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Matt Haimovitz

PRIMAVERA I - the wind

Oxingale - PENTATONE
Release Date: June 18, 2021

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Interview w/ WGTE
Matt Haimovitz Masterclass
Matt Haimovitz at Daydreams
Matt Haimovitz Discovers Isang Yun
Interview w/ WGTE
1 bare by Gabriella Smith (5:25)  
2 Suolo by David Sanford (3:31)  
3 Crocus Palimpsest by David T. Little (4:43)  
4 Euba’s Dance by Nkeiru Okoye (4:43)  
5 Reimagined Spring by Jorge Sosa (6:21)  
6 the motion between three worlds by inti figgis-vizueta (4:58)  
7 Equal night by Vijay Iyer (9:53)  
8 Diaphanous Grace by Luna Pearl Woolf (6:28)  
9 Chloris & Zephyrus by Roberto Sierra (5:37)  
10 Six Graces by Asher Sizemore (5:41)  
11 Sorta Voce by Tod Machover (6:47)  
12 Spring Forward by Jake Heggie (5:07)  
13 Fluorescenza by Laura Elise Schwendinger (7:44)  
14 Missa Primavera by Lisa Bielawa (7:38) Total time: 84:35  
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Multi-Grammy nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz’s next recording, PRIMAVERA I the wind, will be released on the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. The new digital album features the first fourteen of 81 new pieces written for Haimovitz, commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT. This new initiative asks composers to write in response to Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera, and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, by contemporary artist Charline von Heyl. Haimovitz recorded the album in January 2021 at von Heyl’s artist studio near downtown Marfa, Texas. More information about the project, composers, and pieces is available at THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT’s online hub, www.theprimaveraproject.com.

Matt Haimovitz will be performing music from THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT in six upcoming virtual and in-person concerts, including at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, MD (June 10), Oregon Bach Festival (June 25, virtual), PS21 in Chatham, NY (July 5), Green Mountain Music Festival in Burlington, VT (July 16), Napa Valley Festival in Napa Valley, CA (July 20), and at his Bach Cello Suites Workshop (July 30, virtual). 

THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT is an exploration of music and art as sources of influence and inspiration for each other. During this time of global pandemic and social upheaval, both Primavera paintings’ composition, characters, symbolism, nature and flora, darkness and light, mythology, identity, and spirituality are ripe for new interpretation – as reflected by the newly commissioned pieces on this first installment. The project’s commissions began with nine composers, incorporating a variety of musical languages. Each composer then recommended colleagues to be considered as the next participating composers until a total of 81 composers were selected. All 81 resulting pieces will be recorded for commercial release, with Haimovitz making the next album in Marfa, Texas in late May. PRIMAVERA II will be released in fall 2021.

The distinct and diverse contemporary compositional voices on this album bridge the centuries, expanding and redefining the range and repertoire of the solo cello. Framed by Gabriella Smith’s bare and Lisa Bielawa’s Missa Primavera, Vijay Iyer, David Sanford, Nkeiru Okoye, Jorge Sosa, and others bring a multitude of influences from the world of Jazz and Latin music, to Vivaldi and Scriabin.

  • Matt Haimovitz honors Thomas de Hartmann's music, and chats with yourClassical - New Classical Tracks
    Posted At: February 21, 2024
    Cellist Matt Haimovitz, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies present the first commercial recording of Ukrainian unsung composer Thomas de Hartmann’s cello concerto. De Hartmann was an important compositional voice in his own time, connected to the greatest musicians and artists of his era, but has sunk into oblivion after his death in 1956. This EP release ...

  • Matt Haimovitz chats about 'De Hartmann Cello Concerto' with Northern Florida's WFSU Public Media
    Posted At: December 8, 2023
    Renowned as a musical pioneer, multi-Grammy-nominated cellist MATT HAIMOVITZ is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in a predictable performance.” He brings a fresh ear to familiar repertoire, champions new music, and initiates ...

  • Ukrainian Gold: Matt Haimovitz discusses Thomas de Hartmann's Cello Concerto with Winnipeg CLASSIC 107
    Posted At: October 23, 2023
    Winnipeg CLASSIC 107's Chris Wolf writes……On September 29th the Pentatone Oxingale Record Label released a recording of Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann’s Cello Concerto featuring the world renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz. If you have never heard of Thomas De Hartmann, you are not alone; however while he was alive he was considered to be one of the greatest compositional voices of his era. He was respe...

  • Matt Haimovitz, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra - De Hartmann: Cello Concerto is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: October 2, 2023
    Cellist Matt Haimovitz, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies present the first commercial recording of Ukrainian unsung composer Thomas de Hartmann’s cello concerto.De Hartmann was an important compositional voice in his own time, connected to the greatest musicians and artists of his era, but has sunk into oblivion after his death in 1956. This EP release i...

  • Matt Haimovitz to perform compositions inspired by Botticelli at venues across Marfa / The Big Bend Sentinel
    Posted At: April 12, 2023
    The Big Bend Sentinel's MARY CANTRELL writes…..Original compositions on solo cello that have been inspired by painter Charline von Heyl’s re-interpretation of Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera will be performed live in Marfa this weekend by cellist Matt Haimovitz. The concerns will take place 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Chinati Foundation Arena, 3 p.m. Saturday at Marfa Book Co. and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Crowley The...

  • Know the rules before you break them. Life lessons from Matt Haimovitz / theStrad
    Posted At: December 7, 2022
    The US cellist on how a disciplined early approach enabled him to embrace the possibilities of new experiencesRenowned as a musical pioneer, multi-Grammy-nominated cellist MATT HAIMOVITZ is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in...

  • Harmonious World chats with Matt Haimovitz about the massive Primavera Project
    Posted At: August 6, 2022
    PRIMAVERA III the vessel is the third of six albums in a momentous series encompassing 81 world premieres for solo cello. This digital album presents 9 new commissions by The Primavera Project for groundbreaking, multi-GRAMMY nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz. Composers from diverse backgrounds respond to both Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera, and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primaver...

  • Stunningly beautiful, Matt Haimovitz understands and interprets each diverse work on PRIMAVERA II / theWholeNote
    Posted At: April 22, 2022
    On February 4, 2022, multi-Grammy nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz released his latest recording, PRIMAVERA II the rabbits, on the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. The new digital album features the next 13 of 81 new pieces written for Haimovitz, commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, also featuring Haimovitz’s new arrangement of Josquin de Prez’s Kyrie (from Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae). The project asks compos...

  • Inspired by the past but embracing the new, Matt Haimovitz: Primavera II, has plenty of bounce / theStrad
    Posted At: April 22, 2022
    On February 4, 2022, multi-Grammy nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz released;  PRIMAVERA II the rabbits, on PENTATONE Oxingale Series. The new digital album features the next 13 of 81 new pieces written for Haimovitz, commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, also featuring Haimovitz’s new arrangement of Josquin de Prez’s Kyrie (from Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae). The project asks composers to respond to S...

  • Through 'THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT,' Matt Haimovitz focuses on future generations / yourclassical - New Classical Tracks
    Posted At: April 6, 2022
    Multi-Grammy nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz’s has a series of new recordings called THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT. PRIMAVERA I the wind, will be released on the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. The new digital album features the first fourteen of 81 new pieces written for Haimovitz, commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT. This new initiative asks composers to write in response to Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, ...

  • Much can be gained from listening to Matt Haimovitz - PRIMAVERA Project / The Rehearsal Studio
    Posted At: March 3, 2022
    The Rehearsal Studio's Stephen Smoliar writes….Readers may recall that, this past Saturday, Matt Haimovitz gave a solo cello recital entitled Primavera (the Italian word for “spring”) for San Francisco Performances. The title refers to THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, conceived to commission 81 new solo cello works, each around five to ten minutes in duration. As the compositions become available, Haimovitz is record...

  • Matt Haimovitz - Primavera II: The Rabbits makes Violinist.com's 'For the Record' weekly roundup
    Posted At: February 24, 2022
    On February 4, 2022, multi-Grammy nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz’s released his latest recording, PRIMAVERA II the rabbits via the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. The new digital album features the next 13 of 81 new pieces written for Haimovitz, commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, also featuring Haimovitz’s new arrangement of Josquin de Prez’s Kyrie (from Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae). The project asks comp...

  • Matt Haimovitz set for world premiere of Tapestry Opera's 'Jacqueline' / CJN
    Posted At: February 17, 2020

    When Matt Haimovitz performs at the world premiere of Tapestry Opera's Jacqueline: a portrait of virtuosity, the audience can anticipate music that resonates with the poignant timbre of the famed cellist's intimate association with Jacqueline du Pré as her young protégé. Rising from a young prodigy herself, to peak fame as one of the world's greatest virtuosi and ultimately succumbin...

  • Matt Haimovitz visits the Classical101 studio
    Posted At: November 21, 2019

    You could say Matt Haimovitz does things differently. He abandoned the typical career of a classical cellist early on. Since then, Haimovitz, now on the faculty of McGill University's Schulich School of Music, has championed new music and sought out unusual venues in which to perform it. This week, Haimovitz is bringing both of these aspects of his work to central Ohio to perform "A Moveable ...

  • David Sanford and BMOP - Black Noise' resonates with history / I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
    Posted At: May 4, 2019

    Black Noise (2019, BMOP/Sound) features three orchestral works by composer David Sanford, carefully interpreted by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) under the direction of Gil Rose, in which Sanford implicitly reflects on the complexity of this sonic history in a contemporary classical idiom. Exploring a variety of subjects and forms through his own evocative and narrative-driven compositional v...

  • After fifteen months apart, Matt Haimovitz and his beloved Matteo-after Matteo Goffriller get reacquainted / The New Yorker
    Posted At: September 11, 2018

    On a recent Thursday, Matt Haimovitz, the forty-seven-year-old virtuoso cellist, packed an empty instrument case into the back of his car and drove from his home, in Montreal, to a friend's apartment on the Upper West Side, where he'd be crashing. The case was for Haimovitz's rare, multimillion-dollar cello, which he calls Matteo-after Matteo Goffriller, the seventeenth-century Venetian luthi...

  • Matt Haimovitz and Vijay Iyer team for genre-shredding in ArtPower debut / The San Diego Union-Tribune
    Posted At: June 18, 2018

    UC - San Diego's ArtPower will celebrate its 15th anniversary - beginning this fall - with one of the most diverse lineups in the history of this proudly diverse music, dance, spoken-word and multimedia performance series. The 2018-19 season at the University of California at San Diego's La Jolla campus will feature more than two dozen performances covering a dizzying array of creative approaches...

  • Matt Haimovitz celebrates 'The Temple's 150th year / WABE: Atlanta
    Posted At: April 19, 2017

    Cellist Matt Haimovitz is featured in a Jewish-themed concert to celebrate the 150th anniversary of The Temple. The Temple, Atlanta's oldest Jewish congregation, turns 150 years old this year. Cellist Matt Haimovitz will join the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra tonight to celebrate the occasion. The Jewish-inspired program features Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes and Leonard Bernstein's West Side St...

  • Matt Haimovitz makes overtures to 91.3KUAF
    Posted At: March 29, 2017

    The works of Bach have a recurring impact in cellist Matt Haimovitz's life, describing them to Of Note's Katy Henriksen as "the cellist's bible," adding that they are part of his "daily diet," playing "two movements of Bach every day." Haimovitz's first Bach experience as a budding cellist was with Pablo Casals' recording of Bach cello suites, which his parents bought him on vinyl as ...

  • Matt Haimovitz set for Moveable Feast at Connecticut College / theday
    Posted At: March 2, 2017

    Often we think of a musical instrument's properties in the context of ensemble performance, where it fits in an overall sonic tapestry with any or all components such as voice, strings, brass, winds, percussion and, on rare occasions, with that guy who plays a comb covered with tissue paper. The virtuoso classical cellist Matt Haimovitz, though, has become renowned through his ground-breaking solo re...

  • Matt Haimovitz 'biscuit chats' Overtures w WDAV Radio
    Posted At: February 7, 2017

    Matt Haimovitz's continuously-evolving and intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master's time to our own. Overtures to Bach, ...

  • Houston Public Media's Classical Classroom schools on Bach with Matt Haimovitz
    Posted At: January 31, 2017

    It's entirely possible that cellist Matt Haimovitz has forgotten that composers other than Bach exist. On his last visit to Classical Classroom, he talked about Anna Magdalena's (Bach's second wife's) transcriptions of Bach's Cello Suites. On the visit before that, Matt and Christopher O'Riley talked… oh wait – that was about Beethoven. But still! The guy...

  • Matt Haimovitz talks overtures with WCLV: Cleveland
    Posted At: January 22, 2017

    Matt Haimovitz is continuously-evolving. His intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master's time to our own. Overtures to Bach, re...

  • Matt Haimovitz set to play modern overtures at MIM / Arizona Republic
    Posted At: January 12, 2017

    Cellist Matt Haimovitz earned a reputation as a bit of a maverick in the classical world, playing concert tours in nightclubs and recording music by the likes of jazzman John McLaughlin and even Scottish rockers the Cocteau Twins. But none of that showed quite as much chutzpah as his latest project, commissioning contemporary composers to riff on Bach's famed cello suites. Haimovitz will perform thes...

  • Matt Haimovitz - A Moveable Feast set for UA's Crowder Hall / Tucson.com
    Posted At: December 15, 2016

    "In his hands, Bach's music turns into quotidian sound, a music fully part of the now." – The New York Times Cellist Matt Haimovitz inspires classical music lovers and new listeners by bringing his artistry to anywhere passionate music can be heard. Lending a fresh ear to familiar repertoire while initiating groundbreaking collaborations, Haimovitz offers a brilliant musical variation on the co...

  • Matt Haimovitz discusses Overtures To Bach with WRTI
    Posted At: November 22, 2016

    What kind of music would speak to Bach today? Cellist Matt Haimovitz-who has been performing works by Bach in concert halls and clubs for the last three decades-asked composers to respond to the preludes from Bach's cello suites. WRTI: Philadelphia - Susan Lewis reports. Click here to listen Three hundred years ago, Bach was creating his own musical language. "He was synthesizing vernaculars from...

  • Matt Haimovitz chats about 'Overtures' with Classical Austin: KMFA
    Posted At: November 18, 2016

    Cellist Matt Haimovitz has had a long relationship with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in Israel, he grew up in Palo Alto California before heading to New York to study with the late Leonard Rose at Juilliard. Starting in the mid 1980s the then-young prodigy began soloing with leading orchestras around the world and recording the standard literature for the venerable Deutsch Grammophon record l...

  • Overtures to Bach, Ginastera 100 & Infusion make WBAA: 'what's new stringsnthings' preview
    Posted At: November 17, 2016

    A new program airs Sunday and Tuesday nights on WBAA Classical: What's New. Host John Clare features new music, new releases, and interesting guests. Hear a special preview of this week's What's New, and let us know what you think. This preview features some great new string releases including: Overtures to Bach by Matt Haimovitz; Ginastera 100 with Yolanda Kondonassis; and Jason Vieaux with ...

  • Matt Haimovitz - Overtures To Bach interview with Net Nebraska
    Posted At: November 9, 2016

    Matt Haimovitz's continuously-evolving and intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master's time to our own. Overtures to Bach, ...

  • Matt Haimovitz stops by WUSF: Tampa for Overtures to Bach
    Posted At: October 12, 2016

    Acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz's continuously-evolving and intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master's time to our o...

  • Matt Haimovitz pays tribute to Bach in 'Overtures' / WABE Radio
    Posted At: October 7, 2016

    Matt Haimovitz had a big idea with the passion and the work ethic to see it through; all he was lacking was the funding. The inventive and ever-evolving cellist wanted to commission six composers to write six overtures to J.S. Bach's famous cello suites. It was an untraditional proposal, but it's the sort of challenge that intrigues seasoned composers like Philip Glass. Haimovitz has known Glass ...

  • Matt Haimovitz - Overtures To Bach interview with All Classical Portland
    Posted At: October 6, 2016

    Cellist Matt Haimovitz, who started his career nearly 30 years ago on the DG label, recording the standard cello repertoire, soon broke out of that corner of classical music to seek a more personal journey. I recall, in the 1990s, interviewing Matt as he was about to head out across the country, with CDs in the trunk of his car, to perform a wide variety of styles in a wide variety of venues. This was hi...

  • Overtures to Bach. Matt Haimovitz interviews with WCVE Radio
    Posted At: September 30, 2016

    Cellist Matt Haimovitz's continuously-evolving and intense engagment with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master's time to our own. 88.9 WCVE: R...

  • Matt Haimovitz interviews with Classical Radio around new 'Overtures to Bach' release
    Posted At: September 22, 2016

    Matt Haimovitz's continuously-evolving and intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master's time to our own. Overtures to Bach, ...

  • Matt Haimovitz set to play Golijov - 'Azul' in DSO opener: 'Dream of America' / Duluth News Tribune
    Posted At: September 16, 2016

    Cellist Matt Haimovitz is one of the featured musicians for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra's season-opening concert this Saturday, "The Dream of America." He will perform Golijov's "Azul" alongside the orchestra, hyper-accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman and percussionists Eugene Koshinski and Tim Broscious. Also on the program: Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" and Dvorak's S...

  • Matt Haimovitz - Overtures To Bach / KDFC: Download of the Week
    Posted At: September 6, 2016

    Each week KDFC: San Francisco members can download a free mp3 from some of the biggest releases in the world of Classical music. This week's selection is from Matt Haimovitz. The Cellist's continuously-evolving and intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures e...
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