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.

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Natasha and Eliran met as students years ago at Juilliard. After some 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.

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With a focus on storytelling that pinpoints an aspect of the human condition or creates an atmosphere through sound, their concerts offer solo and chamber music works, and occasionally incorporate multimedia, readings, video, and visual art. During last year's season, the duo promoted the music of women composers with a program called "Women's Voices." This initiative also included lectures, audio and video recordings. Their debut CD of this project will be released in 2022.

The 2021-2022 season will feature an expanded program that includes other minority composers. "...From the Shadows" will introduce you to the music of George Walker, Henriette Bosmans, Lili Boulanger, Alexander Zemlinsky, and Alma Mahler. This fall, the duo gave performances at Buffalo’s Friends of Vienna series, The Fredonia Opera House, Lily Dale Auditorium, and on Rochester public radio at “Live from Hochstein.” Upcoming concerts with this program include engagements with Arizona’s Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts, Ohio’s Holland Theater, and Maryland’s Resonance Chamber Music Series.

Additionally, the duo is very excited to premiere a double concerto by renowned American composer, Avner Dorman. Commissioned by a consortium that includes Chris Granger and the Fredonia Foundation, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and Gettysburg College, the duo will begin performances of this piece in the spring of 2022.  

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 occurred this fall as a result of winning Fredonia’s Kasling Award and a paper on women’s compositions for cello and piano was published this fall in the College Music Society Symposium. 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, The Eastman School of Music, and GetClassical Revelation Gallery. 

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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.

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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.

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Ekstasis Duo to Premiere

New Work in Spring 2022

Rare double concerto for cello and piano is one of the few works in this idiom

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A one-of-a-kind new work by award-winning composer Avner Dorman written for the Ekstasis Duo (cellist Natasha Farny and pianist Eliran Avni) will receive its premiere in the 2021-22 season. Made possible by a generous donation from Chris Granger and the Fredonia Foundation, and consortium members Sewanee Symphony Orchestra and Gettysburg College Orchestra, the double concerto for cello and piano and flexible ensemble (formal title to be announced) is one of the few double concertos specifically written for cello and piano.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write a concerto for the Ekstasis Duo,” stated Avner Dorman. “It’s rare to hear such a high level of musicianship paired with technical prowess from two performers, and to write for both of them is a dream come true. I look forward to how this piece comes together, and I have no doubt that we will create exciting, expressive, and heartfelt music together. It’s particularly exciting to collaborate again with my dear friend Eliran Avni, for whom I’ve written many pieces and who has recorded many of my piano and chamber works.” 

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Click here for the complete press release

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