Israeli Chamber Project Opens 2018-19 Season with Guest Cellist Peter Wiley in a Debussy Tribute

Israeli Chamber Project Opens 2018-19 Season with Guest Cellist Peter Wiley in The Debussy Effect on October 18th at 7:30PM at New York's Merkin Concert Hall

CELLIST OF THE GUARNERI STRING QUARTET AND BEAUX ARTS TRIO JOINS THE ENSEMBLE IN A PROGRAM HONORING THE DEBUSSY CENTENNIAL

"The Israeli Chamber Project is that rarest of creatures: a band of world-class soloists that is not a muster of peacocks, but a hive mind in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe and play as one."
-Time Out New York

Peter Wiley, of the Guarneri String Quartet and Beaux Arts Trio joins the Israeli Chamber Project in their U.S. season opener, Thursday, October 18th at 7:30pm at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. This is the third collaboration between the renowned cellist and the ensemble since 2012.

The program honors the centennial of Claude Debussy's passing in 1918 by exploring the profound effect he had on three, stylistically distinct compatriots in the years immediately following his death: Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Faure, and Carlos Salzedo. Debussy's own Première Rhapsodie and Piano Trio in G bookend the program. 

Tickets can be purchased at http://www.israelichamberproject.org/the-debussy-effect or by calling the box office at (212) 501-3330.

Program

CLAUDE DEBUSSY Première Rhapsodie (arranged for clarinet and harp)
CARLOS SALZEDO Sonata for Harp and Piano
GABRIEL FAURE Trio in D minor, Op. 120 for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano
MAURICE RAVEL Sonata for Violin and Cello
CLAUDE DEBUSSY Piano Trio in G

Performers:

Peter Wiley, Cello
Tibi Cziger, Clarinet
Sivan Magen, Harp
Assaff Weisman, Piano
Carmit Zori, Violin

About the Israeli Chamber Project

Embarking on its second decade in the 2018-19 season, the Israeli Chamber Project is a dynamic ensemble comprising strings, winds, harp, and piano, that brings together some of today's most distinguished musicians for chamber music concerts and educational and outreach programs both in Israel and abroad. It was named the winner of the 2011 Israeli Ministry of Culture Outstanding Ensemble Award and 2017 Partos Prize in recognition of its passionate musicianship, creative programming, and commitment to educational outreach.

Based both in Israel and in New York, the ensemble was created as a means for its members to give something back to the community where they began their musical education and to showcase Israeli culture, through its music and musicians to concert goers overseas. Among its members are prize-winners at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Russia, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Gaspar Cassado Cello Competition.?

The Israeli Chamber Project’s tours have garnered rave reviews (“These players have to be heard to be believed.” –American Record Guide; “A band of world-class soloists…in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe and play as one.” -Time Out New York) and established the ensemble as a major artistic force on both sides of the Atlantic. These tours include appearances on some of the premier chamber music series, whether in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, New York or Beijing, as well as in remote towns where access to live chamber music is extremely rare. Guest artists on recent ICP tours have included the Guarneri String Quartet’s Michael Tree and Peter Wiley, the Cleveland Orchestra’s Principal Flutist, Joshua Smith as well as international soloists Antje Weithaas and Liza Ferschtman.?

A strong advocate for music education, the ICP has partnered with several conservatories and educational institutions in order to offer lessons and masterclasses to students of all cultural and economic backgrounds, many of whom have little or no opportunity to work with internationally recognized musicians.?

An important part of the Israeli Chamber Project’s mission is to support emerging Israeli composers by commissioning works specifically for the ensemble. Composers commissioned so far have included Matan Porat, Jonathan Keren, Gilad Cohen, Yohanan Chendler, Amit Gilutz, Zohar Sharon, as well as American composer Lowell Liebermann.

In North America, the Israeli Chamber Project has appeared at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Morgan Library & Museum, Town Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Bargemusic, and at Symphony Space in New York City, the Morrison Artists Series in San Francisco, Carmel Music Society, The Clark Memorial Library at UCLA, and Ottawa’s Chamberfest, among others, and has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and WQXR radio’s Young Artist Showcase. The ensemble’s debut CD, Opus 1, was released in 2012 to great critical acclaim. Writing for American Record Guide, Gil French noted “These players have to be heard to be believed”, and “These musicians…make music both as soloists and as an ensemble with the technical perfection of a Heifetz and the musicality of the most mature players.”

?Highlights of the 2018-19 season include the ensemble's first appearances in Europe, at London's Wigmore Hall, as well as at major venues across the U.S. and Canada, including Montreal's Bourgie Hall, and Philaldephia's Kimmel Center. The ensemble is thrilled to welcome back violinist Antje Weithaas and cellist Peter Wiley as its special guests. www.israelichamberproject.org