Coretet and Yarlung Artists commissioned David Lefkowitz and Argentine composer Diego Schissi to write new pieces of music for the Sibelius Piano Trio from Finland, with Petteri Livonen, violin, Juho Pohjonen, piano and Samuli Peltonen, cello. These two new pieces are Ruminations by David Lefkowitz and Nene by Diego Schissi. These pieces were recorded by Yarlung Records March, 2016 in Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The album, Sibelius Piano Trio is available at https://www.yarlungrecords.com/product/sibelius-piano-trio/ . Ruminations and Nene will also be available on vinyl. The album is also available on Amazon and iTunes.
Your contributions to Coretet, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
Though this commission is complete, you can still donate to Coretet for future commission between these artists as well as other artists!
Your contributions to Coretet, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
Composer, music theorist, and professor David S. Lefkowitz, a native of New York City, holds degrees in music composition from Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and The Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester. He has won international acclaim, having works performed in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia, the Ukraine, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Israel, and Egypt. He has won national and international competitions, including the Fukui Harp Music Awards Competition and the American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers (ASCAP) Grants to Young Composers Competition. In addition, he has won prizes and recognition from the National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA), the Guild of Temple Musicians, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Washington International Competition, Society for New Music’s Brian M. Israel Prize, the ALEA III International Competition, and the Gaudeamus Music Week. He has also been a Meet-The-Composer Composer in Residence.
Recent commissions include works for Irina Donskaia of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Grace Cloutier of the Hartford Conservatory, Melia Watras of the Corigliano Quartet, ’cellist Elinor Frey and pianist David Fung, violinist Petteri Iivonen, soprano Ursula Kleinecke and Colloquy, harpist Grace Cloutier, quintets for Pacific Serenades and the Synergy Ensemble, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Cantor Joseph Gole and the Cantor’s Assembly, the Harvard Westlake Orchestra, the Beijing National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre Company, and by the Beijing City Opera Company. He has had music published by MMB Music, Yelton Rhodes Music, Zen-On Music, Pacific Serenades Music, and Fatrock Ink. He has recordings available or soon to be available on Yarlung, Fatrock Ink, Klavier, Japanese Victor, Yamaha, and Albany record labels.
Dr. Lefkowitz is also in demand as a guest lecturer, having given lectures or presentations in Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Israel, and in Colorado, Texas, Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, Ohio, and California. He is a professor of music theory and composition at UCLA.
Composer and pianist Diego Schissi, born and raised in Argentina, is best known in the worlds of jazz and Latin American music. Founder of the Diego Schissi Quinteto, he has played extensively in Brazil and Argentina where he has developed his own take on tango to great acclaim. Many of his pieces take off from dance or song forms, and are written for diverse instrumental ensembles, usually ones that include a piano part.
Diego Schissi's 2012 composition for percussion without piano "Juego de Relojes" was part of the Grammy-nominated album "Smoke and Mirrors Vanishes", recorded by Yarlung Records. In the new work Coretet commissioned, Schissi returns to the world of piano, with a substantial work written for the Sibelius Piano Trio. Schissi's trio is part of another recording by Yarlung Records, released in 2016.
The Sibelius Piano Trio, comprised of Petteri Livonen, violin, Juho Pohjonen, piano and Samuli Peltonen, cello, are based in Finland, the home of the composer Jean Sibelius. These three musicians are at home in any musical style. All have successful careers both together as a trio and individually. They have traveled widely with their music.
