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Joseph also featured as soloist in Peter Eötvös Cello Concerto
Grosso
(North American premiere)
Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s New Creations Festival
Wednesday, March 7, 8 PM
Roy Thomson Hall
60 Simcoe Street
For ticket informtion,
tso.ca
**Limited review copies of “Rachmaninoff & Shostakovich Cello
Sonatas” available via LIZPR**
TORONTO, ONTARIO – Cellist Joseph Johnson is releasing his debut
CD, “Rachmaninoff & Shostakovich Cello Sonatas” the same day he
makes the North American premiere of Peter Eötvös Cello Concerto
Grosso with the TSO, a co-commission with the Berlin
Philharmonic. The CD also features Joseph’s long-time musical
partner, pianist Victor Asuncion. The repertoire features two
sonatas for cello and piano: one by Rachmaninoff and the other,
Shostakovich. The CD concludes with an arrangement of
Rachmaninoff’s famous Vocalise. Joseph and Victor have worked
together since 2009 and their rapport is evident in everything
from their performances, the pictures from their photos shoots,
and their dialogue in person. “Cellist Lynn Harrell insisted we
meet,” explains Joe. “We first read through the Rachmaninoff in
Santa Fe a few years ago. After each movement, we’d look at each
other and laugh. Soon after we were plotting concert dates.”
Victor adds, “We rarely talk when we rehearse. We just listen
and feed off of each other’s musical instincts, and let the
music roll. The guy is flawless – I have to be at my best!”
It’s a good thing they get on so well, because the recording
process itself was a bit of an ordeal. “My cello fell out of its
case a few days before the recording and sustained some damage.
After a quick repair job, I flew to Minneapolis for the
recording, getting sick along the way. At the venue, the lights
buzzed and the heater hummed. So in the dead of a Minneapolis
winter, picture a piano and cellist in a dark hall, surrounded
by floor lamps, cords running everywhere, and scrunched up
Kleenex all around my chair.” Victor maintains the easy part was
the actual recording. “Despite all the odds, it took us a short
amount of time to prepare for this recording – just one
run-through.”
Joseph Johnson is heard throughout the world as a soloist,
chamber musician and educator. 2011/2012 included a six-city US
tour with Victor featuring repertoire from this album. Joseph
also maintains an active solo career in North America as soloist
and chamber musician. Principal cellist of the TSO since the
2009/2010 season, Joseph also serves as principal cellist of the
Santa Fe Opera. A committed educator, he gives masterclasses
throughout North America. He performs on a 1747 Juan Guillami
cello, crafted in Barcelona.
www.joecello.com will be launched by summer 2012.
Hailed by the Washington Post for his “poised and imaginative
playing,” pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion is recognized for his
innate musical sensitivity, fiery temperament, and superb
technique. As a recitalist and concerto soloist, he has appeared
in major concert halls in Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Turkey
and the Philippines. Conductors he has worked with include
Sergio Esmilla, Enrique Batiz, Arthur Weisberg, David Loebel,
Leon Fleisher, Michael Stern, and Bobby McFerrin.
A chamber music enthusiast, he has performed with Lynn Harrell,
Antonio Meneses, Cho-Liang Lin, Marc Neikrug, Liang Wang, and
the Vega and Emerson String quartets. Regular stops among many
include the Aspen, Santa Fe, and Virtuosi Music Festivals.
Victor is Associate Professor of piano, and Director of
Collaborative Arts Studies at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of
Music at the University of Memphis. He received his Doctor of
Musical Arts Degree in 2007 from the University of Maryland at
College Park. His principal teachers include Roberta Rust, and
Rita Sloan.
www.victorasuncion.com.
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