The Philippine Suzuki Association (PSA) presents the one-night-only first Philippine concert titled “Passion Flight” featuring Iskandar Widjaja, Berlin-based violin virtuoso and Itamar Golan, world-renowned collaborating pianist on November 30 at 4:00PM at Fleur de Lis Theater, St. Paul University Manila, Pedro Gil, Malate.
“Passion Flight” is a fundraising concert of the benefit of PSA teacher development program, scholarships, and the forthcoming 2018 Asia Region Suzuki Conference in Manila.
Born in Berlin, Widjaja began playing violin at the age of four, at first with the Suzuki method under Susan Mann. At 11, he was accepted as a student at the College of Music in Berlin, where he studied with Ursula Scholz and Joachim Hantzschk. Furthermore, he studied at the Julius Stern Institute Berlin – the pre-college division for the highly musically gifted. After completing secondary school, he studied violin at the University of the Arts in Berlin with Prof. Uwe-Martin Haiberg and Prof. Ilan Gronich, which he completed in 2010.
Iskandar’s debut CD “Bach ‘n’ Blues” was released worldwide by OehmsClassics in 2011 to great critical acclaim by press and recommendation by Bavarian, Hesse, and Northgerman broadcast.
His second album, “Precious Refuge-Works by J.S.Bach”, recorded with the Berliner Camerata, was released in April 2014 with notable reviews and recommendations by FonoForum, NDR, BR Klassik, Deutschlandradio Kultur, the Strad, Pizzicato magazine and was named “CD of the month” by Rondo magazine.
Additionally, Iskandar plays Tango with his Trio “CAYAO”. Their debut album was released in October 2014 and reached the Classical Bestseller Charts Top 30 after a TV appearance on arte with star tenor Rolando Villazon.
He plays a Franciscus Geissenhof from 1793 and a Stradivarius from 1734, on loan by Florian Leonhard.
On the other hand, Itamar Golan has been performing for more than two decades now. Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Itamar’s family emigrated to Israel when he was a year old. He started his musical studies there, and at the age of seven, he gave his first concerts in Tel-Aviv. He was awarded scholarships from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation which enabled him to study with Emmanuel Krasovsky and Chaim Taub, his chamber music mentor. Later, under a full scholarship from the New England Conservatory in Boston, he was chosen to study with Leonard Shure.
Since his early years, Golan’s passion has been chamber music, but he also has appeared as soloist with some of the major orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta, Royal Philharmonic under the direction of Riccardo Muti, and Philarmonia Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel.
Over the years, Itamar has collaborated with Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Mischa Maisky, Shlomo Mintz, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Kyung Wha Chung, Sharon Kam, Janine Jansen, Martin Frost, and Torleif Thedeen, among many others. He is a frequent participant in many prestigious international music festivals, such as Salzburg, Verbier, Lucerne, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and has made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics, Decca, Teldec, EMI and Sony Classical labels.
In 1991, Golan was nominated to the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, making him one of their youngest teachers ever. Since 1994, he has been teaching chamber music at the Paris Conservatory. He resides in Paris, where he is involved in many different artistic projects.
The Philippine Suzuki Association is a non-profit organization of Suzuki teachers, parents, and students. It aims to foster, promote and advance the understanding of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy and methodology. Through the Mother Tongue Approach, it provides students the opportunity to learn music at an early age. PSA’s current president is Prof. Carolyn Kleiner-Cheng and its founding president is Prof. Carmencita Guanzon-Arambulo.
Ticket prices at P3000, P2,000, and P1,000. For reservations, call PSA Office/Greenhills Music Studio at (+632) 7240705 or 7242543, 0922-828-0377, 0922- 837-5454.
