Sebastian Forster and Friends Present: Tangata Trio

Sebastián Forster
Born in Buenos Aires in 1975, Sebastián Forster has touched audiences and reached the souls of those lucky to hear him play live, lifting the musical experience to new levels of emotional engagement.

“I have had several most welcome opportunities to hear Mr. Foster play, and these experiences have been almost rhapsodic – I have seldom been as deeply moved and impressed by a young musical artist’s passion and skill – He is a true genius whose musical talent is matched by an energizing charisma that I’m convinced will make him increasingly popular and influential among audiences”.
– Harold Holzer (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC)

Sebastián made his international professional debut on April 28th, 1997, in Amsterdam, with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra performing Mozart’s piano Concerto #23, which was recorded live on BMG’s prestige Victor Red Seal label.

Since then, his international career includes tours as a soloist and recordings performing with the: Delaware Symphony Orchestra;
Stuttgart Philharmonic;
Netherlands Symphony Orchestra;
Berlin Symphonic Orchestra;
Budapest Concert Orchestra (MAV);
Linz Brucker Orchestra; Philharmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires; Radio State Ukrainian Orchestra;

National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, etc.

Between others, touring the U.S.A., Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and the Czezh Republic, among other countries.

“His mastery of technique is first rate. His knowledge of the major works of the classics, and his professional repertoire is of the highest caliber. What puts him head and shoulders above many other pianists, however, is his expressiveness and originality of emotion with which he performs piano pieces of the classical vein. His performances of certain concertos by Mozart and Beethoven are some of the finest of these works that have ever been recorded. His ability to convey the most subtle of nuances in these pieces is what separates him from the merely good pianist performing today. The originality of his interpretation put him in an internationally select class”
– Mr. Tamal Gal, Music Director and Conductor of MAV Symphony Orchestra, and Professor at Liszt Music Academy.

Performing publicly since the age of ten, Sebastián studied with Maestro Aldo Antognazzi, a former pupil of Arturo Benedetti Michelangelli, who was a descendant of Franz Liszt. He regularly performed at the world-famous Concertgebouw Hall.

At “Sala Verdi” in Milan (Italy), he gave a solo recital which included the works of Liszt, Mozart and Prokofiev. Antonio Mormone, President and Artistic Director of the “Fondazione La Società Di Concerti” and organizer of the event, said: “he is one of a handful of truly great pianists today. His touch is commanding but subtle at the same time. He can express the most adventuresome and bold statements, but he is also capable of performing the most intricate and delicate passages in classical music. For example, in a concert he gave here at our hall, his work ranged from the jagged and wild rhythms of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz, to the staid, stately and majestic tones of Prokofiev Sonata n.7. He played flawlessly.”.

His extraordinary emotional intelligence and “highest level of musicianship” … not only make him “flawless in technique, sense of rhythm and tempo, but most significantly, his originality in interpretation is absolutely wonderful”
– (S.Spreng, Miami Herald) but has allowed him as well to shine high with many different genres, and specially when performing and breathing the music of his beloved Godfather, with whom he spent summer holidays in Punta del Este, the extraordinary and revolutionary Astor Piazzolla.

Sebastián is the founding member of the “Astor Piazzolla Foundation Trio”, with which he toured Belgium, The Netherlands, U.S.A. and Argentina, and recorded the “Nácar Concerto” with the Argentinian Mayo Chamber Orchestra. Astor was of great influence in his career and beginnings, from helping him choosing his first piano at a very early age, to empowering his talents with guidance and nurturing.

Tonight, he presents his new “Tangata” trio, blessed by Laura E. Piazzolla, widow of the composer.

Beethoven and Piazzolla live inside Sebastián with grand mastery and passion, as well as his extraordinary educational activity with the goal of bringing the musical universe of children out, teaching them, at an early age, the unlimited possibilities of self-expression through music. He is Faculty at the Piano School of New York City since 2005.

In 2009 Sebastián Forster ventured into accomplishing a lifetime-legacy major project of immense proportions: the recording of The 32 Complete  Beethoven Piano  sonatas, completed by 2012.

Sebastián is a true musician, he breathes and experiences every single emotion, of true love, drama, passion, desperation, beauty and darkness. Living music with every key stroke is an experience of monumental inner impact, only at reach for the daring soul and the truly talented soloist. This is a great opportunity to hear him, getting lost in the world of invigorating ideas and emotional virtuosity that has made Sebastián Forster one of the outstanding interpreters of the classical repertoire currently working on the world stage today.

Mr. Forster lives in Morristown, New Jersey, since 2012.  He is married to Jennifer Hauser and they raise 3 children together.

Sara Sant’Ambrogio
Grammy Award-winning cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio first leapt to international attention when she was a winner at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition in Moscow, Russia. As a result of her medal, Carnegie Hall invited Ms. Sant’Ambrogio to perform a recital that was filmed by CBS News as part of a profile about her, which was televised nationally. The New York Times described Ms. Sant’Ambrogio’s New York debut as “sheer pleasure,” saying “There was an irresistible warmth in everything Miss Sant’Ambrogio did.” 

Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as Atlanta, the Beijing Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Budapest, Chicago, Dallas, Moscow State Philharmonic, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Osaka Century Orchestra (Japan), The Royal Philharmonic, St. Louis, San Francisco and Seattle; she has performed thousands of concerts on six continents at the world’s major music centers and festivals including Aspen, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Konzert Huset in Stockholm, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Musikverein in Vienna, Ravinia, Orchard and Suntory Halls in Tokyo and Great Mountain Festival in Korea.

Always looking to push the boundaries of classical music, Sara has performed with Sting, Trudie Styler, and Joshua Bell in the production of “Twin Spirits,” the story of the love affair between Robert and Clara Schumann. The Los Angeles Times said, “Joshua Bell and Sara Sant’Ambrogio played with lyrical restraint and lovely tone.” A track from Sara’s solo cd, “Dreaming,” was featured as the opening soundtrack of the HBO award winning documentary, “A Matter of Taste” and another was featured on the soundtrack for the documentary “Jones Beach Boys.” Most recently her recordings were featured in the documentary “Kiss The Water.” Miss Sant’Ambrogio has also collaborated with the New York City Ballet in seven highly successful sold out concerts at Lincoln Center performing The Bach Cello Suites and has performed with Rufus Wainwright in the inauguration of a new concert series at the National Arts Club in New York City.

Ms. Sant’Ambrogio started cello studies with her father John Sant’Ambrogio, principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony, and at the age of 16 was invited on full scholarship to study with David Soyer at the Curtis Institute of Music where she received her High School Diploma. Three years later world renowned cellist Leonard Rose invited Ms. Sant’Ambrogio to study at The Juilliard School; within weeks of arriving, she won the all-Juilliard Schumann Cello Concerto Competition, resulting in the first of many performances at Lincoln Center.

In addition to the Tchaikovsky Medal, Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has won numerous international competitions, including The Whitaker, The Dealey, Artists International, and Palm Beach awards. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio won a Grammy Award for her performance of Bernstein’s “Arias and Barcarolles” on Koch Records. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has been profiled in Strings, Glamour, Gramophone, Vogue, Strad, Elle, In Fashion, Bon Appetit, Detour, Travel and Leisure, Fanfare and Swing magazines, as well as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, on CBS, ABC, PBS, Fox, USA and CNN networks. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio is the subject of a feature length documentary, which has had multiple airings nationwide on PBS and international networks. She currently has 4 music videos playing on Classic FM TV in the UK and Europe and dozens of other videos on online networks.

Ms. Sant’Ambrogio is a founding member of the Eroica Trio. The Trio won the prestigious 1991 Naumburg Award, resulting in an acclaimed Lincoln Center debut and has since extensively toured the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1997 the Trio opened the “Distinctive Debuts” series at Carnegie Hall, and that year represented Carnegie Hall as the official chamber music ensemble in concerts worldwide. While touring the globe, Eroica has released eight celebrated recordings for Angel EMI Classics Records, garnering multiple Grammy nominations.

Recent highlights for Miss Sant’Ambrogio were an US tour as soloist with Maestro Fabio Luisi and The Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the culmination of her Bach Project with the release of Volume II of Bach Solo Cello Suites, which Gramophone Magazine raved, “Technically formidable and intensely communicative, these performances grab you by the ears and refuse to let you go.” About Volume I Gramophone said, “She comes impressively close to the soul of Bach.” Her 2013 release, “The Chopin Collection,” was featured in Ann Midgette’s column in The Washington Post round up of “Notable Recordings of 2013.”

Miss Sant’Ambrogio performs on a Johannes Gagliano cello, Napoli, ca.1800.

Galina Zhdanova
A native of Russia, violinist Galina Zhdanova began studying the violin at the age of five.  At the age of fifteen she won the First Prize at the International Violin Competition in Tokyo, Japan.  Since then she has participated in numerous music festivals and concerts all around the world.  In 2004 Ms. Zhdanova was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the Bayreuth Festival Youth Symphony Orchestra under conductors Peter Gulke and Joseph Schwab.  A graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where she studied with a renowned violinist Mikhail Gantvarg, she has also studied with Daniel and Todd Phillips (of the Orion Quartet) and Grigory Kalinovsky. 

Ms. Zhdanova is a versatile musician, at home in worlds of classical, contemporary, and popular music.  Her performances have taken her from Bargemusic and Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden, the Boardwalk Theater in Atlantic City, the IZOD Arena, and television appearances on Good Morning America, The View, and the Rachel Ray Show.  Ms. Zhdanova has played with Josh Groban, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Sarah Brightman, David Byrne (Talking Heads), and The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She frequently performs with the Key West Symphony and Symphony in C.   Ms. Zhdanova plays on an 18th century Italian violin.