MG - Artist production management

A singularly unique ensemble, the Rastrelli Cello Quartet has been thrilling audiences with their renderings of non-traditional programming since 2002.Kira Kraftzoff-founder and artistic director, Kirill Timofeev, Misha Degtjareffand Sergio Drabkin formed the ensemble with a mission to perform music "between the genres", and their widely varied programs mix comfortably works by Bach, Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky with that of George Gershwin, Dave Brubeck and Leroy Anderson. The name of the Quartet is taken from the eighteenth-century architect Bartholomew Rastrelli, who designed the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the home city of three of the four Quartet members.

The Rastrelli have performed in many of Europe's great concert halls, including the Gasteig in Munich, St. Petersburg's Philharmonic Hall, Bulgaria Hall Sofia, the Liederhalle Stuttgart and Philharmonic Hall in Minsk. In addition to concert tours in Europe, the USA and Russia, the Rastrelli performs at such summer music festivals as the Beethoven Festival Bonn, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Darmstadter Festspiele, Oberstdorfer Musiksommer, Hohenlohe Kultursommer, Rheingau Musikfestival, Ohridsko Leto (Macedonia) and the Meadowlark Music Festival.

The Rastrelli Quartet currently has six recordings (Rastrelli, Volumes 1-5) on the Amphion, TonArt and Manchester labels, as well as a 2008 release with music by Piazzolla entitled "Cello in Buenos-Aires"......

Amernet String Quartet

Link to Official Website

Lauded for their "intelligence" and "immensely satisfying" playing by the New York Times, the Amernet String Quartet has garnered worldwide praise and recognition as one of today's exceptional string quartets. Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University since 2004, the group was formed in 1991, while its founding members were students at the Juilliard School. Amernet rose to international attention after their first season, winning the Gold Medal at the Tokyo International Music Competition in 1992. In 1995, the group was the First Prize winner of the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Their busy performance schedule has taken the group across the United States, as well as to Japan, Korea, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, and Mexico. They have collaborated with numerous artists and ensembles including the Tokyo, St. Lawrence, and Ying string quartets as well as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Andres Diaz, Roberto Diaz, Miriam Fried, Yehuda Hanani, Gary Hoffman, Toby Hoffman, Ida Kavafian, Paul Katz, Anton Kuerti, Ruth Laredo, Seymour Lipkin, Anthony McGill, Rainer Moog, Shauna Rolston, Nathaniel Rosen, Barry Snyder, Eric Shumsky, James Tocco, Dame Gillian Weir, Kyung Wha-Chung, and Zvi Zeitlin.

Prior to their appointment at Florida International University, the Amernet was, from 2000-2004, Corbett String Quartet in Residence at Northern Kentucky University, where they directed the Patricia A. Corbett String Program. From 1996-2000, the ensemble held a residency at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where they taught chamber music. Additionally, from 2004-2005 they served as the Ernst Stiefel Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for the Arts. Among the Amernet's engagements have been appearances at Ravinia, Lincoln Center, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Harvard Musical Association, and at major festivals around the world, including San Miguel de Allende, Great Lakes, Morelia, and Bowdoin.....

Chance Encounters

Crossover Concert

When Classical meets Jazz

A unique collaboration between 4 artists from the classical and jazz, creating an exciting program that combines the two musical worlds.

Noam Buchman � Flute

with

Tabula Rasa � Jazz Trio

Uri Brener � Piano

Edmond Gilmore - Contrabass

Shlomo Deshet � Drums