WHO: Mikhail Simonyan, violinist
WHAT: Debut as soloist with the New York Philharmonic
WHEN: June 29 and 30, 2010 at 7:30pm
WHERE: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
Columbus Ave. & 65th Street, NYC
Tickets $24-54 at www.nyphil.org or 212.875.5656
WHY:
Violinist Mikhail Simonyan, hailed as having "a flawless, liquid line and ravishing tone," by The Washington Post, will make his debut as soloist with the New York Philharmonic performing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 29 and 30, at 7:30pm at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall as part of the Orchestra's Summertime Classics. Bramwell Tovey will conduct. Still in his early 20s, Mikhail Simonyan is already recognized as one of the most celebrated talents of his generation. After his recital debut at Lincoln Center, Time Out New York's music blog, "The Volume," posted, "With a shayna punim, immaculately groomed hair and perhaps the most expressive eyebrows in the classical-music industry, violinist Mikhail Simonyan is the kind of boy you'd want to take home to meet your mother. . . He navigated the aural landscape with the mannerisms of a classical Jimi Hendrix, reminding us that classical musicians were once rock stars in their own right." Recently, Mr. Simonyan has launched a private initiative called Beethoven Not Bullets to assist the newly founded Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul. Mr. Simonyan is working to raise funds to sponsor students at the Institute, which is the war-torn country's only music school. The college is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan and Monash University, Australia led by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, a musician and native of Afghanistan. Mr. Simonyan's immediate goal is to sponsor 50 of the school's music students for one year, at a cost of $360 per student. Future plans include a trip to Kabul to visit the school to meet, coach, and perform for students.
(Source: Avery Fisher Hall)
Artist Spotlight is an at-a-glace look at an artist's work we think you should know about.