTANT DETAILS! The New York concert is FREE but registration is required. Please note that, based on your confirmation, you will be issued a 0 $ ticket at the entrance of the concert hall. Tickets are allotted on a first come, first served basis (regardless of the time when the registration was made). Doors open at 8:00 pm and the concert starts at 8:30 pm.
MEET THE MUSICIANS
Born in Romania, and now based in Switzerland, TEODORA BRODY initially trained in classical jazz and rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s singing with legendary jazz pianist Johnny Răducanu. Acclaimed for her extraordinary vocal power and creative vision, Teodora pioneered the fusion of jazz with doina - Romania's improvisatory folk singing tradition - and is widely credited with introducing international audiences to this extraordinary, deeply emotive music. Always searching for new musical territories to explore, Teodora has recently performed alongside musicians including Grammy-nominated American guitarist Stanley Jordan, prodigious Spanish jazz pianist Marco Mezquida, Cuban cellist Martín Meléndez, Italian oud player Elias Nardi and Swiss saxophonist Max Pizio. On the world stage, Teodora has regularly appeared at prestigious European jazz festivals including Montreux, Lugano, and Marciac, and across the Atlantic she has performed at the U.S. Library of Congress and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and at legendary clubs including Iridium New York and Blues Alley in Washington, DC. In 2004 the American government named Teodora a Romanian Cultural Ambassador to the U.S., and in both 2007 and 2008 Teodora was awarded the prize for "Best International Jazz Contribution by a Romanian Artist" by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company. In recent years, Teodora's intrepid imagination has taken her far beyond her Romanian and jazz roots into new musical territory. With unique projects including "Unifying Worlds", "From Classical to Jazz" and "Classical Emotion", Teodora has explored classical repertoire with a completely fresh approach, making her riveting account of masterworks by composers including Bach, Beethoven, Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Bartók, Pau Casals and the beloved Romanian composer George Enescu, with original vocal versions. 2023 sees Teodora forging ahead on this unique creative path, with exciting projects including her "Impromptu" sessions - a regular series of entirely improvised concerts performed with special guests across Europe - and a new album, "Rhapsody", with the London Symphony Orchestra, out now on Signum Classics.
CĂLIN GRIGORIU is a Romanian musician, classical and electric guitarist, arranger & composer currently living in Paris. He studied guitar at the National University of Music Bucharest in the class of Master Ion Mihaiescu - a professor who shaped him musically, helped him expended his musical universe by intensive chamber music classes and gave him the meaning and understanding of the instrument, without which (according to his own opinion) it would have been impossible to approach a diversity of musical genres. In 2008 he finished his studies with a Master Degree in Chamber Music. In 2001 he had the chance to be part of Catalina Buzoianu's project, Odyssey 2001, with which he toured extensively all around the Mediterranean countries, and from there the world of theater opened up to him. He has a career full of interesting collaborations with Horatiu Malaele in "Leonce and Lena", Gelu Colceag in "A dream in the middle of summer", Teodora Herghelegiu in a musical based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and as well as other independent artists and theatres. In 2008 he joined the Mozart Rocks project, an extraordinary opportunity to perfect his orchestral writing techniques, where he was not only the soloist in a large number of concerts both in the country and all over Europe, but he also wrote the orchestral arrangements. A similar collaboration, that confirms his authentic professionalism born out of passion, was the one with the renown guitar player Steve Vai and the Evolution Tempo Orchestra with whom he toured worldwide in 2013. In addition to personal projects, such as "Calin Grigoriu Electric Trio" - dedicated to the art of electric guitar and improvisation, "Autumn Baroque Trio" (with Cezar Cazanoi - flute and Calina Epuran - cello) - a tribute to baroque art through the spirit of chamber music, Paracelsus Duo (with Andrei Kivu - cello) - a real tour de force through musical eras, from Vivaldi to Debussy, from Bach to Enescu, he has a rich list of collaborations, arrangements and composition of theater music, recording and performing sessions with pop, rock and jazz artists, the most important being the one with Teodora Enache with whom he has been playing and recording for several years, their collaboration being essential for the crystallization of her musical ideas.
ANDREI KIVU is a Romanian cellist, born in Bucharest currently living in Paris. Graduated of the National Music Academy of Bucharest, he attended the improvisation master-classes of George Lewis (professor at the “Columbia University”), the master-classes in "Advanced Composition and Musical Analysis" by Aurel Stroe and numerous harmonic singing master-classes/ workshops/ retreats with David Hykes in New York, Paris and Bucharest. He has been an “Artist in Residence” in Mons, Belgium (2000) and Royaumont, France (2013). Andrei Kivu performed as a soloist accompanied by Orchestre Royal de Wallonie (Mons, Belgium), The NYU Orchestra (at the Lincoln Center, New York, USA), the Polish National Radio Orchestra and Katowice New Music Orchestra (Warsaw, Poland), Romanian National Radio Chamber Orchestra, Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, “Philharmonia” Orchestra, “Traditions Musicales Francaises” Orchestra and many others. His music and performances were live broadcasted on WNYC (New York), Radio Suisse Romande – Lausanne, S.D.R.S. – Bern (Switzerland), ORF 1 (Austria), Radio Warszawa (Poland), Helsinki 1 (Finland), Radio France, Romanian Radio and many others. He has an extremely wide range repertoire: from Gregorian to contemporary music. Andrei Kivu has a teaching experience of more than 25 years, the most important being the collaboration with the NYU (guest professor in 2003, 2005, 2007) and with the “Givat Ram” Music Academy of Jerusalem, Israel (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2019) and The Royal Conservatory of Madrid (2018). He won numerous prizes and distinctions such as the “2003 award by the I.N.M.C. (International Consortium of New Music) for “Outstanding Activities as Performer, Teacher and Music Organizer (NYU, New York, U.S.A.), the 2004 “Excellency Prize" by the “Musical Actuality” magazine, the “2006 UNITER Prize” 2006, the Originality Prize of the Cluj Jazz Festival (2005) and the “2002 Uchimura Prize” (from “UNESCO”). 1Z3A7429.JPG Andrei Kivu is a founder and member of the “Pro Contemporania” ensemble (1989), founder and member of the “Free Sound International Ensemble” (2002), member of “Hyperion” ensemble, co-Founder (2004) and Artistic Director of “MultiSonicFest” (the only festival in Romania devoted to improvisation and fusion/cross-over music). In 2018 he founded “Paracelsus Duo”, together with the exceptional guitarist Calin Grigoriu. Since 2001 he is a member of the “International School of Ki” (London) and since 2007 he is a member of “Harmonic Presence Foundation” (New York). He appears as a soloist and/or guest star on more than 25 CDs and DVDs, with a wide international distribution, the most important being the collaboration with the prestigious label “Mode Records” (New York, USA). He recorded hundreds of hours as a soloist and/or with his ensembles, for the Romanian Radio and other radio-stations world-wide. Andrei Kivu has been extensively touring in Japan, USA, Canada, Israel, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland, Pakistan, Albania, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Denmark. He had the privilege to play/study/record/work with great artists, such as: David Hykes, Sigfried Palm, Claude Delangle, Daniel Kientzy, Martine Joste, Alejandro Iglesias Rossi, Evan Parker, George Lewis, Leonor Leal Chamorro, Juerg Solothurnmann, Franziska Baumann, Chris Cutler, Tim Hodgkinson, Byron Wallen, Stephane Gallet, Agnes Baltsa, Sarah Brightmann, Nanae Yoshimura, Kifu Mitsuhashi, Teodora Enache Brody, Yoshiki, Ali Asghar Rahimi. Andrei Kivu is the first Romanian cellist to play all 6 Bach’s Suites for solo cello in one concert (Paris, 2009). He is also the first cellist in the world to transcribe and play Bach’s Sonatas & Partitas for violin. He is the only Romanian cellist ever to be invited to play at the Royal Festival Hall (London), Lincoln Center (New York), Onassis Cultural Center (Athens), Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna), and to great festivals such as "Wien Modern” (2002, Vienna, Austria), "Warsaw Autumn" (2003, 2007 - Poland), the" ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) – World Music Days” (1999, 2003, 2006), Parramasala (Sydney, Australia).
BERTRAM LEHMANN, percussionist and drummer, joins Teodora Brody for the first time on her U.S. tour. Based in Boston for over three decades, Bertram Lehmann's supple and fluid style of drumming and innovative approach to hand percussion have made him a much sought-after player within a multitude of musical contexts domestically and beyond, performing in Jazz, South-American, African, Turkish, and many other global genres. In addition to his many high-profile performances and appearances over the years including 65+ recordings with acclaimed artists such as Paquito d'Rivera, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Miguel Zenon, Anat Cohen, Romero Lubambo, Danilo Perez, Claudio Roditi, Oscar Castro-Neves, NDR Radio Bigband, Kenny Werner, and Dave Samuels' Caribbean Jazz Project, he has toured internationally across Brazil, Russia, India, South Korea, Ecuador, Ghana, Mexico, Turkey, Spain, Israel, and Germany. Photo credit: Jonah Jonathan
