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Cristian Neagoe, Alex Onish
This one-night only concert brings together for the first time in New York a soul-shaking duo of Romanian artists who got together especially to create this show: performer Ada Milea and UK based violinist and composer Alexander Balanescu. Inspired by the classic Robinson Crusoe story, but with a twist, The Island is a song-cycle based on the work of Romanian surrealist poet Gellu Naum. Robinson is now a haunted recluse stuck on an island full of lunatics. Created and performed in English, The Island engages the audience in a surrealist musical-theatre journey, with a powerful narrative and a continuous and alert back and forth between guitar, violin and voice that bring to life an array of characters the artists are casting each other in.
The show is “a memorable experience… These two performers remind us that serious music can be presented with warmth and humour,” says Paul Medley of the Oxford Times, on the occasion of the UK premiere of the show in 2006. The success it has enjoyed is due to both the originality of the work that came out of the collaboration between the two performers and their different and complementary artistic individualities… is a violinist and composer enjoying a solid reputation across Europe and internationally. His repertoire includes classical, contemporary and new music. He was born in Ro mania and studied music first at home then at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem< /st1:city>, at London’s Trinity College and at the Julliard School in New York. In 1979 he became leader of the Michael Nyman Ensemble and toured with this group for 15 years. He was in the Arditti Quartet for 4 years and then formed The Balanescu Quartet in 1987. The group has worked closely, among others, with Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Kevin Volans, as well as musicians from other fields such as John Lurie, David Byrne, Rabih Abou Khalil, Spiritualized and the Pet Shop Boys. Balanescu’s collaborations in dance, theatre or opera include projects with Merryl Tankard, Pina Bausch, Rosemary Lee, Jochen Ulrich; Theatre de la Place (Liege), Watford Palace Theatre; Opera North & Royal Shakespeare Company; Landestheater Linz and the Bruckner Orchestra. The quartet has toured Europe and the US , including festivals at Roskilde, Poori, Sziget, Sphinks, Ars Electronica, North Sea, Bath and Vale of Glamorgan. Balanescu composed the soundtrack of various movies, among which Angels and Insects, Le Poulpe, Il Partigiano Johnny and Eisenstein, The Way I Spent the End of the World, Tablo, TV Documentaries and over 20 animation films. He has released Possessed, Luminitza, Angels and Insects, East Meets East, Il Partiggiano Johnny, Lume Lume, Maria T.
Counting among her numerous inspiring projects a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, is a well known performer and composer from Ro mania. Initially trained as an actress, and after three years of performing at the National Theatre of Targu Mures, she went freelance to launch a unique musical style that became hugely successful through its ironic social commentary that inspired the newly emancipated generations of Ro mania. She composed various soundtracks for theatrical performances all over the country and experimented with merging acting and singing, while building real characters out of musical instruments. She also composed the soundtrack of Tertium non datur, by famous Romanian director Lucian Pintilie. She has released Sound Aberrations, The Sheepalist Republic of Romania, Absurdistan, No Mom’s Land, Apolodor, Quijote, Quixote, The Nose, and various underground versions of her concerts. She has toured in Ro mania, Hu ngary, Fr ance, Tunis, Belgium, Au stria and UK .
Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly become one of the New York City’s most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. With his genre-blind booking and vast diversity of interests, the stage at Joe’s Pub gives voice to a world of varied and stellar artists.
The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York aims to promote Romanian culture to the public in both the US and internationally and to build sustainable connections and collaborations between American and Romanian cultural organizations. The Institute serves as a catalyst for all artistic and creative fields, and strives toward the strengthening of academic associations and the enhancement of perspectives regarding Ro mania and its present cultural dynamics.
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