Abstract
Trio Mediterraneo is inspired by melodies from beloved piyyutim (semi-liturgical Jewish prayers) and music shared among the many cultures of the Mediterranean, immersing its audience in a sound world enlivened by improvisation and rooted in traditional culture. The three virtuoso members of the ensemble (guitarist Dan Nadel, clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski, percussionist Satoshi Takeishi) hail from many corners of the world (Macedonia, Israel, Japan), yet share an unbounded curiosity for crossing borders in music and geography.
Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet), an extraordinary performer of international distinction, has launched a major career as a soloist and chamber musician in both classical and cross-over repertoire. His synergistic blend of natural talent and training combines the spirit of folk music with the discipline of classical music. Lumanovski’s performances throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Brazil, Korea and China have received critical acclaim. He is proud to have been the soloist of his New York début of the Carter Clarinet Concerto with musicians from New Juilliard Ensemble and the Lucerne Festival Academy with Maestro Boulez. Professionally, Lumanovski has had the privilege to perform with innumerable extraordinary musicians and orchestras including: Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, The Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble, New Juilliard Ensemble, World Youth Symphony Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonie, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, Marcel Khalife, Al Di Meola, Husnu Senlendirici, Zulfu Livaneli etc. Lumanovski is also a master improviser and performer of Macedonian, Turkish and Gypsy music and is presently touring with the renowned New York Gypsy All-Stars, playing throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. This jazz-influenced fusion and folk music group exemplifies Lumannovski’s fantastic originality. His sound blends Balkan folk music and western classical music with breathtaking dexterity, musicality and tenacity, lending his style a gratifying complexity. Of his performance with the All-Stars, Lumanovski plays a “blistering series of haunting dance numbers” (Lucid Culture Blog). Lumanovski’s playing may be heard on his recordings with the New York Gypsy All-Stars, Secret Trio, Fall of the Moon, Liquid Clarinets and Love is the Way.
Dan Nadel (guitar) is an Israeli-born, New York-based guitarist and composer, whose personal style combines flamenco, jazz, and Middle Eastern influences. He is the music director for Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in Manhattan. His debut album, Brooklyn Prayer, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim and was followed up by recordings and performances as a bandleader, a solo performing artist, and a collaborator with Tavche Gravche – his multinational neo-Balkan group. A busy musician on New York’s scene, Nadel has also worked with many world-renowned artists, including jazz musicians Chico Freeman, Dave Liebman and Anat Fort, Israeli-French pop star Yael Naim, jazz vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli, opera soloists Chen Reiss and Maya Lahyani, and genre-crossing musicians from around the world. Nadel attended the jazz program at the prestigious "Thelma Yellin" High School of the Arts in Tel Aviv, before completing his three-year army duty as the guitarist for the IDF's Air Force Band. He is a graduate of the BFA jazz program at The New School in NYC and has studied with jazz masters Billy Harper, Hal Galper, Cecil McBee in NY, and flamenco guitarist Antonio Moya in Seville, Spain.
Satoshi Takeishi (drummer, percussionist, and arranger), is a native of Mito, Japan. He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While at Berklee he developed an interest in the music of South America and went to live in Colombia following the invitation of a friend. He spent four years there and forged many musical and personal relationships. One of the projects he worked on while in Colombia was ‘Macumbia’ with composer/arranger Francisco Zumaque in which traditional, jazz and classical music were combined. With this group he performed with the Bogota symphony orchestra to do a series of concerts honoring the music of the most popular composer in Colombia, Lucho Bermudes. In 1986 he returned to Miami, U.S. where he began working as an arranger/producer as well as a performer. In 1987 he produced ‘Morning Ride’ for jazz flutist Nestor Torres on Polygram Records. His interest expanded to the rhythms and melodies of the Middle East where he studied and performed with Armenian-American oud master Joe Zeytoonian. Since moving to New York in 1991 he has performed and recorded in vast variety of genre, from world music, jazz, contemporary classical music to experimental electronic music with musicians such as Ray Barretto, Carlos ‘Patato’ Valdes, Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson, Eddie Gomez, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Anthony Braxton, Mark Murphy, Herbie Mann, Paul Winter Consort, Rabih Abu Khalil, Erik Friedlander, Ned Rothenberg, MIchael Attias, Shoko Nagai, Paul Giger, Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, Ying String Quartet, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Dhafer Youssef, Lalo Schifrin and Pablo Ziegler to name a few. He continues to explore multi-cultural, electronics and improvisational music with local musicians and composers in New York.
Sponsors:
- Chapel Arts Series at the University of St. Thomas
- Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas
with generous support from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota