For Immediate Release:
MIDAMERICA PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS ITS FIRST ZANKEL HALL RECITAL WITH
MIKA YOSHIDA, MARIMBA, AND FRIENDS AT ZANKEL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL
SUNDAY JANUARY 28, 2007, 2:30 PM
New York, NY - MidAmerica Productions presents Mika Yoshida, marimba, and
friends at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, on Sunday January 28, 2007 at 2:30 pm.
Mika Yoshida, marimba and Friends
Richard Stoltzman, clarinet
Eddie Gómez, bass
Bill Cahn, percussion
Rich Stein, percussion
Peter John Stoltzman, piano
Vega String Quartet
Wei Wei Le, violin
Jessica Shuang Wu, violin
Yinzi Kong, viola
Guang Wang, cello
John Wyre: Mitsue for marimba, clarinet, piano and bass
Breeze for solo marimba and temple bells
Bill Douglas: Mikarimba for marimba, string quartet, bass, piano and percussion
Dance Suite for clarinet and marimba, Movements II, III & IV (New York Premiere)
Jubilation for marimba, string quartet, piano, percussion, clarinet and bass
Michiru Oshima: Rolling Men for marimba, string quartet, clarinet, bass and percussion (New York Premiere)
Masao Yoneyama (arr. M. Ishizuka): Ringo Oiwake for solo marimba (World Premiere)
Astor Piazzolla (arr. K. Maruyama): La Muerte del Angel for marimba, string quartet and piano
J.S. Bach (arr. Gómez, R. Stoltzman, and P.J. Stoltzman): Variations on Goldberg's Theme and Dreams for marimba, clarinet, bass, percussion and piano
William L. Cahn: Kebjar-Bali for gamelan percussion, marimba, string quartet, bass, clarinet and piano
Eddie Gómez: Mika Suite for marimba, clarinet and bass (World Premiere)
Peter John Stoltzman: Pri Fixe for marimba, clarinet, piano, bass and percussion (World Premiere)
***
General admission tickets to Weill Recital Hall concerts are $35. Tickets may
be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, by going online at
www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street
and 7th Avenue. $15 tickets for students and seniors (with proper ID) are available at the Carnegie Box Office. Weill Recital
Hall is located at 154 West 57th Street. For more information, call MidAmerica Productions at
(212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at
www.midamerica-music.com.
Mika Yoshida is joined for her Zankel Hall debut by an all-star lineup of
performers. The innovative program, which Ms. Yoshida is dedicating to the late composer John
Wyre, includes five pieces that are receiving either world or New York premieres, and several
that were composed or arranged by the participating musicians.
Mika Yoshida, marimba, lives in Amakusa, Kumamoto prefecture,
Japan. She studied with Professor Russell Hartenberger at the University of Toronto Faculty of
Music and graduated with an Advanced Certificate in Performance. She furthered her studies with
John Wyre, whom she considers a major influence and inspiration, and to whom she is dedicating
this concert. In 1999, Ms. Yoshida received the award for young promising musicians from the
Board of Cultural Study in Kumamoto, and she has been to the United States on a scholarship from
the Culture and Art Promotion Committee of Kumamoto. Since then, she has devoted herself to
marimba performance and musical studies under the strong influence of the world-famous percussion
ensemble NEXUS.
Ms. Yoshida has performed recitals around the globe in cities such as Atlanta,
Toronto, Budapest, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Frensburg (Germany). In 2001, she made her debut at Weill
Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and had her Tokyo debut recital at Ooji Hall. Also engaged with
orchestral music, Ms. Yoshida premiered John Wyre's Moonlight for marimba and orchestra with the
Kyushu Symphony. Notable musicians with whom she has performed include Tom Stacy, principal
English horn player for the New York Philharmonic; the Canadian percussion ensemble NEXUS;
Kakraba Lobi (Ghana); and Mr. Stomu Yamashita, at the 1250th anniversary celebration of the
construction of the great Buddha statue in Todai-ji, Nara, Japan. In 1998, her first CD, Mitsue,
was released. Other recordings include a set of works by Steve Reich including Tokyo/Vermont
Counterpoint, arranged by Ms. Yoshida, and her most recent recording, Marimba Phase, released in
2003.
Ms. Yoshida performs some 50 concerts every year in Japan. In 2004, she
returned to Weill Recital Hall and also did a recital in St. John's (Canada). In 2005, she was a
performer/clinician at PASIC 2005 and was a producer of the Amakusa international music and arts
festival. In 2006, she performed a recital in Tokyo, and in January 2007 performed four concerts
in Japan with Richard and Peter John Stoltzman, Eddie Gómez and Bill Cahn.
Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman's virtuosity, musicianship and personal
magnetism have made him one of today's most sought-after concert artists. As soloist with more
than a hundred orchestras, as a captivating recitalist and chamber music performer, as an
innovative jazz artist, and as a prolific recording artist, two-time Grammy Award winner Mr.
Stoltzman has defied categorization, dazzling critics and audiences alike through many musical
genres. Mr. Stoltzman's 2006-2007 season includes performances with the Cincinnati Symphony, San
Francisco Symphony, Milan Verdi Orchestra, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester, a tour to Japan, and
collaborations with the Amelia Piano Trio and Borromeo String Quartet. His New York City
appearances include performances in the Peoples' Symphony Concerts, the Schneider Concert Series
at the New School, and an appearance at Carnegie's Zankel Hall. Mr. Stoltzman continues to appear
at the summer festivals Campus Internazionale di Musica in Sermoneta, Italy, and the Orford Arts
Centre in Canada. Mr. Stoltzman was recently awarded Yale's prestigious Sanford Medal.
Legendary bassist Eddie Gómez has been on the cutting edge of the jazz
scene since his debut in the mid 1960s. His impressive resumé includes performances with jazz
giants Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman and Chick Corea.
Mr. Gómez's unique sound and style can be heard on hundreds of recordings spanning the worlds
of jazz, classical, Latin jazz, folk and popular music. Presently, Eddie Gómez enjoys an active
career as performer, recording artist, composer and educator. He records and plays concerts
throughout the world, composes for his own projects as well as for film and has given master
classes at major universities in the United States and Europe.
Bill Cahn has been a member of the NEXUS percussion group since 1971,
and was principal percussionist in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1995. He
has conducted programs with symphony orchestras, and his percussion compositions are widely
performed. His fourth book, Creative Music Making, on freeform improvisation, was published by
Routledge Books in 2005. In 2006 Mr. Cahn received a Grammy Award as part of the Paul Winter
Consort on the 2004 Solstice Concert DVD. Mr. Cahn has been an artist in residence at the Showa
College of the Arts in Atsugi, Japan, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Eastman School of
Music.
Peter John Stoltzman has been called "a monster jazz piano player" by
the late Jack Elliot (music director of the Mancini Institute and the Grammy Awards). And
Grammy-nominated pianist Kenny Werner calls Mr. Stoltzman's music "sweet and sophisticated. Top
shelf!" A student of William Thomas McKinley, Joanne Brackeen, Charlie Banacos and Bob
Brookmeyer (and many others), Mr. Stoltzman graduated with a bachelor's degree in Jazz
Performance from Berklee College of Music in 1999. After Berklee, Mr. Stoltzman lived in New
York City for two years, where he recorded and performed with many artists and bands including
Cuban saxophonist Yosvany Terry, drummer Deantoni Parks, and the American Music Award-winning
funk band The Bomb Squad. Performance highlights for 2006 include touring with the band Waking
Vision, as well as two visits to Japan for concerts and recording with marimba virtuoso Mika
Yoshida. On May 26th, Mr. Stoltzman and his father will premiere a double concerto by renowned
composer William Thomas McKinley, at Jordan Hall with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Also
this year, Mr. Stoltzman's Acoustic Trio will also be performing around the Boston area.
The Vega String Quartet: Wei Wei Le and Jessica Shuang Wu, violins;
Yinzi Kong, viola; Guang Wang, cello.On the cutting edge of the new generation of chamber music
ensembles, the Vega String Quartet has attracted international attention for over a decade.
Recently named the first-ever String Quartet in Residence at Emory University, they were the
quartet-in-residence at the Van Cliburn Institute and on the artist roster of Carnegie Hall's New
York City Neighborhood Concert series, and in 2003-04 they joined the Community Concerts
Association touring ensembles as the only string quartet on their roster. The quartet's live
broadcast credits include NPR's "Performance Today" (USA), the National Radio of China, Shanghai
TV, Radio France, France Musiques, German National Radio, and the National Radio of the Czech
Republic. The Vega Quartet has won numerous international competitions and has performed around
the world in major venues in Asia, Europe, and the United States, and the members have
collaborated with some of the world's finest musicians including Yehudi Menuhin, Richard
Stoltzman, Charles Wadsworth, Robert McDuffie, Christopher O'Riley and Eliot Fisk.
www.vegaquartet.com.
Since 1989, MidAmerica Productions has produced over 265 chamber concerts in
Weill Recital Hall, presenting some of the most exciting chamber musicians working today. For
more information about this concert or MidAmerica Productions contact Susan Case at
212-239-0205 or visit
www.midamerica-music.com.