EKSTASIS
Photo By: Isabelle Wroblewski
Ekstasis: The experience of standing outside of oneself.
Music that lifts the spirit can be intensely joyful, profoundly moving, and unforgettable. Ekstasis is committed to creating juxtapositions and similarities through daring programming. We thrive on the contrast, intensity, and passion that we find in these compositions. We aim to share music that electrifies our audience and offers every possible emotion on the spectrum.
Natasha and Eliran met as students years ago at Juilliard. After some recent exciting performances in New York City and upstate NY, the two decided to embark on a new mission: to create compelling programming celebrating masterpieces alongside the secret jewels of lesser-known works.
Presenting compelling programming celebrating masterpieces alongside the secret jewels of lesser-known works is at the heart of pianist Eliran Avni’s and cellist Natasha Farny’s performances as the Ekstasis Duo. With a focus on storytelling that pinpoints an aspect of the human condition or creates an atmosphere through sound, their concerts offer compellingly juxtaposed solo and chamber music works, and occasionally incorporates multimedia, readings, video, and visual art. For the 2020-21 season, the duo is promoting the music of women composers. Their Women's Voices initiative include lectures, concerts, and audio and video recordings. Their debut CD of this project is expected to be released in 2021.
Since their debut in 2018, The Ekstasis Duo has appeared on distinguished series such as New York City’s Merkin Hall, Eastman's Morning Chamber Music Series, and Rochester’s Live from Hochstein. During the summer of 2020, the duo recorded music for their upcoming debut CD, "Women's Voices," projected for release in 2021. This program has inspired Ekstasis to give lectures online and in person both in New York and at an international conference in Lucca, Italy. A multimedia project involving live music and video will occur in the future. Postponed engagements due to COVID-19 include California’s L'Ermitage Foundation in Los Angeles and Tateuchi Hall at the Finn Center at Mountainview, New York’s Community School of Music and Arts, Bard College, Saugerties ProMusica, Maryland’s Resonance Concert Series, The Eastman School of Music, and GetClassical Revelation Gallery. Upcoming 2021 engagements include Arts in the Village at Goff Memorial Hall in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
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Photos By: Isabelle Wroblewski
Praised as possessing both “ironclad technique” and “ample suppleness” by The New York Times, Eliran Avni is an emerging force in the contemporary classical music scene. Hailed as “The new hope of Israeli music” by Ma’ariv, he made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta at age 17. Since then, he has appeared as a soloist and chamber music collaborator throughout Europe, North and South America, as well as in his native Israel, and has played for live broadcasts for the Israeli and German broadcasting systems.
As a soloist, Eliran is known as a preeminent interpreter of the music of composer Avner Dorman. Solo performance highlights include Dorman’s Azerbaijani Dance with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta at Carnegie Hall, Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Alabama Symphony, and the Grieg Concerto with the Oakland East Bay Symphony.
American cellist Natasha Farny has distinguished herself as a musician with significant versatility, sensitivity, and experience. An accomplished soloist, Ms. Farny has performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, as well as several local orchestras throughout the Western New York region. She has taken solo and chamber music tours across Germany, the Czech Republic, and Brazil, and has played at many national venues like the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago and Brooklyn’s Bargemusic “Here and Now” Series. Ms. Farny can be heard on recordings of chamber music with the Centaur label. She will release her solo CD of French cello music in 2019. A vibrant teacher, she has been invited to give master classes at various institutions, including Weimar’s Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Germany, the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Italy, and the Eastman School of Music.
LISTEN
Live concert, September 20, 2019
WATCH
CALENDAR
PROGRAMS
No Words Necessary
Featuring songs without words arranged for cello and piano spanning the ages from baroque to jazz. The audience will choose 10-12 works from a menu and determine both the program items and the order.
Menu:
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Schumann - Frauenliebe und Leben
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Mendelssohn - Song without Words
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Brahms - Meine Liebe ist Grün
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Kurt Weill - Speak Low
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Mozart - Non so più
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Sondheim – The Worst Pies in London
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Tchaikovsky - Kuda Kuda
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Alma Mahler – Ekstase
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Ellington - Sophisticated Lady
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Rachmaninoff - Vocalise
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Nadia Boulanger - Roses de Juin
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Debussy – Romance
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Purcell - When I am laid
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Ron Yedidya - Lullabye (Bossa Nova)
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Chopin – Polonaise Brilliant
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Fauré - Mandoline & C'est l'extase
Total: 80 minutes
Women’s Voices
Celebrating the amazing talent of female composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, these stunning and brilliant works, coupled with selected readings from their letters, provide insight into their thoughts about music.
Program:
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Louise Farrenc - Allegro Moderato
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Clara Schumann - Three Romances
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Lera Auerbach - Preludes nos. 7, 23 & 24
Intermission
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Ellen Taaffe Zwilich - Lament
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Ethel Smyth - Sonata in A minor, op. 5
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Hommage à Nina Simone
Total: 68 minutes
Enchanted Fairy Tales
Take a fantastical musical journey with us through different lands and tales.
Program:
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Prokofiev - Andante from Cinderella
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Beethoven - "Magic Flute" Variations, WoO 46
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Martinů - Variations on a Slovak theme
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Hindemith - Phantasiestücke, op. 8, no. 2
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Cassadó - Dance of the Green Devil
Intermission
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Caroline Mallonée - Crossings
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Janáček - Pohádka
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Rachmaninoff - Little Red Riding Hood for solo piano
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Cui - Orientale
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Debussy - Petite Suite
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Prokofiev - Cello Sonata, 2nd movement
Total: 80 minutes
La Vie en Rose
An evening of Parisian masterpieces accompanied by readings of French poetry.
Program:
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Louise Farrenc - Sonata
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Franchomme - Caprice no. 9 for solo cello
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Ravel - Pièce en forme de Habanera
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Ravel - Sonata op. posthume
Intermission
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Poulenc - Improvisation for solo piano
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Roland Dyens - Filmaginaires: Musique en quête d'image
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Debussy - Beau Soir
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Poulenc - Sonata
Total: 73 minutes
German Romantics
In addition to the celebrated works, Ekstasis is excited to offer several hidden gems.
Program:
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Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn - Fantasie
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Schumann - Frauenliebe und Leben
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Kurt Weill - Prologue, The Seven Deadly Sins for solo piano
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Kurt Weill - Sonata
Intermission
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Bach - Cello Suite No. 1, Prelude and Allemande
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Hindemith - Phantasiestücke, op. 8, no. 2
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Brahms - Sonata in E minor, op. 38
Total: 80 minutes
Send in the Clowns!
As a subject, clowns are a perfect vehicle for exploring human states of being, such as comedy, tragedy, irony, and even insanity. We will juxtapose music with poetry by Surrealist poets and Shakespeare.
Program:
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Stravinsky - Suite Italienne
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Leoncavallo - Canio’s Lament from "Pagliacci"
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Debussy - Sonata
Intermission
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Stravinsky - Petroushka, Danse Russe, Chez Petroushka for solo piano
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Sondheim - Send in the Clowns
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Milhaud arr. Farny – Scaramouche
Total: 60 minutes
Rachmaninoff Soirée
Through a reading of Rachmaninoff’s letters, we will explore his anxieties and struggles so as to shine a light on the complexity of the artist’s inner world. In addition, we will present the rarely-played solo cello sonata by Prokofiev.
Program:
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Rachmaninoff - Prelude and Dance Orientale, op. 2
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Prokofiev - Sonata for solo cello, op. 134
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Rachmaninoff - Vocalise
Intermission
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Rachmaninoff - Etudes-Tableaux for solo piano
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Rachmaninoff - Cello Sonata
Total: 70 minutes
CONTACT US
Please write to us at EkstasisDuo @ gmail . com
MANAGEMENT | Unbound Artists
BOOKING | Greg Kastelman
415.501.0446
PRESS | Laura Grant
Grant Communications
Massachusetts - New York
MAIL: 272 Broadway #8
Methuen, Massachusetts 01844
917.359.7319
212.600.0649
Laura@grant-communications.com