Phoenix, Ariz. -- MusicaNova Orchestra and Arizona-based Paradise Winds will perform a new work composed by Graham Cohen, a 15 year old prodigy, currently studying at the Julliard pre-college division and the youngest winner of the Morton Gould Young Composer Competition. The piece, "Unexpected Affinities" was commissioned by the Selznick Tikkun Olam Foundation in memory of Holocaust survivors Max and Nina Gurin.
The concert features a guest appearance by Martin Goldsmith, noted author and classical music radio host on SiriusXM and former host of Performance Today on NPR. Goldsmith is the American-born son of two German-Jewish musicians who escaped the Holocaust, who speaks and writes extensively on his own family's experiences in the Jewish Kulturbund's orchestra in Frankfurt. The Kulturbund was an organization that performed at the pleasure of Joseph Goebbels's Nazi Ministry of Information and Propaganda and used Jewish artists (forbidden to play in German orchestras) to present concerts solely for Jewish audiences from 1933 to 1941. Mr. Goldsmith will discuss his family's history as well as his recent books on the topic, The Inextinguishable Symphony and Alex's Wake.
"Unexpected Affinities" is a Concerto Grosso for reed quintet and string orchestra. Paradise Winds and the MusicaNova Orchestra will be led by Music Director Warren Cohen. Also on the program is the Chamber Symphony of Franz Schreker, a composer whose works were dubbed "Entartete Kunst" (degenerate art) and banned by the Nazis in the 1930s.
The performance of "Unexpected Affinities" will be held January 11, 2015 at 4:00 pm at Central United Methodist Church, Central Avenue at Palm Lane in the Central Arts District. Tickets are $60 (includes VIP seating and post concert reception with Martin Goldsmith), $20 general admission, $15 seniors and students. For more information, visit
www.musicanovaaz.com.
Graham Cohen, Composer - Graham Cohen began playing Stravinsky on the piano at age 6, and by age 9 became the youngest winner of the prestigious Morton Gould ASCAP Young Composer Competition, an honor he has received four times. Since the age of 11 he has been attending the famed Julliard pre-college division in New York City as a student of viola and composition. He has composed numerous works for orchestra including his "Infernal Fantasy" inspired by an Arizona summer. "Unexpected Affinities" is the first work for reed quintet and orchestra and Graham's fourth collaboration with MusicaNova Orchestra.
Paradise Winds - Members of the Paradise Winds started performing together in 2005 at Arizona State University while pursuing masters and doctoral studies in woodwind performance at the Herberger Institute School of Music. Since that time, they have appeared in a variety of classically- and unusually-oriented concerts at ASU and abroad, and with surrounding area ensembles, such as The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Arizona, Symphony of the West Valley, West Valley Symphony, Symphony of the Southwest, and the Musica Nova Orchestra. As chamber musicians, members of the Paradise Winds have assisted on countless graduate and faculty recitals at ASU School of Music and have appeared with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, Fountain Hills Chamber Players and the Mill Ave. Chamber Players as well as in the Second Sunday Concert Series, the King of Glory Concert Series and with the Classical Revolution PHX.
Martin Goldsmith - Former host of the nationally syndicated Performance Today, Martin sees classical music as "an exciting and moving expression of what's best about humanity." He's author of The Inextinguishable Symphony about his parents' experience in an all-Jewish orchestra in Nazi Germany and The Beatles Come to America. He's just completed a new book, Alex's Wake that follows his grandfather's and uncle's voyage on the infamous Jewish refugee ship St. Louis and their unhappy odyssey through a series of French concentration camps to their murder at Auschwitz.
MusicaNova Orchestra - The MusicaNova Orchestra is a professional ensemble whose concerts feature music played with the utmost virtuosity and unrivaled interpretation. Led by Music Director Warren Cohen, the Orchestra challenges itself with new works, neglected works that should be heard, new interpretations of the classics, and new collaborations with partners in instrumental and vocal music, as well as other arts and cultural fields.
MusicaNova regularly features young chamber musicians, exceptionally talented solo and ensemble performers and works by brilliant young composers. Its Young Artists Series at Arizona Piano Company's Recital Hall and partnerships with area schools bring the joy of playing and hearing great music to many who might not otherwise have the opportunity.
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