Friday, April 5, 2019 - 8:00 pm - Tuckerman Hall

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Avital meets Avital is a dialogue between two musicians who come from different worlds but share a common richness of musical heritage.  Grammy-nominee mandolinist, Avi Avital, comes from a classical tradition whilst award-winning bass virtuoso and oud player, Omer Avital, is an acclaimed jazz performer and composer.  In Avital meets Avital, these two musicians, joined by Omer Klein on piano and Itamer Doari on percussion, draw on the diverse influences of Moroccan and North African sounds, folkloric and classical traditions, Israeli harmonies and Mediterranean rhythms creating a musical melting pot where the finesse of chamber music meets the raw emotional energy of jazz.

Acknowledged by  The New York Times  for his "exquisitely sensitive playing" and “stunning agility”, Grammy-nominated mandolinist Avi Avital is one of the world’s most exciting and adventurous musicians. Deeply committed to building a fresh legacy for the mandolin with several new commissions planned for the coming seasons, he is widely admired for his virtuosic performances in classical, world and contemporary genres. Avital has released various recordings in the disparate genres of baroque, klezmer and contemporary classical music. He now records exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon and his debut release featured his own transcriptions of J S Bach Concertos for harpsichord and violin. 

Praised by critics as, “extraordinary” (New York Times), “roaringly inventive” (JAZZIZ), and, “one of the most exciting musicians to come onto the jazz scene in the last 20 years” (DownBeat), Omer Avital is a visionary composer and virtuoso musician whose genre-defying ensembles are pushing the boundaries of jazz expression and providing audiences with swing and spiritual sustenance in equal measure.