On Saturday, February 28, 2015 at 8pm, the 92Y will present the New York debut of the harp-guitar duo comprised of internationally acclaimed harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and virtuoso classical guitarist Jason Vieaux in recital atKaufmann Concert Hall. The concert is part of the 92Y's Art of the Guitar series and will include Máximo Diego Pujol'sSuite Magica; Alan Hovhaness' Sonata for Guitar and Harp: Spirit of Trees; Gary Schocker's Hypnosis; Keith Fitch's Knock on Wood; and Xavier Montsalvatge's Fantasia. Kondonassis and Vieaux will also each play a solo piece, with Kondonassis performing Carlos Salzedo's Chanson dans la nuit and Vieaux performing an arrangement Antonio Carlos Jobim's A Felicidade.
The concert follows the release of the duo's first album, Together, on Azica Records and is available at all major retailers (Review copies are available upon request). Both the Schocker and Fitch works were written for and premiered by the duo.
Kondonassis and Vieaux began playing together in 2011, with a single performance of Hovhaness' Sonata for Guitar and Harp: Spirit of Trees. Early in their rehearsals, they realized that they not only loved the combination of harp and classical guitar as a duo, but that they also enjoyed a great musical compatibility. The Cleveland Plain Dealer praised the duo's performance as "a joy from top to bottom," adding that "Kondonassis and Vieaux deserve to be termed magicians for the way they shaped phrases with natural fluidity, grace and, when required, fiery drama." The Buffalo News raved, "it was difficult to hear where one instrument ends and the other begins - the mystical effect of one great intangible apparent throughout the program: the intuitive synchronicity of Kondonassis and Vieaux."
The works on the album and on this concert program highlight the interplay and blended sonorities of harp and guitar particularly well. Kondonassis explains, "A common thread in compositions written for harp and guitar is often a nod to world music cultures - Latin, Asian, Middle Eastern, and everything in between. With two instruments of such ancient and folk inspired traditions, rich global influence was hardly a surprise and the result is a sonic space unlike most chamber music territories."
Of the title for the album, Kondonassis says, "We named this disc Together because the harp and guitar share so many musical, physical, logistical and acoustical similarities. There are times when our sounds are so interwoven that it's difficult to tell which one of us is playing."
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