Levine Presents 2020-21

View on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/event/626728

Levine is committed to building new audiences for music by offering outstanding performances, master classes, and other musical events free-of-charge. This season of Levine Presents is offered free of charge thanks to the generosity of many donors. Please consider making a gift to support these programs.

Opening

Romance #2 in F# Major from the Three Romances by Robert Schumann
Sanjeev Belle Trichur, piano (student of Deborah Lloyd)

Piazzolla: A Musical Journey Through Tango

Produced by Manny Arciniega and The Modern Music Project:

Manny Arciniega: Arrangements, Videography, Percussion, Mastermind
Chris Brown: Electric Bass, Audio Production
Sarah Foard: Electric and Acoustic Violin, Videography (Recuerdo New York)
Gary Prince: Electric and Acoustic Guitar

With special thanks to Canden Arciniega: Videography (Oblivion, Tango Santa Maria)

Program

All compositions by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) except for Tango Santa Maria by The Gotan Project.

1.  Primavera Porteño (1970)
2.  Recuerdo New York (ca. 1960)
3.  Verano Porteño (1965)
4.  Libertango (1974)
5.  Otoño (1970)
6.  Oblivion (1982)
7.  Tango Santa Maria (2001)
8.  Invierno Porteño (1969)

All performances are new arrangements by Manny Arciniega, except Recuerdo New York, arr. Ian Murphy (adapted by Gary Prince/Sarah Foard), Oblivion arr. Chris Brown, and Tango Santa Maria, arr. Sarah Foard.

About the Artists

Manny Arciniega is a free-lance percussionist, composer, arranger and educator living in Washington DC. As a member of Levine’s percussion, rock and jazz departments, Manny has the opportunity of working with students of all ages from diverse backgrounds and ability levels. He received his undergraduate degree in Music Education and Theory Composition from Texas Christian University and a Master of Arts degree in Timpani and Percussion Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Skilled in many areas of percussion, Manny’s performance opportunities vary from playing buckets on the Netflix Original TV Series House of Card (SE2Ep1) to performing with world renown koto player Masayo Ishigure on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. He has appeared in numerous award winning musical theatre productions in the Washington DC area, including performances at the Olney Theatre Center, Constellation Theatre Company, Gala Hispanic Theatre and the Keegan Theatre. Recent performances include the US Premiere of In the Heights en Español and an appearance with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra at the National Museum of American History.

Manny has taught publicly and privately in the US and abroad and is currently on Percussion Faculty at Levine Music in Washington DC. He works regularly with the educational programs at the Kreeger Museum and is a teaching artist with Arts for the Aging, a non-profit organization that encourages creativity and participation in the arts for the aging population and those affected with mentally degenerative diseases.

Manny has had the opportunity to work with world renowned performers and conductors, including: Sir Colin Davis, Yan Pascal Tortelier, George Benjamin, Stephen Hough, Colin Currie, Keiko Abe, and has performed in venues all over the world. He has appeared with the London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of India, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Dame Evelyn Glennie. He was a member of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in 2003 and the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps in 2004 and 2005.

Christopher Brown is a bass guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator based in Washington, DC. He has performed or recorded with Ron Holloway, John Mayer, Daniel Lanois, Rev. Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Susan Tedeschi/Derek Trucks, Brian Blade, Warren Haynes, and many more. Long-term projects include Moonshine Society, Pigeon Kings, Bobby Thompson, DC Improviser’s Collective, Modern Music Project. Chris has 40-plus album credits and is an experienced musical director. He works in TV/film/game scoring, sound design, and is an internationally respected consultant on music technology, working with DC’s Levine Music, the Field School, Bach 2 Rock (US) and the Academy of Contemporary Music (UK), as well as his own business musictutordc.com.

Sarah Foard has taught as a violin faculty member at Levine Music since 2005. As a graduate of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Sarah has studied performance and pedagogy with Patricia Green, Laura Kobayashi, Piotr Milewski, and Rebecca Henry. Through blending Suzuki and traditional methods in her teaching, Sarah is proud to develop creative programs and performance experiences for her students at Levine and her home-based studio. She has also served as the assistant chair of the Levine Music strings department and has been the assistant conductor of the Maryland Classic Youth Symphony Preparatory Orchestra. 

Outside of teaching, Sarah remains actively engaged as a violinist in the DC metropolitan region, performing at Signature Theater, Millennium Stage, the Kreeger Museum, and the Atlas Theater. Her performance pursuits have spanned a wide variety of genres, from classical standards, to musical theater and traditional fiddling. A folk dancer herself, Sarah particularly enjoys playing traditional American folk music for regional dance events. 

Gary Prince is a guitarist and educator based in Washington, DC. He has been on faculty at Levine Music since 2008 and is currently the Upper School Instrumental Music Teacher at Charles E Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD. From 2013-2020 Gary was Jazz Program Chair at Levine Music and oversaw a vast expansion in jazz ensemble and course offerings at Levine, including developing the curriculum for Levine’s Jazz Theory Online course, which he continues to teach. Gary has held additional teaching positions at The Sheridan School, The Siena School, The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and is a former BloomBars Artist in Residence.

Gary takes pride in having a wide range as a performer, and can be heard playing everything from contemporary jazz and improvised music with his band Cagematch, to performing Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with the Modern Music Project, to playing contradances with the group Black Oranges, performing duos with legendary vocalist Charles Williams, plus playing straight-ahead jazz, rock, and all points in between. Gary holds multiple degrees from the University of Michigan: MM, Music Education; BFA, Jazz & Contemplative Studies; BA, Psychology. While at the University of Michigan he was a member of the Creative Arts Orchestra under the direction of Ed Sarath and Mark Kirschenmann. Go Blue!