Altschuler-Caplan Duo, 5/4/2008

Aaron Larget-Caplan is a riveting artist whose musical styling begs immediate attention. His classical guitar performance was a treasure...
-G. Acosta, Washington Post

With performances in Spain, Italy, & on both US coasts as a soloist & chamber musician, Aaron Larget-Caplan is quietly emerging in the classical world as a unique performer & communicator who can link difficult & traditional music as well as various art forms with audiences. Born in Oklahoma & raised in Colorado, Aaron began playing the classical guitar at age 16 & gave his debut at the Tabor Opera House one year later. Since then he has devoted his life to the performance & study of the guitar, & the concert stage. He has appeared repeatedly on National Public Radio in New York, Oregon, Colorado & Maine.

Enamored with new music, Aaron has premiered over a dozen new solo or ensemble compositions, many of which are dedicated to him, by such composer as Daniel Pinkham, John McDonald, Kevin Siegfried, Ryan Vigil, Lior Navok, Jos Elizondo, & Kurt Erickson. A frequent chamber musician, he has performed major works by Stravinsky, Ned Rorem, Astor Piazzolla & Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He is a recipient of the Outstanding Chamber Music Award from the New England Conservatory. He also received awards & grants from the American Composers Forum, DAddario Foundation, Denver Classical Guitar Society, Mu Phi Epsilon, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Aarons debut CD, Tracing a wheel on water was released in 2006 & features three World Premiere Recordings. Aarons second recording project has recently begun, & will include new works by composers David Leisner, Kevin Siegfried, Ryan Vigil, Jason Coleman & many more.

An advocate for listening to live classical performances, Mr. Larget-Caplan often introduces classical music & history into schools & other community settings through cultural programs & artist residencies. The New England Conservatory awarded him Outstanding Educator & Performer, & he was the youngest solo roster artist with Young Audiences of Massachusetts.

Aaron is a graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studied with David Leisner & Eliot Fisk. His primary teacher is Dmitry Goryachev & he continues his flamenco studies with Juanito Pascual. He also studies body physics & geometry & its relation & application to playing & teaching of the guitar with wife, healer, & muse, Catherine Larget-Caplan.

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One of America's finest up and coming virtuoso violinists, Emil Altschuler, 29, performs at a world class standard and possesses a commanding stage presence. He holds a Bachelors of Music from The Juilliard School where he studied with Dorothy DeLay and Naoko Tanaka, and a Masters in Music from Yale University, where his teacher, Erick Friedman, Master violinist and protg of Heifetz wrote of him: a very gifted violinist who possesses the talent and capability to become a truly outstanding violinist of his generation and sound and accuracy of intonation that are truly extraordinary." His brilliant technique and vigorous performance energy has received ovations in venues such as Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall and Paul Hall, San Franciscos Helen Von Ammons Emerging Artist Series, Bostons MIT Noon Chapel Series, Homer NYs Center for the Arts, The Aspen Music Festival, Cornell Universitys Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, Italys Castello di Galeazza, Harvard University, Yale University, Foothills Performing Arts Center, Binghamton University, Binghamton's Tri-Cities Opera House, Summer Music at Greensboro, Hartwick College, Bucknell University, and Taylor House. As a featured soloist, he has appeared with the Aspen Young Artists Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Binghamton University Chamber Orchestra. This coming season, he will be performing at Harvard Universitys Adams 75th Anniversary Recital Series, The Bundy Center for the Arts, the Always on Sundays Concert Series, and the Phelps Mansion. Devoted to expanding the violin repertoire and inviting new audiences, Emil crosses over into popular genres, composing and transcribing songs and pieces from american primitive, gypsy, folk, rock, latin, reggae, and classical. Written with his brother, they recently arranged Paganinis 20th Caprice, originally written for solo violin, by adding a gypsy jazz style guitar accompaniment. His most current project, to be released on his new album, is a virtuosic crossover theme and variations on the classic folk ballad House of the Rising Sun for solo violin.

This album is a recording of a live performance for the Somerville Open Studios third annual Music Fest on May 4, 2008. It was produced by Randy Winchester for ARTSomerville.  This album is a recording of a live performance for the Somerville Open Studios third annual Music Fest on May 3, 2008. It was produced by Randy Winchester for ARTSomerville.  CD quality FLAC files of this recording are available from http://www.archive.org/details/Altschuler-caplanDuo542008_37

ARTSomerville (ARTS) is a volunteer arts organization based in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA, which draws upon the talents of local creativity, strengthening communication among artists and the public by presenting exhibits, performances, and educational activities. Albums appearing under the ARTSomerville logo are from artists that have given performances at ARTSomerville sponsored events. Visit www.artsomerville.org to learn more.