Meet our guests.
Ari micich
Brass Over Bridges: Trumpet
Ari Micich has held positions with the KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic in Durban, South Africa and the Berkeley Symphony. He has performed with the San Francisco Symphony and many other Bay Area orchestras. Ari has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and toured internationally to France, where he performed for Nelson Mandela's ninety-fifth birthday celebration. In addition to playing classical music, Ari enjoys playing Jazz, writing music and teaching.
Website: www.arimicich.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa0cVh4MXzJp9bZLwOM83KQ/featured |
Matthew Ebisuzaki
Brass Over Bridges: Trumpet
A Bay Area native, trumpeter Matthew Ebisuzaki received his bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory. An avid classical performer, he has performed with the Boston Pops as well as members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Boston Symphony and is currently Principal Trumpet of Santa Cruz Symphony. Matthew performs regularly in the Bay Area and enjoys working on musical projects that push outside the boundaries of normalcy.
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Mads Tolling
Violinist
Mads Tolling, internationally renowned violinist and composer, is a two-time Grammy Award-winner. As a former nine-year member of both Turtle Island Quartet and bassist Stanley Clarke’s band, Mads has spent most his professional life touring internationally. Since 2007 Mads has lead his own group, Mads Tolling Quartet. “The Playmaker” released in the fall of 2009, features Stanley Clarke and jazz greats Russell Ferrante & Stefon Harris. A brand new MTQ album: “Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty – Live at Yoshi’s” was released in May 2012. Mads has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, and his recordings have received rave reviews in Downbeat Magazine, Strings Magazine, Washington Post & San Francisco Chronicle. He has performed with Chick Corea, Ramsey Lewis, Kenny Barron & Paquito D’Rivera.
Mads grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark and moved to the U.S. at the age of 20 to pursue jazz studies. He studied under violinist Matt Glaser, and he graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2003. While still attending Berklee, the renowned jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty recommended Mads to join Stanley Clarke’s band. Since then, Mads has performed more than one hundred concerts with Clarke worldwide, including the Newport Jazz Festival and the Hollywood Bowl and appears on Clarke’s album: “Toys of Men.” Besides his activities as a performer, Mads Tolling is an accomplished composer. In addition to his original writing on his two most recent albums, Mads arranged one of his compositions for saxophonist Joe Lovano and string orchestra. Of his three prior recordings of original material, one features the legendary pianist JoAnne Brackeen. Mads has recorded with vibraphonist Dave Samuels, appears on RMB singer Teena Marie’s recording “La Dona” and on jazz vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway’s “At Last.” He has additionally contributed numerous arrangements and compositions to Turtle Island Quartet’s repertoire. In 2014 Mads was commissioned by Music Director, Michael Morgan to write a Violin Concerto for Oakland East Bay Symphony. The Performance took place at the Paramount Theatre in February 2015. Among the 2300 people in attendance, most leaped out of their chair to show their appreciation at the end. The 25 minute, 3- movement work received many accolades from music director, musicians and music critics alike. Website: madstolling.com |