Hollywood Composers Musicians in Exile with Inbal Megiddo, Cello and Jian Liu, Piano

Hollywood Composers: Musicians in Exile with Inbal Megiddo, Cello and Jian Liu, Piano
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
4:00pm-5:30pm ET

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A unique evening showcasing the concert music and film scores of the Golden Age of Cinema, composed by leading Jewish European composers who fled the Holocaust and settled in Hollywood. Composers such as Erich Korngold, Ernst Toch, and Franz Waxman, provide a glimpse into the immigrant’s journey to and experience in America. From resilience to reinvention in Hollywood, these composers wrote music for some of the greatest blockbusters and transformed America’s musical landscape.
The concert will be a multimedia experience, with live performance (via zoom) of concert music, preceded by clips of the films that showcase the scores.

Inbal is passionate about the genre of suppressed composers. She searches for the music of composers who were persecuted and silenced, and through performances, give them voice and recognition.

Prior to each live performance, a selection or sample of a film featuring the score will be presented for each composer. Inbal will provide commentary on the connection between the film scores and concert music and brief discussion of the history and events these composers faced. There will be time for a Q&A session with the audience at the end of the program.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Austria, 1897 – 1957) Cello Concerto, Op. 37
Miklós Rózsa (Hungary, 1907 – 1995) Love Theme from El Cid
Joseph Achron (Lithuania, 1886-1943) Hebrew Melody
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Italy, 1895 – 1968) Figaro, from Barber of Seville by Rossini
George Gershwin (USA, 1898 – 1937) Tribute to Blue Note Records, New York Blue Note Record Label, co-founded by Jewish refugees Alfred Lion & Francis Wolff (1939) Summertime
Cellist Inbal Megiddo
Cellist Inbal Megiddo has performed as soloist with many of the great orchestras and in major concert halls around the world, including recitals in the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, with the Berlin Symphony at the Philharmonie and a recital at the Staatsoper. At her New York debut at the Lincoln Center her playing was hailed by the press as having “magical expression and technical expertise.” Recent releases include a recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites and Debussy’s Sonatas and Trio, which were nominated for Best Classical Album in the NZ Music Awards. She gave the NZ premieres of the Weinberg, Villa Lobos, and Barber Cello Concertos, with her playing described as “Superb!…Virtuosic, brilliant and powerful”. Other recent highlights include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ukraine Philharmonic, Lithuanian Philharmonic, collaborations with preeminent conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Shlomo Mintz, and Lior Shambadal, and concert tours throughout Europe, North America, and Asia.

Ms. Megiddo is Associate Professor in Cello at the New Zealand School of Music, and has held faculty positions at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Yale University. She has been guest artist at festivals such as the International Cello Congress, Beijing International Chamber Music Festival and Melbourne Cello Festival. She has given masterclasses at institutions around the world, including many of the major music schools in North America, Europe, Israel, and Australasia. Ms. Megiddo recently completed a doctoral thesis on the teaching methods of the legendary Aldo Parisot, and is founder and director of the Cellophonia International Festival in Wellington.

Dr. Jian Liu
Born in China and educated in China and the USA, Dr. Jian Liu is an internationally celebrated concert pianist, chamber musician, and educator, and has performed and taught throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. His artistry has taken him to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He has also recorded many CDs, one of which, Debussy Sonatas and Piano Trio, has been nominated as Best Classical Artist in the New Zealand Music Awards. His performances have been broadcast by various TV and radio stations including KPHO public radio (USA), CCTV (China), Suisse Romande Radio (Switzerland), Krakow Radio (Poland), Kan Radio (Israel) and Radio New Zealand. Dr. Liu is currently the Programme Director of Classical Performance and Head of Piano Studies at New Zealand School of Music. Dr. Liu holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale School of Music, where he was a student and assistant of Professor Claude Frank.

The full inclusion of people of all abilities is a core value of Classrooms Without Borders. For questions or to make requests for special accommodations contact [email protected]