October 03, 2019 /Thursday/
18.30 hours Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov”
Conductors: Antonio Russo (Italy) Arturo Armellino (Italy)
Soloist: Francesco Mariozzi – cello (Italy)
Program:
J. Haydn – Cello Concerto No. 2, D major
R. Schumann – Symphony No. 4, op.120
∗∗∗
ANTONIO PIO RUSSO
Graduated in saxophone with honors at the “Umberto Giordano” Conservatory of Foggia (Italy), since a young age he proved to be a brilliant musician, endowed with excellent interpretative skills and a marked curiosity for art in all its facets. Over the years he has developed a particular inclination for orchestral conducting, specially for symphonic and operatic literature. He enters the world of orchestra conducting attending a course held by Maestro Lior Shambadal. He then brilliantly obtained his diploma in orchestral conducting under the guidance of Maestro Donato Renzetti at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese and then attended numerous courses of specialization held by Maestro Marco Angius and Maestro Francesco Vizioli. His irrepressible, eclectic curiosity and interests of study and research, make him a capable and enthusiastic musician, appreciated by critics and loved by the public in which, until now, he has worked.
ARTURO A RMELLINO
He was director of the main orchestra and guest in important international festivals and concerts performing in several theaters: Roman Theatre, Teatro Calandra, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, Auditorium Sant’Agostino in the city of Benevento; St. Clare, Palazzo Bianco (NATO headquarters), Piazza Plebiscito in Naples; Italy Teatro and Teatrodell’Opera in Rome; Main Vittorio Veneto Theatre; Aula Magna of the University of Molise, Campobasso Studies; (ITALY) – Aula Nervi and St. Peter’s Basilica; (CITY ‘OF THE VATICAN) – Castle Hall Llahol city of Prague (CZECH REPUBLIC) – Teatro Municipal of Lima; (PERU) – Teatro Carlos Gomes of Praia da Victoria Azores; (PORTUGAL) – National Theatre of Barcelona Puerto La Crus; (VENEZUELA) – Theatre of the state TV Tirana; (ALBANIA) – Opera Pazardijk; (BULGARIA) – Grand Theater in Beijing, Nanchang, Pingxiang, Liuzhou, Nanning, Kunming, Yuxi, Jinan, Lishui, Wenzhou, Zhoushan, Xiamen, Shaoxing, Tongxiang, Dalian; (CHINA). He is principal conductor of Baohong SHANGHAI CULTURE COMMUNICATION Co. Ltd., in collaboration with the Chinese Government, the protagonist of two years in a series of concerts in major cities CHINA; tour 2015/2016 and 2016/2017.
Coming to the IV Edition is the creator of the International Symphonic Music Festival in the City of Benevento.
At the head of these artistic ensembles organizes and promotes annual concert seasons with appointments and symphony concerts, opera, sacred, chamber and contemporary working with various artistic and cultural formations of the national and international scene. And ‘it engaged in the dissemination of music among the younger generation with some concerts and open rehearsals, themed lessons, dedicated to children and not.
He is Artistic Director of XL Solopaca Flower Festival 2017. He is President of AMI (Association Mozart Italy) headquarters of Benevento, in collaboration with the prestigious Mozarteum in Salzburg – Austria. He is winner of the Competition Ordinary state conservatories having overcome all evidence relating to competitive examination and chair securities and places in the Conservatories of Music.
F RANCESCO MARIOZZI
Graduated in cello with honors at the “N. Piccinni” Conservatory of Bari under the guidance of Maestro N. Sarpe, continued his studies at the Hochschüle fur Musik in Würzburg, obtaining the Meisterklassendiplom with Maestro Xenia Jankovic, J. Metzger; he has perfected himself with prestigious artists such as Maisky, Gutman, Geringas, Perènyi, Meunieur, Palm, as well as at important academies such as “Stauffer” in Cremona, University of Mainz, the Accademia Chigiana di Siena, Hochschüle in Vienna.
From 2007 to 2012 he was first cello at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, he was often guest as first guest cello at the Teatro S. Carlo in Naples, the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra, the Teatro Regio di Parma and the Rome Symphony Orchestra of Lazio. He has collaborated with other important orchestras, such as Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome and the prestigious “Arturo Toscanini” Philarmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maazel,pretre, Temirkanov, Rostropovich, Imbal, in which he played the role of first cello.
He is a guest, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, of prestigious musical institutions such as the Società del Quartetto of Florence, the Festival dei Due Mondi of Spoleto, the Institut Culturel Italien de Montreal, the Fiesole Musical Meetings, the Festival delle Nazioni di Portogruaro , the Pomposa Festival, the Umbra Filarmonica Association, as a composer and player of the music for the project “FestiValdera”, organized by Fondazione Peccioliper and Fondazione Teatro della Toscana, often in duo with the pianist Bruno Canino.
Lately he has played in the prestigious, Stern Hall of the CARNEGY HALL in NY, with the execution of Beethoven’s difficult triple. Soon he will be in Vienna, in the famous NOVOMATIC Hall, where he performs the Concerto for Cello and orchestra in Re M by J. Haydn
He is artistic director of the Festival of Medieval Cities (Rome and Lazio). He also made several recordings for Vatican Radio.
∗∗∗
October 17, 2019 /Thursday/
18.30 hours Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov”
Conductor: GRIGOR PALIKAROV
Soloist: Gergana Rusekova – mezzo soprano
Program:
Overtures and arias from J. Rossini, J. Verdi, P.I. Tchaikovsky, P. Steinov, G. Zlatev – Cherkin
∗∗∗
GRIGOR PALIKAROV
Grigor Palikarov (born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1971) graduated from the National Music Academy – Sofia with Master of Music Degree in: Orchestral Conducting with Prof. Vassil Kazandzhiev and Prof. Ivan Voulpe, Composition with Prof. D. Tapkov, Piano with Prof. Kr. Tasskov and Choral Conducting with Prof. St. Kralev. Later on he continued his composition study during two Summer Academies in Austria with Erich Urbanner (Professor at University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna).
His debut as an opera conductor was in April 1994 (at the age of 22) with Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at two major opera houses in Bulgaria.
In 1998-1999 season Grigor Palikarov made his first appearance on the stage of the National Opera and Ballet – Sofia, conducting a Gala-concert with the special participation of the famous Bulgarian opera singer Ghena Dimitrova† upon her personal invitation. Later on he has made many concerts and performances with other world famous opera singers like Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Elena Obraztsova†, Krassimira Stoyanova, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Kurt Rydl, Alexandrina Milcheva, Nadia Krasteva, Nickola Giuzelev† etc.
From January 2000 until April 2019 Mr. Palikarov worked as a full-time conductor at the National Opera and Ballet – Sofia, conducting a rich variety of repertoire. It includes more than 60 opera and ballet titles by Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Weber, Verdi, Wagner, Ponchielli, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Gounod, Delibes, Bizet, Borodin, Rimsky–Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiew, Orff, Bulgarian classical and contemporary composers etc.
Now Maestro Palikarov teaches orchestral conducting at the National Academy of Music “Prof. P. Vladigerov” – Sofia, where he has defended his Doctor of Music Degree in June 2017 and has been appointed as full-time Associate Professor since April 2019.
Since the beginning of 2005/06 season Mr. Palikarov has also taken the position of Managing and Artistic director and conductor of the Symphony orchestra – Pazardzhik and since September 2008 he is also the principal conductor of “Classic FM” Symphony orchestra – Sofia.
In the following years he has made concerts and performances with many famous soloists like the members of Vienna Philharmonic: Albena Danailova (concertmaster), Wolfgang Schulz†, Franz Bartolomey, Dieter Flury, Robert Nagy, Glenn Dicterow (former concertmaster of New York Philharmonic, Svetlin Roussev (concertmaster of the French National Radio orchestra) and others.
Nowadays Mr. Palikarov is often invited as a guest – conductor of many orchestras, opera theatres and national and international music festivals in Bulgaria and abroad, including countries like Germany, Austria, Belgium (with the National Orchestra of Belgium), France, Finland, Italy (with many orchestras), Luxemburg, Poland (with many orchestras), Portugal, Macedonia, Greece, Slovenia (with the National Opera and Ballet – Ljubljana), Romania, Switzerland, Taiwan (with Century Orchestra – Taipei and on a tour with Sofia Opera and Ballet), Russia (with State opera Krasnoyarsk and Yekaterinburg Musical College orchestra), Ukraine, UK, USA (with Opera – Cleveland), South Korea (with “Janacek” Philharmonic – Czech Republic), Japan, Uruguay (with the National SODRE orchestra – Montevideo), Mexico (with UANL orchestra – Monterrey and Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan – Merida), China (with Xiamen Philharmonic) etc. His debut in USA has been mentioned by the critics there as one of the most important musical events for year 2009 for Ohio State. Grigor Palikarov also makes regular recordings of orchestral pieces, opera arias and ensembles as a guest conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio. Some of his recordings can be found on CDs and DVDs produced by different companies.
Together with his conducting activities, Mr. Palikarov composes music and plays as a piano soloist with different orchestras in Bulgaria. He is a prizewinner of many national and international piano and composition competitions. Some of his works were performed at music festivals and recorded at the National Radio – Sofia.
Grigor Palikarov is also a certified member of MENSA (the international organization of highly intelligent people) and has been a Chairman of its Bulgarian branch for two consecutive mandates.
Gergana Rusekova
Gergana Rusekova was born in Pazardzhik, a beautiful town in Bulgaria. She graduated Opera singing from the Pancho Vladigerov State Academy of Music in Sofia. Her vocal pedagogue is Assoc. Prof. Konstantsa Vachkova. She took part in the master classes of Jeffrey Gall, Stefka Evstatieva, Martina Arroyo, Fiorenza Cosotto, Luciana d’Intino, Fiorenza Cossotto. In 2006 Gergana Rusekova was laureate of the Hristo Brambarov Competition. She took additional studies at the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, the USA. In 2009 she was awarded several prizes from prestigious Bulgarian singing competitions and a Third Prize at the Ritorna Vincitor International Competition for young opera singers in Ercolano, Italy.
In season 2011/12 she took part in the premiere spectacles of the Sofia Opera and Ballet – “Cavalleria rusticana” in the role of Santuzza and “Tosca” in the role of Tosca, in 2012 she participated in the tour of Sofia Opera in Japan with the production of “Cavalleria rusticana” by Mascagni, and in 2013 – in Hugo de Ana’s production of “Aida” in the role of Amneris.
From 2015 to 2017 she was member of the Stara Zagora State Opera, where she appeared in the main mezzo-soprano repertoire.
Since 2017 Gergana Rusekova has been soloist of the Sofia National Opera and Ballet, where she enriched her repertoire with the roles of Kundry (“Parsifal” by Wagner) and Giorgetta (“Il tabarro” by Puccini).
This season Gergana Rusekova performed with unprecedented success the title role of Carmen in Bizet’s opera of the same name.
In her repertoire are included: Santuzza – “Cavalleria rusticana” (Mascagni), Dalila – “Samson et Dalila” by Saint-Saëns, Eboli – “Don Carlo”, Amneris – “Aida”, Azucena – “Il trovatore”, Ulrica – “Un ballo in maschera” and “Requiem” by Verdi, as well as in Mozart’s Requiem. Also Salud – “La vida breve” by De Falla, “Stabat Mater” by Pergolesi, “Petite messe solennelle” by Rossini and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
∗∗∗
October 31, 2019 /Thursday/
18.30 hours Hall “M-Ro G.Atanasov”
Conductor: GIANCARLO DE LORENZO
Soloist:Konstantinos Alexopoulos – piano /Greece/
Program:
V.A. Mozart – Overture from the operetta “That’s how everyone does”
L. van Beethoven – Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, op.37F. Schubert – Symphony No. 3 in D Major, D.200
∗∗∗
GIANCARLO DE LORENZO
He studied at the School of Music of Brescia and graduated in Organ and Organ Composition with high marks under M° F. Castelli. At the same time he got the Diploma of “Maturitа Classica” and then went to
university, attending the courses of the D.A.M.S. Music section at the faculty of “Lettere e Filosofia” in Bologna. Besides, he studied composition and orchestra conductorship with M° G. Cataldo, widening his knowledge and experience.
Founder and Conductor of the “Orchestra Vox Aurae” of Brescia since 1992, he dedicates himself to the rediscovery and deepening of little known authors of the baroque music such as F. Durante, F. L. Gassmann, J. Myslyvecek. With the “Vox Aurae” he did record the complete series of Symphonies for Strings by F. Durante, the first volume of the 20th century Italian authors who wrote in Baroque style, the Symphonies for Strings by J. Myslivecek, the integral of the Symphonies for strings of FL Gassman, and a CD dedicated to the piano and orchestra concerts of W.A. Mozart. All recordings have been edited by Agorа recording company in Milan.
In 2003 he becomes the Artistic Director and 1st Conductor of the “Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico” of Vicenza, a position he held until December 2011. In October 2005 he conducted the Orchestra of the
Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza at the Barge Music of New York where he returned in March 2006 to conduct in the prestigious Carnegie Hall.
He has also collaborated with great soloists such as L.G. Uriol, M. Fornaciari, A Bacchetti, S.Krylov, F.Manara, A.Persichilli, P. Hommage, E. Klein, G. Costa, U. Clerici, B. Engerer, P. Entremont, M. Rudy, E Virsaladze, S. Mintz, U. Ughi, P. Amoyal, P. Galliano, Hiromi Uehara, Uri Caine, Ramin Bahrami, Mischa Maisky, Olga Kern and many others.
Konstantinos Alexopoulos
He studied at the School of Music of Brescia and graduated in Organ and Organ Composition with high marks under M° F. Castelli. At the same time he got the Diploma of “Maturitа Classica” and then went to university, attending the courses of the D.A.M.S. Music section at the faculty of “Lettere e Filosofia” in Bologna. Besides, he studied composition and orchestra conductorship with M° G. Cataldo, widening his knowledge and experience.
Founder and Conductor of the “Orchestra Vox Aurae” of Brescia since 1992, he dedicates himself to the rediscovery and deepening of little known authors of the baroque music such as F. Durante, F. L. Gassmann, J. Myslyvecek. With the “Vox Aurae” he did record the complete series of Symphonies for Strings by F. Durante, the first volume of the 20th century Italian authors who wrote in Baroque style, the Symphonies for Strings by J. Myslivecek, the integral of the Symphonies for strings of FL Gassman, and a CD dedicated to the piano and orchestra concerts of W.A. Mozart. All recordings have been edited by Agorа recording company in Milan.
In 2003 he becomes the Artistic Director and 1st Conductor of the “Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico” of Vicenza, a position he held until December 2011. In October 2005 he conducted the Orchestra of the Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza at the Barge Music of New York where he returned in March 2006 to conduct in the prestigious Carnegie Hall.
He has also collaborated with great soloists such as L.G. Uriol, M. Fornaciari, A Bacchetti, S.Krylov, F.Manara, A.Persichilli, P. Hommage, E. Klein, G. Costa, U. Clerici, B. Engerer, P. Entremont, M. Rudy, E Virsaladze, S. Mintz, U. Ughi, P. Amoyal, P. Galliano, Hiromi Uehara, Uri Caine, Ramin Bahrami, Mischa Maisky, Olga Kern and many others.
He was born on 14 May 2002 and he is 17 years old. He started taking piano lessons at the age of six. He studies piano with scholarship at the Athens Conservatoire, class Natalie Michaelidou, preparing for his diploma. He also studies piano with scholarship at Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris – Alfred Cortot, level: Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste in Paris, where he lives over the last year. He has participated in piano masterclasses with David Lively, Yekaterina Lebedeva and Dimitris Toufexis. He has given concerts and recitals in the 2nd Molyvos International Music Festival, the 11th Rhodes International Piano Forum and Rhodes Art nternational Music Festival, the International Summer Concerts Xiropigado 2018, the Athens Concert Hall, the City University Performance space in London, le Salon des Beaux Arts in Louvre, in Salle Cortot, Paris and in various other venues. In April 2018 he took part in the International Piano Competition “De Bach Au Jazz” receiving 1st prize.
He studies conducting with scholarship at Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris – Alfred Cortot, class Dominique Rοuits and Julien Masmondet. He has participated in conducting masterclasses with Michalis Ekonomou and Catherine Larsen-Maguire (England), and in a choir conducting masterclass with Dr. Therees Hibbard (St. Olaf College, USA)
He also studied violin at the Athens Conservatoire, class Franc Shestani, and in June 2019 he got his diploma. The judges were unanimous in giving him a perfect score and first prize. He has taken part in competitions playing the violin and has been awarded prizes. In May 2016 he attended a masterclass with Leonidas Kavakos and in October 2017 he actively participated in a masterclass with Ariadne Daskalakis.
He has got a Harmony Degree and is studying Byzantine Music, preparing for his diploma. He is a member of a youth orchestra, the Underground Youth Orchestra (UYO) with which he has participated, as a violinist, in lots of concerts both in Greece and in Germany, where they collaborated with the Julius Stern Orchestra of the Berlin University of the Arts. In July 2019 they participated in the international festival “Young Euro Classic 2019” where they performed under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach in Konzerthaus Berlin. Finally, he is a member of a choir, the Animato Choir, with which they have performed not only in Greece but in various European cities, including Sofia and Venice.