Montreal Chamber Music Festival presents

Klezmer, Gershwin & All That Jazz!

Everyone loves Gershwin! The epitome of American jazz, George Gershwin admired Maurice Ravel and wanted to study with the great French master. Ravel reportedly replied, “Why would you want to be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?” This evening presents the Montreal premieres of An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue, arranged for sextet by Matt Herskowitz. What an event this will be: Klezmer, jazz, and much more!

Artists
Matt Herskowitz, piano

Uniquely combining the superlative technique of a classical virtuoso with his prowess in jazz, world music and free improvisation, pianist, composer and arranger Matt Herskowitz has carved out a unique and personal voice in music. Over the course of the last decade, Matt has produced a series of critically-acclaimed recordings, premiered his works in settings from New York’s Central Park to Germany’s Köln Philharmonie, collaborated with top classical, jazz and pop artists, and has performed at music festivals across the globe.

David Krakauer, clarinet

Widely considered one of the greatest clarinetists on the planet with his own unique sound and approach, he has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music. In addition, his work has been recognized by major jazz publications around the world. He received a Grammy nomination as soloist with the conductorless chamber orchestra “A Far Cry“, received the Diapason D’Or in France for The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Osvaldo Golijov and the Kronos Quartet/Nonesuch) and the album of the year award in the jazz category for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for The Twelve Tribes (Label Bleu). Abraham Inc’s Tweet Tweet (co-led by Krakauer with funk legend Fred Wesley and renegade beat architect/multi-instrumentalist Socalled) peaked at #1 in Funk and #1 in Jewish and Yiddish Music, and #35 in music sales on Amazon. It reached #7 in Jazz on Billboard and was featured at #40 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart for fastest sellers.

“David Krakauer is such an overwhelmingly expressive clarinetist who moves so seamlessly between different genres that for a minute you’d almost think that there’s no appreciable difference between jazz, klezmer and formal classical music.” — Will Friedwald, The Wall Street Journal

Festival Strings:
Giora Schmidt, Daniel Dastoor (violin)
Lambert Chen, Sebastian Gonzalez Mora (viola)
Denis Brott (cello)
Eric Chappell (double bass)

Salle Bourgie
Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 7:30pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com