The capital will host two musical performances next week by two men who have dedicated their lives and talents to decorating the world with beautiful sounds.
First up will be classically trained pianist and composer Uriel Herman from Israel, who will perform on Thursday at the Windcraft Music Centre. The pianist brings the jazz and rock genres together in his performances and puts on shows that are clearly influenced by classical music and Israeli sounds.
For the last two years, he has been travelling around the world, from Europe to Asia, where he has performed in major festivals and venues, including the jazz festival Sous les Pommiers in France, the Rabobank Amsersfoort Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the Chengdu Concert Hall in China and the Taichung Opera House in Taiwan.
When it comes to his solo career, Herman returns to his roots by playing his original compositions and special interpretations of rock songs using classical elements of jazz.
“Classical music and classical playing are still very close to my heart, but what I was missing was the freedom, the freedom to break free from the form… the freedom to improvise… to express,” the pianist said.
During his visit to Costa Rica, Herman participated in a shaman ceremony that lasted all night long. It was in the wake of this experience that Uriel wrote the song White Night, a kind of jazz rhapsody that is based on classical form and elements, but which provides much more freedom for the composer to create.
“Those spaces that interest me on the stage are the musical domains where you have no idea what the music will sound like. Music is the art of time, it takes place within time, it must change and be dynamic,” Herman explains.
Herman is also part of the Uriel Herman Quartet. The quartet was created after the released of Herman’s first album Awake. Apart from travelling the world together and performing in historical locations, one of the highlights of the quartet’s career was in 2015 when the four musicians recorded a live session in an old windmill in Jerusalem in front of a small audience of friends and family. The Windmill Session got the quartet international recognition, landing them the headline spot on one of Asia’s largest jazz festivals in Taichung playing an unforgettable show in front of 45,000 people.
The second musical event of the week will be by guitarist Damiano Pisanello at the Shoe Factory on Friday. The concert will be presented by the Pharos Arts Foundation, together with the support of the Embassy of Spain and the Cervantes Institute in Cyprus.
Praised for his brilliant technique, transparent, dramatic sound and rich melodic nuances, the young Swiss guitarist was the first winner of the International Sevilla Guitar Competition in 2016, voted unanimously by the jury. Pisanello began his music education in 1998 with Miguel Charosky in Geneva. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the Hochschule fur Musik Basel and he is currently pursuing a Master’s degree. He has also received lessons on the historical Romantic-period guitar at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under Professor Peter Croton, and he has actively participated in master-classes with Paolo Pegoraro, Fred Frith, Alvaro Pierri, Oscar Ghiglia, Marco Socias and Paul Galbraith. Pisanello has also won a number of prizes in guitar competitions including the First Prize at the EGTA (European Guitar Teachers Association) in Switzerland in 2008, and the Third Prize at the 7th International Ligita Guitar Competition in Liechtenstein in 2015 and the Third Prize in the Concours International de Guitare de Carry Le Rouet in France.
Uriel Herman
Solo performance by the pianist. December 14. Windcraft Music Centre, 27 Xanthis Xenierou, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €8/10. Tel: 22-377748
Damiano Pisanello
The Pharos Arts Foundation presents a guitar recital. December 15. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €10/15. Tel: 22-663871
