Piazzolla
The music we call Tango started from three groups of displaced men in the Río de la Plata; these were the gauchos - wandering cowboys, the liberated black slaves and the great wave of European immigration around the 1880’s. Each group contributed to what Tango is today. The gauchos gave Tango some of it’s nostalgia, the guitar, and it’s poetry. The blacks gave tango its unique dance steps, its name (after Tangos, the festive gatherings of blacks) and other words such as milonga, candombe and canyengue, referring to related dance rhythms and to the characteristic of tango. The European immigrants gave tango its operatic passion, its instruments (bandoneón , flute, piano, violins, doublebass) and its classical forms.

Born in the cheap dance halls and bordellos, tango slowly made its way into wider acceptance through elegant cafés, recordings, the radio, and movies, becoming an international craze with its emphatic rhythm, passion and sex-appeal. 130 years after its humble birth, tango is a popular form of music and dance throughout the world.

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) born in Argentina, Piazzolla grew up in New York, soaking up Gershwin, Bach, Eastern European Jewish music and Cab Calloway and meeting and working with Carlos Gardel, arguably the greatest tango composer and singer of all time. On his return to Argentina, Piazzolla made his way into Aníbal Troilo’s orchestra. After winning a scholarship to France with his “Sinfonía de Buenos Aires”, he studied with Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged him to pursue his own unique brand of music which is recognizably his own.

Piazzolla’s favorite ensemble was his quintet: bandoneón, violin, guitar, piano and bass. The music for these arrangements was fully written out, but each musician would add abundant ornamentation in neo-baroque style, and a unique and perverse tango tempo by which melodies sometimes hurtle through the air and at other times are suspended as if timeless. Piazzolla’s music encompasses power, sexiness and excitement, which we attempt to emulate.

Some of the pieces that will be featured are Bailongo, a fast dance in traditional 4/4 tango rhythm, Milonga para tres, (Milonga for three) a slow song with a haunting sexy melody, and Tango callejero (Street tango). It is a great pleasure to premiére these trio arrangements with my incredibly talented friends, Jose Franch Ballester and Young Song and to commemorate my real life collaboration with the great Piazzolla. 

Pablo Zinger (pianist)
Pablo Zinger is widely known as a conductor, pianist, writer, composer, arranger, lecturer and narrator, specializing in the music of Astor Piazzolla, tango, Spanish zarzuela, and Latin American vocal and instrumental music. Born in Uruguay and living in New York since 1976, he has conducted and played with orchestras, singers and chamber groups throughout the Americas, Europe, Japan, Korea and South Africa and has collaborated with artists such as Astor Piazzolla, Paquito D’Rivera and Plácido Domingo. He tours regularly with the Nuevo Tango Zinger Septet, based in Valencia Spain.

He is considered the pre-eminent conductor of zarzuela in the U.S and has also been the Musical Director of the Patty Disney Zarzuela Series at the National Hispanic Cultural Center since 2004. As a sideline, Mr. Zinger has written for The New York Times, Opera News, Guitar Review and Classical Singer, and has lectured for The New York Philharmonic.

 
Young Song (Cellist)
Young Song has exquisite musical talent. He has built a solid reputation as a soloist, chamber musician, and as a guest principle cellist, in Korea and abroad.
Making his debut at age 9 with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Young received numerous scholarships and awards including the prestigious Seoul Mayor’s Medal for outstanding young talent. At 13, he studied at Pre-College Julliard and later went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in United Kingdom and The Sibelius Academy in Norway. Young was also a prize winner at the 2002 International Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki.

Some of Young’s recent orchestral engagements as a soloist include working with the Kanazawa Chamber Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra. Young was invited to become a member of the Kumho Asiana String Quartet in 1999-2002 and continues his commitment to chamber music as a member of the M.I.K. Ensemble.

Over the years Young has also participated at many Music Festivals, collaborated with distinguished musicians and went on tour with Charles Wadsworth and Friends in the United States. In 2008, he embarked on a new career as the host of Korean classical radio program ‘KBS 1FM Home Music”. 2007 also saw Young’s appointment as Music Director and Chamber Music Director of the Happy Music School and Seoul Music Festival respectively. 

Jose Franch-Ballester (Clarinetist)
Born in Moncofa, Spain in 1980, Jose started his musical studies at age 9. He graduated from the Conservatory Superior of Music of Valencia in 2000 and then entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Jose is one of the most promising clarinetists of his generation. Receiving the highly coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008 and was one of a handful of participants selected for a Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop. He was also selected by the American Symphony League Magazine as one of the year's "most prominent emerging soloists."

A First Prize winner in both the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and the Astral Artistic Services National Audition in Philadelphia allowed him to perform in countless concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

He has played with outstanding artists and was also a soloist with orchestras such as Orquesta de la Radiotelevisión Española, I Musici of Montréal and Orchestra of Saint Luke’s. He is a founding member of Nuevo Tango Zinger Septet and a frequent artist with the International Music Festival of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

He has been a dedicated music educator, developing new audiences by playing countless educational concerts and workshops for young people and community audiences.