Ayman Fanous and Ned Rothenberg in Concert, September 14

Elysium Musicworks presents:

Jazz and improvised music for guitar, Greek bouzouki, clarinets, saxophone, and Japanese shakuhachi.
Venue: St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chapel.
Address: 11911 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22030
Date/Time: Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 Suggested Donation

Ned Rothenberg composes and performs on saxophones, clarinets, flute and shakuhachi (an end blown Japanese bamboo flute). He has been internationally acclaimed for his solo music which he has presented for over 30 years in hundreds of concerts throughout North and South America, Europe and Japan. He has lead the ensembles Double Band, Power Lines and Sync (his current assemblage with Jerome Harris, acoustic guitar & acoustic bass guitar and Samir Chaterjee, tabla). In addition, Rothenberg’s work as a sidepe
rson can be heard on labels such as Tzadik, Deutsche Grammophon, Zomba, Nonesuch, A&M, ECM, BMG, Axiom , and Virgin with leaders including John Zorn, Heiner Goebbels, Steve Nieve, Marc Ribot, Sainkho, Marisa Monte, So La Liu and Fusanosuke Kondo.

Born in 1956 in Boston, Rothenberg graduated from Oberlin College and studied at Oberlin Conservatory, Berklee School of Music, privately with Les Scott (saxophone & clarinet), and George Coleman (jazz improvisation). However, his trademark solo technique is self-taught. He has received grants and commissions from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Arts Council, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, Lila Wallace Foundation, Chamber Music America, Asian Cultural Council, Roulette, Jerome Foundation, Meet the Composer, Japan Society and ASCAP.

Currently based in Washington, DC, guitarist Ayman Fanous was born in Cairo, Egypt, and has lived in the US since age 5. He began classical violin studies at age seven and switched to the guitar at twelve. He studied classical guitar at James Madison University. However, he has developed a unique and unorthodox approach to the guitar, which includes a number of technical innovations. He is the only guitarist to bring both classical and flamenco guitar technique deeply into contemporary free improvisation. He also reaches back into his Egyptian ancestry in improvisations on the bouzouki.

Fanous has given hundreds of solo performances, including radio and television broadcasts in Spain and the US. He has also performed in duos with a number of leading jazz and improvisational musicians, including cellists Tomas Ulrich and France-Marie Uitti, guitarists Bern Nix and Joe Morris, violinists Jason Hwang, Mark Feldman, and Mat Maneri; bassist William Parker; reed virtuosos Kinan Azmeh, Ned Rothenberg, and Lori Freedman; and Chapman Stick pioneer Greg Howard. While living in New York, he was a member of Simon Shaheen’s Near East Music Ensemble. He released a duo CD with Tomas Ulrich on the German label Konnex and has several CD’s in progress.