Performers - 2009 Season
Quartet 44 is currently engaged in conversations with a number of
performers to finalize performance dates for the 2008 season. This
page will feature some of those who have agreed in principal to
perform at Quartet 44 during our first season.
EARL MACDONALD
Earl MacDonald lives jazz, as a performer, composer and
educator. Currently the director of jazz studies at the University of
Connecticut, the Winnipeg native earned degrees in jazz
performance and jazz studies from McGill University and Rutgers,
where he apprenticed with Kenny Barron. He is dedicated to music
education, participating as a clinician, guest conductor and teacher
at summer camps, in addition to his position at UConn. From
1998 – 2000, MacDonald was the musical director, pianist, and
arranger for the Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau Band. As
music director he was responsible for programming and
rehearsing this world-renowned ensemble. In 2002, MacDonald
won the Sammy Nestico Award, for outstanding big band
arranging. MacDonald is currently a member of the prestigious BMI
Jazz Composers' Workshop in New York City. His compositions
are featured on the recent CD, UConn Jazz featuring Earl
MacDonald, recorded by the University of Connecticut Jazz
Ensembles. His new sextet, the Earl MacDonald 6, garnered first
place in the 2004 Hartford Advocate Reader’s Poll for “best jazz
group”. Their debut recording, Echoes In The Night was released
in January 2005.
Visit Earl MacDonald’s web site at: www.earlmacdonald.com
MIRELA PANAITISOR
Mirela Panaitisor is a classically trained Romanian born concert
violinist. She will be appearing at Quartet 44 during the 2008
season with various accompanists. As a classical violinist, she
has performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, and
toured with them in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal,
Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Great Britain. She also toured France
with the Romanian National Opera Orchestra. She has contributed
her talents on a number of recordings, including collection of
Tunisian/Arabic traditional music.
CHRISTOPHER CAOUETTE
Christopher Caouette, a native of northern CT, was trained as a
classical pianist. He developed a love for electronic music which
spanned from his mid teens to the present. He is a multi-
instrumentalist. These include piano, synth, a variety of wind
instruments, guitar and percussion. He is a talented performer and
composer whose repertoire includes a number of self-produced
albums which fuse his classical underpinnings with modern and
ethnic themes. He is a recipient of the prestigious Evelyn Preston
Grant, an endowment intended to fund talented artists for
performing concerts in the Greater Hartford CT area.
DESSISLAVA VASSILEVA
Dessislava Vassileva is a talented Bulgarian performer currently
living in the United States. Her father, Todor Gerov, is a highly
regarded musician and composer in the Bulgarian music
community. Her mother, Anka Gerova, performed both as a
professional classical ballet dancer and as a Bulgarian folk
dancer. Dessie began her first piano lessons at the age of 7. Soon
after graduating from High School, she entered the qualification
audition for professional stage performers and earned their
highest designation. Subsequently, she was issued a certificate of
qualification as an orchestra soloist by the Bulgarian Committee of
Culture. She continued her musical education as a student at
Neofit Rilski University of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. She has
performed throughout the world as a piano, vocal and synthesizer
performer. In addition to her native Bulgaria, she has played in the
USA, Greece, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Cyprus, Switzerland, Israel,
Egypt, Tunisia, Dubai and others. Dessie has performed for the
Bulgarian National Radio and other private radio channels. She
performed the 12 compositions included in the Nine Watermelons
CD, whose original music, written by her father, Todor Gerov, is an
inspiring journey in various styles.
You can visit Dessie's site at: www.ninewatermelons.com
MICHAEL KENT SMITH
Michael Kent Smith is a graduate of Elmhurst College, a composer
who uses modern as well as traditional and folk instruments,
performing on them and taping the various strands together into
vivid, delightful music. Smith has toured Europe and performs
regularly around the United States with concerts at such notable
venues as the Kennedy Center and the Chicago Cultural Center.
He has studied classical guitar with Paul Herrmann, fingerstyle
guitar with Martin Simpson and Edward Gehard, jazz with Richard
Medel, composition with Howard Krueger and flamenco with
Manuel Lozano in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. He was the principal
composer in Pong Unit, the ensemble fronted by poet Marc Smith,
inventor of the Poetry Slam. In addition, Smith has won the
Outstanding Soloist award at the prestigious Midwest Jazz festival
and was voted Chicago’s Best Guitarist in 1989. He released the
solo CD “After the Harvest” in 2002 and a trio CD “Beauty Without
Warning” in 2005.
You can visit Michael's site at: www.michaelkentsmith.com
RAY COOKE
Ray Cooke is a Rhode Island native. He is a singer/songwriter and
acoustic/electric guitarist. His unique style has grown out of
diverse musical influences. His first album, “Chasin’ the Bliss”,
recorded with a contingent of fine New England musicians, has
enjoyed considerable success in the northeast. He currently
performs as a solo acoustic act, and is busy at work on a follow-up
to his debut album.
COMING SOON...
... information on additional performers, including:
Quartet 44 is currently engaged in conversations with a number of
performers to finalize performance dates for the 2008 season. This
page will feature some of those who have agreed in principal to
perform at Quartet 44 during our first season.
EARL MACDONALD
Earl MacDonald lives jazz, as a performer, composer and
educator. Currently the director of jazz studies at the University of
Connecticut, the Winnipeg native earned degrees in jazz
performance and jazz studies from McGill University and Rutgers,
where he apprenticed with Kenny Barron. He is dedicated to music
education, participating as a clinician, guest conductor and teacher
at summer camps, in addition to his position at UConn. From
1998 – 2000, MacDonald was the musical director, pianist, and
arranger for the Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau Band. As
music director he was responsible for programming and
rehearsing this world-renowned ensemble. In 2002, MacDonald
won the Sammy Nestico Award, for outstanding big band
arranging. MacDonald is currently a member of the prestigious BMI
Jazz Composers' Workshop in New York City. His compositions
are featured on the recent CD, UConn Jazz featuring Earl
MacDonald, recorded by the University of Connecticut Jazz
Ensembles. His new sextet, the Earl MacDonald 6, garnered first
place in the 2004 Hartford Advocate Reader’s Poll for “best jazz
group”. Their debut recording, Echoes In The Night was released
in January 2005.
Visit Earl MacDonald’s web site at: www.earlmacdonald.com
MIRELA PANAITISOR
Mirela Panaitisor is a classically trained Romanian born concert
violinist. She will be appearing at Quartet 44 during the 2008
season with various accompanists. As a classical violinist, she
has performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, and
toured with them in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal,
Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Great Britain. She also toured France
with the Romanian National Opera Orchestra. She has contributed
her talents on a number of recordings, including collection of
Tunisian/Arabic traditional music.
CHRISTOPHER CAOUETTE
Christopher Caouette, a native of northern CT, was trained as a
classical pianist. He developed a love for electronic music which
spanned from his mid teens to the present. He is a multi-
instrumentalist. These include piano, synth, a variety of wind
instruments, guitar and percussion. He is a talented performer and
composer whose repertoire includes a number of self-produced
albums which fuse his classical underpinnings with modern and
ethnic themes. He is a recipient of the prestigious Evelyn Preston
Grant, an endowment intended to fund talented artists for
performing concerts in the Greater Hartford CT area.
DESSISLAVA VASSILEVA
Dessislava Vassileva is a talented Bulgarian performer currently
living in the United States. Her father, Todor Gerov, is a highly
regarded musician and composer in the Bulgarian music
community. Her mother, Anka Gerova, performed both as a
professional classical ballet dancer and as a Bulgarian folk
dancer. Dessie began her first piano lessons at the age of 7. Soon
after graduating from High School, she entered the qualification
audition for professional stage performers and earned their
highest designation. Subsequently, she was issued a certificate of
qualification as an orchestra soloist by the Bulgarian Committee of
Culture. She continued her musical education as a student at
Neofit Rilski University of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. She has
performed throughout the world as a piano, vocal and synthesizer
performer. In addition to her native Bulgaria, she has played in the
USA, Greece, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Cyprus, Switzerland, Israel,
Egypt, Tunisia, Dubai and others. Dessie has performed for the
Bulgarian National Radio and other private radio channels. She
performed the 12 compositions included in the Nine Watermelons
CD, whose original music, written by her father, Todor Gerov, is an
inspiring journey in various styles.
You can visit Dessie's site at: www.ninewatermelons.com
MICHAEL KENT SMITH
Michael Kent Smith is a graduate of Elmhurst College, a composer
who uses modern as well as traditional and folk instruments,
performing on them and taping the various strands together into
vivid, delightful music. Smith has toured Europe and performs
regularly around the United States with concerts at such notable
venues as the Kennedy Center and the Chicago Cultural Center.
He has studied classical guitar with Paul Herrmann, fingerstyle
guitar with Martin Simpson and Edward Gehard, jazz with Richard
Medel, composition with Howard Krueger and flamenco with
Manuel Lozano in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. He was the principal
composer in Pong Unit, the ensemble fronted by poet Marc Smith,
inventor of the Poetry Slam. In addition, Smith has won the
Outstanding Soloist award at the prestigious Midwest Jazz festival
and was voted Chicago’s Best Guitarist in 1989. He released the
solo CD “After the Harvest” in 2002 and a trio CD “Beauty Without
Warning” in 2005.
You can visit Michael's site at: www.michaelkentsmith.com
RAY COOKE
Ray Cooke is a Rhode Island native. He is a singer/songwriter and
acoustic/electric guitarist. His unique style has grown out of
diverse musical influences. His first album, “Chasin’ the Bliss”,
recorded with a contingent of fine New England musicians, has
enjoyed considerable success in the northeast. He currently
performs as a solo acoustic act, and is busy at work on a follow-up
to his debut album.
COMING SOON...
... information on additional performers, including:
- Joe Flood
- Joe Parillo and Christine Harrington
- The Accident That Led Me To The World
- SophistiCats String Band
- Daniel Compolieta
music café
performers
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