The Atar Trio is a leading Israeli chamber ensemble known for its original and adventurous musical projects. For their US 2017 spring tour, they will perform new interpretations of Jewish, Israeli, and world music along with exciting arrangements of traditional chamber music by composers Bernstein, Bloch, and others. Atar Trio's Spertus Institute program will take audience members around the globe — from the sounds of Jerusalem in Dikla Baniel's piece (Israel), to Yitzhak Yedid's Suite for Arabic violin (from the Arab world), to the fragile mystery in Bloch's nocturnes and the monumental Piano Trio by Dimitri Shostakovich. The program concludes with Ofer Shelly, pianist of the Atar Trio, singing some of his own arrangements of traditional Israeli folksongs for baritone and piano trio.
Dedicated to the Atar Trio, January, 2017. The piece refers to holiness, sacrifice and religious fundamentalism. The piece is written as a repetitive story that is told from different points of view: Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, also from different eras. These stories are interwoven into vortex of violence, destruction and blood.
The Nocturnes were composed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1924 and dedicated to the New York Trio. Bloch's years in Cleveland brought the richest chamber music harvest in his work. The three Nocturnes are his only composition for piano trio. In the work of these years, which develops the “ ebraeische" sphere of his genius, apart from the spacious architectures of the Quintets and the Sonatas above all, this work is a special case.
New Jewish-Jazz music Inspired by Sephardi-Mizrahi piyyut, classical & traditional Arabic music On the "Jewish Legends” tour, we will perform a selection of movements arranged for the Atar Trio by the composer. The performances are dedicated for the memory of bass player Ora Boazson (1975-2017) who was a partner in the creation of this piece.
The piece was composed in 1911 following Achron's meeting with Samuel Rosovsky, President of the Society for Jewish Folk Music, which had been formed in St. Petersburg in 1908 .The melody is a Hasidic folk tune which Achron recalled from his childhood. It became Jasha Heifez's favorite encore and made it Achron's best known work.
The Atar Trio presents a new exiting interpretation of this beloved American classic. This newly made arrangement by Ofer Shelley takes Penafortes violin version and expands it into a five movement piano trio virtuosic version.
Based on the violin version by the composer
Allegretto
Orriginally composed for violin & piano, now in a Piano Trio version
