Composer Spotlight
Nadia Tarnawsky and Brandon Vance
Alchymeia
Wed., Oct. 12 @ 7:30pm
Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle
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Join Nadia Tarnawsky and Brandon Vance in a conversation about the collaborative compositional process they use to create the unique sound of their ensemble, Alchymeia. They will be joined by fellow band members Brad Hawkins, Steve Rice, Yusuf Kilgore and Ahmad Yusefbeigi in a performance of works which were produced as part of their 2011 Jack Straw Artist Residency.
Nadia Tarnawsky has been studying Eastern European singing techniques for twenty years with leading teachers including Ukrainian singers, Mariana Sadowska and Nina Matvienko, Ukrainian-American singer Lilia Pavlovska, Albanian singer Merita Halili and Bulgarian singers Donka Koleva and Maria Bebelekova. In 2002 she received a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship which allowed her to travel to Ukraine to collect folk songs and folklore. Since 2008 Nadia has taught Ukrainian folk singing for the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York, New York. She moved to Seattle in 2010 and was awarded a Jack Straw artist residency and a Fellowship in Traditional Folk Arts from Artist Trust in 2011.
Brandon Vance is a native of Northwest Washington, and has been playing the violin since he was 5 years old. At the age of 14, he was awarded a Starling Violin Scholarship to study with prodigious violin teacher Margaret Pressley. At the same age, Brandon became the youngest fiddler to win the U.S. Open National Scottish Fiddle Championship - two years in a row. Brandon received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying under Mr. Paul Kantor. He is currently on the faculty for the Seattle Conservatory of Music and is a violinist for the Northwest Sinfonietta, based out of Tacoma. Brandon started working with Nadia Tarnawsky in 2008, where their mutual interest in folk music inspired them to eventually co-found Alchymeia.
The practitioners of the ancient art of alchemy often sought to transform or combine a variety of elements. In a similar manner, the members of the ensemble Alchymeia gather folk song ingredients from various cultures and arrange them in new and fascinating ways. The repertoire reflects the varying backgrounds of the ensemble's founding musicians.
Supporters
Jack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, PONCHO, ArtsFund, Seattle Foundation, and individual contributors for their support of Jack Straw Artist Programs.