Violinist Mikhail Simonyan is joined by Kristjan Järvi and the Absolute Ensemble for an Evening of Music

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The young violinist celebrates the release of his Deutsche Grammophon debut recording, Two Souls, with Järvi and the London Symphony Orchestra


Following recital and concerts around the world, violinist Mikhail Simonyan will release his Deutsche Grammophon debut recording, Two Souls, on November 1 in the United States. To mark the occasion Simonyan will present a 7:30pm concert at New York’s renowned (le) Poisson Rouge featuring an eclectic program of works by Ysaÿe, Tchaikovsky, and Milstein. For an evening of energetic and undoubtedly exciting music making, Simonyan will be joined by his good friend maestro Kristjan Järvi (who leads the London Symphony Orchestra on Simonyan’s new album) and Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble in re-imagined settings of music inspired by folk influences, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, and more, written by ensemble member Gene Pritsker.

Still in his twenties, Mikhail Simonyan is already recognized as one of the most celebrated talents of his generation. The New York Times has praised his, “breadth, lyricism and fleet technique,” and reported that “Mr. Simonyan play[s] as if every note counted.” The 2010-11 season saw his recital debuts at the Verbier, Aspen and Ravinia Festivals, a debut with the NHK Symphony Orchestra performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto under Sir Neville Marriner, a debut with the Dresden Philharmonic and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and debuts with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Iceland Symphony Orchestra. In October, he filled in last minute for Midori to make his Baltimore Symphony debut to rave reviews.

Absolute Ensemble is conductor Kristjan Järvi’s celebrated chamber band from New York City. Founded in 1993 when Järvi was a piano student at Manhattan School of Music, Järvi’s uncanny prescience for the future of classical music led him to create a band so unique that the American Record Guide claims it “may well be the most alluring and virtuosic… of today’s new music groups.” An ebullient mix of jazz, classical and world music played with virtuosic flair, Järvi’s group of musical omnivores creates each project from start to finish, restoring the composer/arranger/performer synthesis and flavoring each concert with spontaneity and musical charisma. Absolute tours the globe extensively while maintaining its New York presence and a European base at Musikfest, Bremen. Absolute Ensemble has released eleven albums and has been awarded the German Record Critics Prize, a Grammy nomination and the Deutsche Bank Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievement.

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