Pavlina Horakova and friends at the Millennium Stage - Kennedy Center Debut
Nov 11, 2018 at 6pm
I would love to invite you to my The John F. Kennedy Center debut at the Millennium Stage and to celebrate 100 years of Czechoslovak Independence! Let us take you on a musical journey exploring all matters of the heart that have inspired Czech and Slovak music for centuries. Fall in love with Czech and Slovak folk songs, music by Janacek, Dvorak, Martinu as well as the rarely performed Figusch-Bystry and Schneider -Trnavsky. I will be joined on stage by incredibly talented musicians: Camilla Mraz - piano Drew Spradlin - piano Alcorn Ferguson Minor IV - guitar and vocals Nikita Borisevich - violin “This performance is featured as part of the Kennedy Center’s free daily performance series: https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/upcoming We regret that as the theater reaches capacity, seats cannot be saved for patrons who have not arrived or are not next in line. No free parking is provided for this event. For more information about directions and parking, please visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/pages/visitor/directions” Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic Czech mezzo-soprano Pavlina Horakova is an experienced and gifted singer, that have entertained audiences across musical genres and world's music stages. She is also an accomplished event producer with a wide history of working in the music industry and nonprofit sector. She created, implemented and led projects for a broad spectrum of organizations in the United States and Europe. Pavlina won the Czech National Vocal Competition and appeared on a Czech televised competition “Caruso Show.” Besides her classical repertoire, she performed with Eric Underwood & All-stars and also sang with the Czech rock band Checkpoint, appearing on the CD release Ruzný světy. As a teaching artist, she wrote and performed her one woman show Why do I love Opera? for a wide range of public school students in New York City. She also co-founded and served as the artistic director of “Libretto Metro, ” which featured pop-up music performances in New York public spaces with the aim to revitalize the appreciation for live classical music. Furthermore, she created and successfully launched the project: “Voice New York” in Prague, to provide opportunities for young talented Czech students with exceptional vocal training at a reasonable cost. Horaková holds a Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music and graduated from the Prague Conservatory. She also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Prague University of Economics. While she is a professional singer, she also would like to incorporate her business savvy in a way that gives back to the profession she loves. By fostering social responsibility through the visible practice of managing her own projects, she hopes to encourage musical talents of youth and people that don’t have an access to classical music in their everyday lives. For more information, please visit www.pavlinahorakova.com. Camilla Mraz Virtuoso pianist/vocalist/composer Camilla Mraz has been an integral part of the international music scene for more than 20 years. She has appeared in many major jazz festivals, concert halls, and clubs all over the world. Camilla also collaborates with her husband, first-call jazz bassist and composer George Mraz. Today they make New York City their home. A native of the Czech Republic, Camilla’s love affair with the pianobegan when she was just four years old. She was composing by age five. Camilla attended the Prague Conservatory where she studied composition, jazz piano and vocals. She subsequently received a degrees from the Music College a Jazz Academy in Germany . Her sound is influenced by the 60s jazz style of pianist Paul Bley, as well as classical music. As a composer, her music has been featured in several films. While living in Europe, Camilla was employed by top-level film and television production studios for both her musical and acting talents. Most recently, in a film that was shot in New York City (January 2014), Camilla commanded the role of jazz legend Blossom Dearie, showcasing her vocal expertise. For the past ten years, she has toured and recorded with her own bands throughout Europe and Asia, and has released 12 CDs of her own profoundly heartfelt music, both as a piano soloist and in a larger group context. Drew Spradlin is a pianist and composer originally from Alabama. He has earned a B.M. from the University of Montevallo and a M.M. in classical piano from Manhattan School of Music under the direction of Phillip Kawin. He currently applies this traditional training to more modern musical outlets including mixed media and electronic composition. Drew has given performances at Mannes School of Music’s Institute and Festival for Contemporary Performance, Spectrum NYC, Mise-En_Place Brooklyn, and has showcased works at numerous other venues. He has released compositions through New York’s contemporary and eclectic label Not Art Records, Montreal’s Dream Disk Lab, and has an upcoming work through TAR Records based in L.A. Alcorn Ferguson Minor IV As a native of New Orleans, Alcorn has been playing any instrument he can get his hands on since his childhood in the French Quarter and Garden District. Tonight he is playing one of his favorites, the guitar. Among his notable projects are original compositions for Gunter Grass’s Only Ten Minutes to Buffalo, Lincoln Center, NYC, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Opera House Theater, Brooklyn, NY, Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, CAC, New Orleans, LA, and adaptations for Love Me, Love Me Not, Bohemian National Hall, NYC. Alcorn has enjoyed playing in various nonprofit and regional theater ensembles in and around NYC, and has taken the spotlight in regional productions of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, and Pump Boys and Dinettes, Carousel Theater, Akron, OH. He is the co-founder of the acoustic duo Midnight Frankers, and rock band Villacoma. Alcorn is honored to be playing and singing alongside Miss Horakova. Nikita Borisevich Award-winning Russian violinist Nikita Borisevich is known for the precocious depth and sensitivity in his playing and utterly finessed technique. Since his debut with the Perm Opera Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve, he has performed internationally in Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Latvia, Russia, Spain and across the United States on renowned stages such as the Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (Russia), Manuel de Falla Auditorium (Granada, Spain) and Shriver Hall (Baltimore). In 2017 Nikita was invited by Grammy Award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey to join him on tour in Anchorage and Spokane in a series of chamber music concerts. Nikita is a frequent guest for many international festivals such as El Paso Pro Musica Texas, Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska, Northwest Bach Festival in Washington. In addition to his solo and chamber music career Nikita is a concertmaster of Mount Vernon Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra under the direction of celebrated cellist and conductor Amit Peled and on the chamber music faculty at the Baltimore International Piano Festival. Mr. Borisevich is holding two Master Degrees from Moscow and Peabody Conservatories.
