Grammy-Winning Violinist Johnny Gandelsman Performs Bach

Grammy Award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman presents his latest solo project, Bach’s Complete Cello Suites on the violin, on Saturday, March 21, 2020, 8:00 pm, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts’ Lovelace Studio Theater. Gandelsman’s recent recording of the Complete Cello Suites Transposed for Violin, released on February 2, 2020, on In A Circle Records, has reached the #2 spot on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. A bold artist whose live performances are described as “revelatory” (The New Yorker), Gandelsman plays all six beloved Cello Suites transcribed for violin. The Boston Globe states of a recent performance of the works, “As Gandelsman journeyed down his path, movement by movement, more deeply into Bach’s world, any lingering doubts about this project were scattered by sheer dint of the fantasy and poetry of his playing. This was an exquisitely personal vision of Bach, all radical sincerity and glinting light.” This project follows Gandelsman’s celebrated debut recording of Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, which reached #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, made it onto New York Magazine and The New York Times Best of the Year lists.

“Johnny Gandelsman brings an inventive approach and compelling depth to Bach’s Cello Suites,” states The Wallis’ Artistic Director Paul Crewes. “Hearing these great works that are so revered in the cello repertoire on the violin’s higher register is to experience them in a fresh new light.”

Gandelsman’s unique musical voice integrates a wide range of creative sensibilities into a unique style that possesses “a balletic lightness of touch and a sense of whimsy and imagination” (Boston Globe). As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Gandelsman has worked closely with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Martin Hynes, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie Van Otter, Joshua Redman and Suzanne Vega. He has appeared with Bono, David Byrne, Renee Fleming, Christian McBride and many others. A passionate advocate for new music, Gandelsman has premiered dozens of new works by such artists as Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Osvaldo Golijov and Nico Muhly. As a producer, his credits include Brooklyn Rider’s “Spontaneous Symbols,” and two albums with Silkroad Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma: Music for “The Vietnam War,” a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick; and “Sing Me Home,” which won a Grammy Award for Best World Music album.

Tickets, $50, are on sale now. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 or visit TheWallis.org/Gandelsman.

About the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts:  

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national and international artists share their artistry with ever-expanding audiences. The campus, located in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, is committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind. Distinguished by its eclectic programming that mirrors the diverse landscape of Los Angeles and its location in the entertainment capital of the world, The Wallis has produced and presented more than 275 dance, theater, opera, classical music, cinema and family programs since its doors opened in October 2013. Hailed as “au courant” (LaLa Magazine), The Wallis was lauded by Culture Vulture, which proclaims, “If you love expecting the unexpected in the performing arts, you have to love The Wallis.” Its programming has been nominated for 57 Ovation Awards and seven L.A. Drama Critic's Circle Awards. The campus itself, a breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility, celebrating the classic and the modern, has garnered six architectural awards. Designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali (SPF:architects), the restored building features the original 1933 Beverly Hills Post Office (on the National Register of Historic Places), which serves as the theater's dramatic yet welcoming lobby, and includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound. Together, these elements embrace the city's history and its future, creating a performing arts destination for L.A.-area visitors and residents alike. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is led by Chairman of the Board Michael Nemeroff, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer Rachel Fine and Artistic Director Paul Crewes.

For more information about The Wallis, please visit: TheWallis.org. 

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