Anders Koppel 71 – 2nd Accordion Concerto world premiere

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Congratulations to Anders Koppel who today turns 71! Yesterday I had the privilige of premiering his 2nd Accordion Concerto at @Frederiksværk Musikfestival for a terrific audience with The Danish Youth Ensemble and conductor Morten Ryelund. The Concerto was generously supported by Oticon Fonden, Augustinus fonden & Statens Kunstfond. A huge thanks for the fundraising work to Lone Ricks. And a big thank you to Frederiksværk Musikfestival for hosting the performance of this great new piece.

Next two performances of the concerto in this coming week:

20/7 Sankt Nicolai Kirke, Bornholm
23/7 Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen

Winter Impressions

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It has been a busy couple of months since my last post so I have to divide this one up in bits starting of with a few impressions from my winter schedule in Portugal and Russia…

In february  I was invited to the festival Folefest by artistic leader and professor Paulo Ferreira to perform in the cities of Lisbon & Castelo Branco and give a Masterclass at the National Conservatory. Folefest proved to be a very unique festival celebrating the repertoire  originally written for the instrument. Accordionists in general, including myself sometimes feel the need to include transcriptions in our concerts in order to perform at mainstream venues and festivals. Experiencing this festival focusing exclusively on the accordions own repertoire was very heart warming. At my solo recitals I performed music by good ol’timers Martin Lohse, Christos Farmakis as well as a brand new solo piece by 60th jubilee Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen entitled ‘Ophelia’ written on the material of Svend’s concerto ‘Ofelia Danser’ for accordion & Sinfonietta.

Please visit the festivals website for more information:

http://www.folefest.com

Masterclass at the National Conservatoriy

In December I was travelling on behalf of the Erasmus + teachers programme where I had the privilege of giving a masterclass with the students of the legendary Gnessin Academy getting acquainted with professors from all over Russia. After the masterclass I was sitting in the jury of the national bayan and accordion competition for young bayanists and accordion players experiencing an incredibly high level of performances leaving an impression of a huge tradition of playing the instrument from a young age. I ended my stay with a solo recital with a handful of premieres by the composers Christos Farmakis, Nick Martin & Martin Lohse.

Solo Perfomances 2018

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Bjarke Mogensen – accordion

2018

“Sonatas Intertwined”

Domenico Scarlatti & Martin Lohse

The accordion is a unique solo instrument and one of the youngest instruments in the classical family. But thanks to a number of pioneering performers through the recent decades, contemporary composers are having a growing interest in using the accordion in a range of constellations, not least as a solo instrument. However, the possibilities of arranging music written for other instruments is sometimes very tempting. Already during my early teens I was hypnotised by the harpsichord sonatas of Domenico Scarlattis. I have performed this music ever since and few if any composers have stayed in my repertoire as steadily.

Martin Lohse is one of my closest composing collaborators. He has written a large collection of works for me and my accordion the the past 10 years.

Already at my debut concert from The Royal Academy of Music I decided to make a programme which had music of these two composers as its foundation making small suites of Scarlattis sonatas set up against the contemporary works of Martin Lohse.

This year I have decided to enhance this programme with new works written during the past year by 60th anniversary composer Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen and another longterm collaborator of mine, Anders Koppel whos concerto I will be premiering this summer in the Tivoli Concert Hall and Frederiksværk Musikfestival.

The programme can be heard at several concerts this year beginning with 2 recitals in Portugal at Festival Folefest in Lisabon 9th-13th of february. You can find all the dates in my calendar which has recently been updated with a series of new events:

Calendar

 

Flotte anmeldelser af ny CD

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Det har været en fantastisk start på året. Først blev CD’en Bjarke Mogensen Plays Domenico Scarlatti Ugens CD på P2, og nu er der strøget 3 fine anmeldelser ind fra aviserne:

Politiken: 5 hjerter

http://www.pressreader.com/denmark/politiken/20180104/282102047057461

Fyns Stiftstidende: 4 hjerter

https://www.fyens.dk/kultur/Klassisk-Scarlatti-nu-paa-akkordeon/artikel/3214072

Bornholms Tidende:

http://tidende.dk/?Id=83775

Ugens CD på P2:

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/klassisk/vi-anbefaler/bjarke-bliver-ramt-i-hjertet-af-scarlatti-musikken-rummer-baade

Bjarke Mogensen, usually plays music written in score, and more often than not it is music written less than 50 years ago, indeed frequently music commissioned for or by him : concertos, chamber music, solo pieces. He has, however, a great love for keyboard works from the Renaissance and the Baroque, and they frequently appear in his recitals - but it is only now that he launches his first recording of this type of music, a selection of 13 solo sonatas from the vast legacy of the inimitable Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757).

New Scarlatti-release Album of the Week on National Danish Radio

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On New Years Day I received news from P2 Klassisk that my Scarlatti Album was chosen Album of The Week. I feel so grateful and it is an immense joy to share this new release with so many listeners!

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/klassisk/vi-anbefaler/bjarke-bliver-ramt-i-hjertet-af-scarlatti-musikken-rummer-baade

Order Album here:

https://gatewaymusic.dk/album/25150

Bjarke Mogensen, usually plays music written in score, and more often than not it is music written less than 50 years ago, indeed frequently music commissioned for or by him : concertos, chamber music, solo pieces. He has, however, a great love for keyboard works from the Renaissance and the Baroque, and they frequently appear in his recitals - but it is only now that he launches his first recording of this type of music, a selection of 13 solo sonatas from the vast legacy of the inimitable Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757).

Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti

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-Upcoming Album-
Bjarke Mogensen Plays Domenico Scarlatti
Release date 1-12-2017

In less than 2 weeks I will be presenting my brand new disc with music by Domenico Scarlatti. A composer for whose music I always had a very soft spot. It has been an extremely exciting proces and an inspiration to work with these incredibly original pieces and a huge privilege to have maestro Marc Casanovas working tirelessly by my side to make this happen. A huge thank you to Svend Ravnkilde for the album cover image and album liner notes. Cover design was made by Tina Damgaard.

Presentation concert in Frederiksberg Slotskirke 1/12 17.00.

17.00
Free Entrance

Special release concert offer: 100 DKK

DANSK:
Mit spritnye Scarlatti-album udgives d.1/12 og jeg kan ikke vente med at dele denne skive med jer! Release-koncerten finder sted om små 2 uger i Frederiksberg Slotskirke. Jeg glæder mig enormt til at præsentere denne musik til releasen i Frederiksberg Slotskirke d.1/12 2017 kl.17.00.
Manden bag pletskuddet til mit albumcover er Svend Ravnkilde, som ligeledes har bistået med en fremragende og koncis booklettekst. Ligeledes stor tak til tonemester Marc Casanovas.
Gratis Entré

 

https://www.google.dk/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=frederiksberg+slot&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=cr&dcr=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiil5_yhMnXAhVEL1AKHXFGC7QQ_AUICygC

Usedomer Musikfestival, Germany

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The Usedomer Musikfestival had a Danish theme this year and I was lucky enough to be invited for a solo-recital. I brought works by Ole Schmidt as well as two of my main composer collaborators, Martin Lohse and Christos Farmakis and a fantasy on a Bornholm Folk Song  joined by cellist Josefine Opsahl. What a place, what an organization and what an audience! Currently on tour with KOTTOS in Greece which will have its own little update very soon. Next stop is a december visit to Moscow giving masterclass and a solo concert at the Gnessin Music Institute.

http://www.usedomer-musikfestival.de/index.php?id=2