Guest Artist: Tanya Anisimova
with Valery Kuleshov
Feb. 23, 2023 at 7:30PM
Radke Fine Arts Theatre

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Program

Sonata in A minor for violin solo BWV 1003
J.S. Bach (transcribed for cello by T. Anisimova)

I. Grave
II. Fuga
III. Andante
IV. Allegro

Five Steps Between My Tears and The Ocean for solo cello (2021)
Ovidiu Marinescu (b.1966) – the world premiere

La Folia for solo cello
Marin Marais, Maurice Gendron, T. Anisimova

Song on Mount San Angelo for solo cello (1995)
 Tanya Anisimova (b.1966) 

INTERMISSION

Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 19
Sergei Rachmaninov

I. Lento – Allegro moderato
II. Allegro scherzando
III. Andante
IV. Allegro mosso

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TANYA ANISIMOVA’S BIOGRAPHY

Labeled by The Washington Post as a musician who “possesses spiritual authority” along with “an easy mastery of her instrument”, cellist—composer Tanya Anisimova is a unique artist whose performances encompass standard repertoire, original compositions and arrangements, and otherworldly improvisations with her own vocal accompaniment.
Tanya Anisimova is equally at ease whether improvising live with recorder virtuoso Horacio Franco or performing Schubert’s Arpeggione for The Port Fairy Festival audiences in Australia.
Born into a family of scientists, Anisimova is a graduate of Yale University, Boston University, Moscow Conservatory, and Moscow Central Music School, First Prize winner at Concertino Prague International Competition and the All-U.S.S.R. String Quartet Competition, and a top prizewinner at Min-On International Competition in Tokyo and First Shostakovich International Competition in St. Petersburg.
While at Moscow Conservatory, Anisimova participated in Béla Bartók Seminar in Hungary, where faculty members Gyõrgy Kurtág, John Cage, and Steven Reich, introduced her to new directions in music.
While at Yale, Anisimova met composer Ezra Laderman, who, upon hearing her play J.S. Bach’ Cello Suites, wrote a solo cello piece A Single Voice, which Tanya premiered at her graduation recital.
In 1995, Anisimova was invited for a four-month residency at The Virginia Center For The Creative Arts, where she collaborated with Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Del Tredici, with Francis Thompson McKay and Gary Powell Nash. This process resulted in “Music From Mt. San Angelo” CD, featuring Anisimova’ premiere recordings of works by these composers, and her own Song on Mt. San Angelo.
Anisimova’ interests have broadened into exploration of music of all kinds. While writing a Russian translation of “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,” she became interested in Indian classical music, which in turn led her to experiment with live improvisation and singing. “Mysticism of Sound” by Inayat Khan inspired her to write a series of pieces featured on her “Sufi Soul” CD.
Ms. Anisimova has been enjoying her collaborations with an award-winning composer Jessica Krash.  One of the recent projects was Anisimova’ recording of Jessica’ mystical and impactful work “Delphi – What The Oracle Said,” for unaccompanied cello, which has been described as “absolutely gripping” by Fanfare Magazine. In 2018, Anisimova gave the premier performance of Krash’s Cello Concerto with Alexandria Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Ross.
Tanya Anisimova is a prolific composer. In 2012, her Caravan was selected as the favorite work at XVI World Saxophone Congress in UK. Also in 2012, she wrote Homage to Sviatoslav Knushevitsky for Solo Cello, which was commissioned by The First International Knushevitsky Cello Competition in Russia. 2017-2018 premieres include Sinfonietta for Guitar and Cello with Matt Palmer, Cello Nonet Teacher, performed at La Escuela Nacional de Música in Mexico City, and European premieres of Sufi Suite and Farela For Cello and Piano with Daniel Grimwood in London. On March 4, 2023, Anisimova’s new “Appalachian Dreams” is to be premiered in Washington, D.C.
Anisimova was first internationally recognized for her cello arrangements of J.S. Bach Complete Violin Sonatas and Partitas.  She has been invited to conduct master classes at U.N.A.M. University and El Conservatorio de las Rosas in Mexico, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Moscow Central Music School, Icelandic Fine Arts Academy, George Washington University, Hart School, Virginia Commonwealth University, Georgetown University, and Loyola University in New Orleans.
Her appearances include Carnegie Hall in New York, St. James Piccadilly in London, Port Fairy Festival in Australia, Il Teatro Maggio Musicale in Florence, Morelia International Festival, Knushevitsky Festival in Moscow, and Salurinn Concert Hall in Reykjavik.

Please visit www.tanyaanisimova.com to learn more about Tanya Anisimova

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PROGRAM NOTES

J.S. Bach, Violin Sonata BVW 1004
In 1995, I recorded my cello transcription of J.S. Bach’s Violin Partita in D minor, BWV 1004, which became a part of my first solo album “Music From Mount San Angelo.” Produced and released by The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, this CD also included my original piece along with the works by American composers, which were written especially for this project.
In 2001, I recorded all six Bach’s Violin Sonatas and Partitas on the cello. The recording became a very important step in my self-realization as a musician. I feel that J.S. Bach’s music will continue to influence my work.
I am currently preparing to do another recording of this cycle. At this point in time, I am excited even more than 20 hears ago because I would like to encourage other cellists to explore these works. My belief is that the cello transcription of Bach’s Six Violin Sonatas and Partitas will eventually become a part of the standard repertoire of our instrument, alongside the popular cello cycle.
To compete with violinists was never my goal. Bach’s music transcends instrument as it transcends time. When played on the modern cello, these works acquire a new depth.

Ovidiu Marinescu, Five Steps Between My tears and The Ocean
A cellist friend suggested that I look into a work of Romanian-American composer Ovidiu Marinescu. I was struck by the beauty of Marinescu’s solo cello piece “Suspended Between The Worlds”. I got so inspired that I commissioned Ovidiu a solo cello piece asking if he would also utilize my vocalizing. Both Ovidiu and I share an admiration for  Jalaluddin Rumi’s poetry. “Five Steps Between My Tears and The Ocean” is the line from one of Rumi poems.

Marin Marais, La Folia
La Folia is an eternal melody which came to us from the Middle Ages. There is an opinion that the origins of La Folia can be traced back to Americas. Some argue that the roots of La Folia are Portuguese. The first mention of La Folia music describes it being used during a carnival. While it was performed, men dressed in women’s clothing were dancing until they would fall down exhausted. Wherever it comes from, La Folia, or Phantom, or Madness is a hauntingly beautiful harmonic progression, which for centuries has been inspiring composers. This solo cello version is based on Marin Marais’s piece, with a couple of additions of my own.

Tanya Anisimova, Song on Mount san Angelo
I consider Song on Mt. San Angelo to be my first “official” composition. It was written in the summer of 1995, shortly after my graduation from Yale School of Music. I had felt enormous freedom, joy, inspiration, and gratitude while a four-months fellow at the The Virginia Center For The Creative Arts. This piece was created as a part of the interdisciplinary project done in collaboration with my husband artist Alexander Anufriev. Six Gigantic Angels painted on Canvas Banners (10 x 15 feet each) represented six colors of the spectrum. The music was played as the paintings were illuminated in a special order. The performance lasted two days (after four months of work!!); it was enjoyed by over 500 people. VCCA’s Director, writer William Smart was instrumental in making this project possible. My CD titled “Music from Mount San Angelo” was produced and released by VCCA. In 1996, the project “Angels From Mount San Angelo” was repeated at St. Mark’s Cathedral (formal National Cathedral) in Washington, D.C.