American Jazz Violinist To Tour Australia In Conjunction With Residency at Australian National University
From August 4-12, 2014, Christian Howes, one of the world’s leading jazz violinist/educators, will tour Australia during a week full of live performances and workshops. The trip will be anchored with multiple clinics and headlining performances at the Australian National University’s annual Winter Jazz Week August 7-9.
He will also perform/teach in Sydney and Melbourne, including collaborations with the Shoalhaven Youth Orchestra, Monash University, Bennetts Lane jazz club in Melbourne, and Foundry616 jazz club in Sydney.
In December, 2012, Howes traveled to Canberra to present workshops for string players and perform in the “Jazz at the Gallery” series, which was broadcast nationally on ArtSound FM. When he sat in on a gig with Australian blues rocker Simon Kinney Lewis, playing a solo set with loop pedal, he was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald the next day by John Shand: “Howes’ solo violin pieces were quite fascinating, as he brought loops and jazzy sensibilities to bear on both the blues and Bach… Playing solo, the violinist made Paul McCartney’s ‘Yesterday’ sound like a folk song, extracting a little kernel of sadness that has generally remained buried… A solo ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ eased from simplicity, charm and warmth to leaping excitement, the latter mood sustained in a second rapid country-rock number with the band… For an encore, Howes played Paganini’s ‘Caprice No. 24′, then dismembered it to create enchanting variations without ever losing the piece’s spirit…”
Says Howes, “My first visit to Australia in 2012 was very enjoyable. There are great musicians in Australia and warm people. On all of my tours, in addition to raising awareness for the virtues of jazz among classically trained musicians, I hope to empower classical string players to be more creative, through improvisation, composition, arranging, as well as in the development of their careers, in any styles of music they wish to pursue.”
A former Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music, Howes founded the 501(c)(3) charitable organization, Camille Catherine Inc., to support music educational activities and performances, including visits to approximately 50 school orchestra programs per year, an annual week-long intensive “Creative Strings Workshop” in Columbus, Ohio, and the “Creative Strings Academy” online home study course, used by thousands of string players worldwide pursuing improvisational and contemporary music curriculum.
Howes has won nominations and awards since 2011 in the Downbeat Critics Poll, Jazz Times Critics Poll, Jazz Journalists Association Awards, and Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program. He was hosted by the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine for a tour in June 2014, underscoring U.S. support for a free and democratic Ukraine.
His Australian tour will showcase performances of music from his latest CD releases on Resonance Records, “Southern Exposure”, and “Out of the Blue”.
For Christian’s full schedule during his time in Australia, please see below.
Schedule for Christian Howes’ 2014 Australia Tour
August 5 – Melbourne
6:00PM - Masterclass at Bennetts Lane (open to public – click here for the Facebook event)
8:30PM – Performance at Bennetts Lane - with Phil Turcio (piano), Gerry Pantazis, (drums), Kim May, (bass) – click here for the Facebook event
August 6 – Melbourne - Private masterclasses and workshops at Monash University
August 7 -9 - Canberra – “Artist In Residence” at the Australian National University in conjunction with Winter Jazz Week, including workshops and concerts daily/nightly. For details, click here
August 10 - Nowra - workshops with Shoalhaven Youth Orchestra
August 11 – Sydney - Performance in Sydney at Foundry616 (8:30PM) with Michael Azzopardi (piano), Tim Firth (drums), Brett Hirst (bass). Click here for the event listing + to buy tickets
Press and promotion:
Photos, bios, and videos: http://christianhowes.com/christian-howes-approved-assets/
For interview requests, please email chris@christianhowes.com
Christian Howes is a Yamaha Performing Artist, D’Addario Elite Clinician, and Resonance Recording Artist.