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Press Releases
Out Friday: New arrangements of Balkan folk songs for piano
Press Contact:
Gail Wein ~ (646) 484-9691
ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com
Croatian American pianist Vedrana Subotic releases "Chiaroscuro" on Blue Griffin Records
October 18 release features world premiere recordings of five arrangements of folk songs from former Yugoslavia for solo piano
Album also includes B minor Sonata by Franz Liszt
Croatian American pianist Vedrana Subotic (pronounced VEH-dran-ah SOO·buh·tihch) has commissioned and recorded five new arrangements of folk songs from former Yugoslavia. On October 18, 2024 Blue Griffin Records releases "Chiaroscuro" (BGR673), which features these arrangements of traditional Romani, Bosnian, Macedonian, and Montenegrin songs by Igor Iachimciuc and Christopher O'Riley paired with Liszt's Sonata in B Minor.
Subotic chose five of her favorite traditional folk songs which she learned to play on the piano as a child as her mother sung her the melodies. "They were sung in times of turmoil and peace, sadness and joy, life and death. They speak of love and longing, of hope, beauty, and loss," says the pianist. "By recording these five commissioned arrangements for solo piano, I hope to share their unique beauty with both the uninitiated and with those who already know and love them as much as I do."
The album is rounded out with Franz Liszt's B minor piano sonata. The scope of the work is reminiscent of the epic poetry from the composer's native Hungary, and melodies throughout are based on regional modal scales, paired with a Hungarian Czardas (fast, wild traditional dance).
Contact ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com to request a physical CD or digital copy of this recording.
VEDRANA SUBOTIC, piano
Chiaroscuro
Release date: October 18, 2024
Blue Griffin Records (BGR673)
TRACK LISTING
[01]"Djelem, Djelem" (I went, I went) 06:07
Romani traditional
Arranged by Igor Iachimciuc
[02] "Kad Ja Podjoh Na Bembašu" (When I went to Bambaša) 06:55
Bosnian Traditional
Arranged by Christopher O'Riley
[03] "Makedonsko Dvojece" (Macedonian Girl) 04:31
Macedonian traditional, Jonce Hristovski
Arranged by Christopher O'Riley
[04] "Još Ne Svice Rujna Zora" (Crimson Dawn Has Not Yet Broken) 07:22
Montenegrin traditional
Arranged by Igor Iachimciuc
[05] "Mujo Kuje Konja Po Mjesecu" (Mujo Shoes His Horse Under the Moonlight) 05:58
Bosnian traditional
Arranged by Christopher O'Riley
[06] Sonata in B minor, s.178 30:14
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Total Time = 61:10
Artist Biography
Croatian American pianist Vedrana Subotic (pronounced VEH-dran-ah SOO·buh·tihch) has earned critical praise for her “superb, intuitive, and astute” performances. She has performed concertos and recitals across North and South Americas, Europe, and Asia. In addition to standard repertoire, Subotic frequently commissions and performs new works, and has recorded for the Sony and Centaur and Blue Griffin labels.
Subotic is a professor of piano and music entrepreneurship at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where she directs the Liszt Festival and Competition. She is also a visiting professor at the University of Chile and Artistic Director of the Intermezzo Concert Series.
Born in Kotor, Montenegro to a nuclear physicist and an art historian, Subotic attended the University of Belgrade at age 15 and won the former Yugoslavia’s national piano competition at age 19. She studied with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University where she earned an Artist Diploma and a Doctorate, and studied with Ralph Votapek at Michigan State University where she earned a Master’s degree.
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