AUrORA.

Scroll down for program note, recording, perusal score,
purchase options, and commissioner biography

PROGRAM NOTE.

When Daniel Kurganov asked for a piece that fit a starry celestial theme and I wanted something that might serve as a nod to his recent wedding, I found myself writing Aurora. Inspiration came from the quietude and solace that can be felt right before dawn; how this space changes when one chooses a mate to spend all dawns with.

Origin: the meaning of Aurora in Latin is "dawn", and also referred to Aurora, the Roman goddess of sunrise.

Recording.

DANIEL KURGANOV, VIOLIN

Soviet-born American violinist Daniel Kurganov has been described as a musician of “smoldering intensity” and “ingratiatingly idiomatic violinistic personality” (Fanfare Magazine). Synthesizing values of different artistic traditions, Daniel has emerged as a unique musical voice. He has already garnered praise from such musical giants as Sergej Krylov, Ivry Gitlis and Rudolf Koelman, as well as from publications in the United States, Europe and Japan. 2018 saw his debut album release with pianist Constantine Finehouse on the Spice Classics label. The album, featuring works of Brahms, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and others, was met with positive reviews. Recent seasons have included concerts at BargeMusic (NYC), The Roerich Museum (NYC), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Harvard Musical Association, and a tour of Japan. In Sion, Switzerland, he was invited to perform on a violin rescued from Auschwitz for the Violins of Hope project. A passionate teacher, Daniel founded the Boston Violin Intensive and runs a violin masterclass YouTube channel with more than 35,000 subscribers and 10-plus million viewers. Slated for a November 2021 release under Orchid Classics, Daniel’s album Rhythm and the Borrowed Past with pianist Constantine Finehouse features world premiere recordings of the music of Lera Auerbach and Richard Beaudoin, as well as works by Olivier Messiaen and John Cage. In 2022, the duo will release the complete Brahms Violin Sonatas, pairing a 17th-century Guarneri violin with an original 19th-century Streicher piano. Born in Minsk, Daniel grew up near Chicago and began his musical studies on the piano at age seven, switching to the violin at age 16. He completed his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) under Rudolf Koelman, protégé of Jascha Heifetz. Daniel is also an alumnus of the Keshet Eilon International Mastercourse.

www.kurganov.org

CONSTANTINE FINEHOUSE, PIANO

Pianist Constantine Finehouse has performed extensively in the US and abroad, including in Salzburg, Trieste, London, St. Petersburg and Odessa. His recent album with cellist Sebastian Baverstäm features music by Brahms and Boston composer Tony Schemmer. His 2009 solo release, “Backwards Glance,” interweaves works by Brahms and Richard Beaudoin. The Bolcom Project, made in collaboration with his American Double partner, violinist Philip Ficsor, included an Albany Records two-CD album and a national tour with concerts in Boston, New York, Denver, Santa Barbara, Spokane and at Yale University. Fanfare praised the recording as “indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th-century duo repertoire for violin and piano.” The American and European premieres of William Bolcom’s Horn Trio, in collaboration with Ficsor and Steven Gross, took place in the summer and fall of 2018. The work, commissioned by the group, was recently recorded at the Martinu ̊ Hall in Prague for an upcoming release on Naxos. Additionally, Finehouse recorded Bolcom’s piano solo works for Naxos in 2017, and an album with violinist Daniel Kurganov for Spice Classics in 2018. During the recent seasons Finehouse has performed at the Mozarteum (Salzburg), Miaskovsky Hall (Moscow Conservatory), Merkin Hall (NYC), Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Jordan Hall (Boston), as well as at Harvard, Yale and Emory universities, and St. Vincent’s and Elmira colleges, among others. With degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale, Finehouse teaches at New England Conservatory and serves as Visiting Artist/Faculty at Westmont College, CA.