On the 26th and 27th of October, with an homage to the great Misha Alperin (picture), the XXIII edition of the ParmaJazz Frontiere Festival officially opened, and will now until the next 1st of December fill up with music numerous parts of Parma. “Sensibili tracce relazioni improvvise”, this is the title that once again will poetically draw the extraordinary opening of this awaited international appointment with the language of jazz, in the respects of a shared musical research and of European novelties. Among the protagonists we have: Evelina Petrova, Sergey Starostin, Arkady Shilkloper, Roberto Dani, Benedicte Maurseth, Jasser Haj Youssef, Jakob Bro Trio feat Joey Baron & Thomas Morgan, Krzysztof Kobylinski, l’Instant Composer Pool, Arild Andersen, Tommy Smith, Paolo Vinaccia, Mathias Hagen and Roberto Bonati.
The XXIII edition of the festival opened the 26th of October, with an homage to the great Misha Alperin, in the evocative atmosphere of Teatro Farnese. Remembering the recently defunct Ukrainian/Norwegian pianist, will be some of his dearest friends and companions: Sergey Starostin (clarinet and voice), Misha’s wife Evelina Petrova (accordion), Arkady Shilkloper (horn) and Roberto Dani (percussionist). An edition particularly rich of great international guests, emblematizing the musical frontiers of the vast and rich form of expression that is jazz.
The 4th of November will see Benedikte Maurseth (hardingfele, violin and voice) in duo with Jasser Haj Youssef (viola) for the traditional appointment of “Una stanza per Caterina” (Fondazione Monte – Ape Parma Museo).
On the 7th of November at Casa della Musica, the Jakob Bro Trio feat Joey Baron & Thomas Morgan will perform, presenting their new album Bay of Rainbows. Always at Casa della Musica, on the 10th of November, Roberto Bonati (contrabass) will introduce the project Parfois la Nuit with his old time collaborator Anthony Moreno (drums) and the two young musicians Gabriele Fava (saxophone) and Luca Perciballi (guitar).
On the 14th of November the evocative Voltoni della Pilotta will house an appointment with Poland: in program, infact, will be the solo concert of pianist Krzysztof Kobylinski. The concert on the 17th of November will see as its protagonist an orchestra that has made history in European jazz and improvised music: the Instant Composer Pool Orchestra from the Netherlands will infact perform at Casa della Musica in Parma with Ab Baars, Michael Moore and Tobias Delius (clarinet and saxophones), Thomas Heberer (horn), Wolter Wierbos (trombone), Mary Oliver (violin and viola), Tristan Honsinger (cello and voice), Ernst Glerum (bass), Gus Janssen (piano) and Han Bennink (drums), who will also hold a masterclass at the Conservatory on the 19th of November. With them will also be present six members of the Nieuw Amsterdams Peil: Dorian Cooke (bassoon), Heleen Hulst (violin), Mick Stirling (cello), Gerard Bowhuis and Patricio Wing (piano and pan flute) and Bart de Vrees on the percussions.
On the 23rd of November, confirming the close relationship between the Festival and Scandinavian countries, the Arild Andersen Trio will perform with Tommy Smith at the saxophone, Arild Andersen at the contrabass and Paolo Vinaccia on the drums.
A strong characteristic of the Festival is the space dedicated to young musicians. The 25th of november will see the traditional appointment with the concert Songs We Know, result of the laboratory with the students of Liceo Bertolucci, wich will be coordinated e directed by the guitarist Michele Bonifati. On the same day there will also be the Banquet trio with Giacomo Marzi (contrabass), Giulio Stermieri (piano) and Massimiliano Furia (drums).
The festival will proceed on the 28th of November at Casa della Musica with an European Academy Ensemble project, an initiative that will have as protagonists, in form of composers and performers, the best students from the prestigious Musical Accademies of Oslo, Göteborg, Stavanger and of our Conservtory “A. Boito”.
In program on the 30th of November will be a concert of the Norwegian saxophonist Mathias Hagen, who will be awarded with the 2018 Gaslini Prize.
We couldn’t miss our traditional 1st of December appointment with the little ones and the fantabulous world of cartoons with Cartoons, which will carry out at the Teatro Regio of Parma. Among the parallel events, exhibitions, workshops, and meetings: from the 21st to the 29th of November, the winery Ombre Rosse will host Another Kind of Blue, a photo exhibition of Fabio Gamba realized by a co-production of Novara Jazz and ParmaJazz Frontiere, in collaboration with Phocus Agency. Apart from the workshop hoted by Bonifati with the students of Bertolucci, two masterclasses will take place: the first one the 19th of November with Han Bennink, the second one on the 22nd with Arild Andersen. On October 27, amongst the initiatives to remember Misha Alperin, there will be programmed a meeting in which will be shown the dvd of Misha’s 2005 concert at Teatro al Parco, hosted by Alessandro Rigolli.
On the 29th is planned the presentation of a volume curated by Claudio Sessa: Grande Musica Nera. Storia dell’Art Ensemble of Chicago and on the 9th November will be presented the last productions of Parmafrontiere amongst which the album Norwita and the dvd “Il suono improvviso”; these meetings as well will be hosted by Alessandro Rigolli.
