Like maverick violinist Nigel Kennedy, cello virtuoso Haimovitz is as au fait with Jimi Hendrix as J.S. Bach. This highly eclectic program features his groundbreaking cello octet with guests John McLaughlin, Matt Wilson Continue reading
Matt Haimovitz is finishing off a landmark birthday year, and so is his instrument. The Montreal-based cellist, celebrated for his spirited approach to genre-bending and performance, is a mere 40. But his cello, made by Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller, has turned 300. This year, the birthday pair, in company with Continue reading
After establishing an auspicious but fairly conventional career as a cello soloist, Matt Haimovitz began around 2000 to broaden the scope of his playing to include more and more contemporary works, and to launch an ambitious series of commissions for new pieces. The Kronos Quartet had early on turned to arrangements of Continue reading
Back in the Roaring Twenties, Paul Whiteman wanted to make a decent lady out of jazz by introducing what would go down into history as Symphonic Jazz. Replete with lavish arrangements and a couple of hot soloists to spike the mix, the music came across as something of a shotgun wedding. For better or for worse, a precedent was set and Continue reading
