Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Ensemble du Monde performs Opening Gala Concert for The East Harlem International Film Festival June 2, 2011


[Music Director Marlon Daniel leads the orchestra in a exciting concert of movie music with clarinet virtuoso Julian Milkis]

Opening Gala Concert for The East Harlem International Film Festival June 2, 2011

ENSEMBLE DU MONDE
Praised in 2010 as “ … the future of classical music on stage” by Time OUT, Ensemble du Monde is one of the most dynamic and innovative chamber orchestras on the classical music scene today. Founded in New York City in 2000 and named to reflect the diversity of its members, the group performs throughout the New York area, the United States and abroad.

In 2000 the ensemble was selected by Daimler Chrysler and Mercedes Benz to perform at the world première inauguration of their new MAYBACH Car, an event that received worldwide multimedia press coverage. A Lincoln Center début followed in 2002 and in 2004 the ensemble made its Carnegie Hall début, which included renowned soprano, Deborah Voigt. Frequent radio broadcast have included Radio Free Europe where selections from the ensemble's popular 'Baroquen Promises' Series at Tenri Cultural Institute of New York were broadcast internationally. In 2007 the ensemble performed the music for the live world premiere performance of the “Save the Goldfish” episode of the Nickelodeon television channel’s EMMY Award winning ‘Wonder Pets’ show at New York’s Javits Center.

Led by its Music Director and Conductor, Marlon Daniel, the ensemble performs music from the Baroque era to the Avant-Garde in addition to the standard Classical repertoire. It frequently plays overlooked masterpieces and world premières. Programs are usually thematic in nature and based on the concept of presenting a variety of great music not limited by cultural, musical or stylistic boundaries. To encompass this vast repertoire the orchestra expands and contracts, which allows the group maximum "flexibility" to perform as a small chamber group or a full-scale symphony orchestra.

The members of Ensemble du Monde are graduates of some of the most prestigious institutions in the world including Juilliard, Curtis, Beijing Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Moscow Conservatory, Mannes College of Music, Paris Conservatory, Indiana University, The Royal Academy of Music, Berlin Hochshule, Prague Academy and Eastman music schools to name a few and have performed as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestra players with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, Paris Chamber Orchestra, Sofia Sinfonietta and in the worlds leading music festivals such as Marlboro, Aspen, Tanglewood, Verbier, Lucerne, Spoleto, Graz, Salzburg, Vale and Schleswig-Holstein.

The orchestra appears in concert at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Center in New York, where it performs a series of innovative concerts throughout the year, and serves as Ensemble-in-Residence for the Saint-Georges International Festival in Guadeloupe.


Marlon Daniel, conductor

“…one of the youngest and most prominent pianist/conductors in New York today.”
Le Figaro - France Amerique

One of the most dynamic conductors of his generation, Marlon Daniel has been described as "a natural and enormous talent" (Chicago Sun-Times) and his artistry has been hailed as “fabulous and exceptional” (Pravda – Moscow). The winner of the 2009 John and Mary Virginia Foncannon Conducting Award, he has performed in some of the most prestigious venues in Europe and the United States that range from Carnegie Hall to the Rudolfinum in Prague and several international music festivals. He has also appeared alongside several internationally renowned artists that have included Deborah Voigt, Julian Milkis, Kalin Ivanov, Koh Gabriel Kameda and Magali Léger to name a few.

He has received numerous prizes and awards including the Mabel Henderson Memorial Grant for Foreign Experience, a Rose Hanus Fellowship, an Honorary Key to the City of Chicago for Outstanding Musical Achievement bestowed by the late Mayor Harold Washington and most recently the 2008 ‘Voice of the Artist’ Award from the United Nations in recognition of his charitable work of bringing awareness to the crisis in Darfur. Most recently he was the recipient of the 2010 Dove Award from National Association of Women for the Arts for Outstanding Musical Achievement.

Educated in both the United States and Europe, he has earned degrees from some of the most prestigious institutions in the world including Manhattan School of Music, Le Conservatoire Américain (France), Centro de Estudios Musicales Isaac Albéniz (Spain) and both the Prague Academy and Conservatory, where he received his formative training in conducting whilst serving as Associate Conductor of the Praga Sinfonietta. He has also worked with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic as winner of the James and Lola Faust Fellowship.

One of the foremost exponents of music by composers of African and African American descent, Marlon Daniel is also Artistic Director of the Saint-Georges International Festival in Guadeloupe and Principal Conductor of the Festival of African and African American Music, where he collaborates with some of the most prolific Black composers of today in their world premiere new works.


Julian Milkis, clarinet

"… simply the best clarinetist in the world!"
Nezavisimaya Gazeta - Moscow

Hailed as one of the world’s greatest living clarinetists, Julian Milkis, the only student of Benny Goodman, has been described as a dazzling soloist, chamber musician and jazz clarinetist. His unique interpretations and captivating sound have earned him critical acclaim throughout the world.
He has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the world such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau, The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, Weston Recital Hall and The Taipei National Concert Hall and with orchestras that include Toronto Symphony, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, L’Orchestre Nationale de Lyon and Edmonton Symphony, to name a few.

Milkis has had the honor of working with iconic music masters such as Valeri Afanasiev, Yuri Bashmet, Misha Maisky, Alexander Kniazev, Gerard Causse, Dick Hayman, the Borodin String Quartet, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Giya Kancheli and Olivier Messiaen. Currently, he is a recording artist for Melodiya, Warner Classics Lontano, Suoni e Colori and Sony/CEAUX music labels and is a Yamaha sponsored artist.

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