Gregor Huebner
Fung chern Hwei
Ron Lawrence
Mike Block
Born in Stuttgart in 1967, Gregor Huebner began studying
piano and violin at the age of six. In 1994 he moved to New York to earn
his MA degree in jazz piano/composition from the Manhattan School of Music
where he received a "President’s Award”.
In September 1997 his compositions “New York Stories” and “In Memoriam Bela” were recorded with Richie Beirach and the chamber orchestra Philharmonia Virtuosi for Mediaphon. “New York Stories” was also performed in April 2004 by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In the last 10 years the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has premiered many of his compositions, and together with the chamber choir of the state Baden Württemberg has recorded the CD “FigureJazz” which features his composition “Le Miroire du’n Moment”. His latest works are “Bach21”, commissioned by the Intentional Bachakademie in Stuttgart and performed at the European Music festival 2005, and “Buxtehude 21”, commissioned and performed by the Buxtehude society in Luebeck 2007. As a leader he has released “Panonien”, “Januschke’s Time” and his latest release “New York-NRG Quartet” on the Niveau label. In 1998 he received the Jazz award of the state Baden Württemberg.
As a composer and founding member of the musical theater group "Tango Five” he has toured throughout Germany and performed at the World Exhibitions in Sevilla 1992 and Hannover 2000, the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, as well as Tango Festivals in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Together with the bandoneon master Raul Jaurena, Huebner was a soloist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at the 1998 Tango Festival in Los Angeles.
His decade long collaboration with jazz pianist Richie Beirach has produced many CDs, including “Snow Leopard” and the widely acclaimed Beirach/Huebner duo “Duality”. “Around Frederik Mompou", released by the ACT Company, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002. Huebner has appeared on Jazz festivals in Cork (Ireland), Tiblisi (Georgia), Montreux, New York (JVC, Bell Atlantic), Stuttgart (Jazz Open) and Porto (Portugal). He performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, NY Jazz club Birdland,the Berlin Philharmonic, Frauenkirche in Dresden, Gewandhaus Leipzig and traveled to Southeast Asia, Japan, Russia, Columbia, Mexico, Hawaii, Spain. As a sideman he worked for Johnny Almendra and “Los Jovenes del Barrio”, Harvie S., Juan Carlos Formell and “Son Radical”, Diane Reeves, Joe Zawinul and many others.
Gregor’s most recent project is a collaboration with producer Ricky Lake and director Abby Epstein in the movie “The Business of Being Born”. Gregor not only wrote the some of the movie’s score, but his wife’s home birth of their daughter Naima is shown on camera.
See Gregor at www.gregorhuebner.de
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Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Fung Chern Hwei absorbed
a large amount of musical information since young in his diversed surroundings:
Chinese pop and classical music, Indian Bollywood tunes, Malay dance music,
and Western classical music. He insisted to learn the violin since he was
4 or 5 years old, but couldn't find a teacher until he was 8 years old.
Since then Chern Hwei thrust himself into the world of violin and never
looked back.
Shortly after starting his violin lessons, Chern Hwei soon found himself imitating electric guitar and saxophone sound on his violin. In his high school years, he actually broke the school's banning on rock music and electronic instruments by sneaking in a heavy metal band onto the stage during a charity night.
Upon finishing his masters in New York, Chern Hwei chose to stay on as a freelance musician, playing different genres of music, absorbing yet even more musical languages and expressions. Styles that he plays frequently include, western classical, jazz, Middle Eastern belly dance music, baroque historical performance, rock, and hip hop.
Artists that he was fortunate to play with include Tony Bennet, Bobby McFerrin, Antonio Sanchez, Ada Rovatti, Michelle Marie Nestor, Dr Lonnie Smith, George Colligan, Janek Gwizdala, Mark Feldman, Dana Leong, Jeremy Harman, Mike Block, among others.
As a studio musician, he recently recorded for Ryuichi Sakamoto for his latest film score for the Iranian film "Women Without Men", also for a new film by Michel Gondry.
Check out Chern Hwei at www.myspace.com/fungchernhwei
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From John Adams to John Zorn, violist Ron Lawrence has
performed and recorded with many of new music's most exciting personalities. Besides
being a founding member of the Sirius String Quartet, he has performed
extensively with Cuartetango, Quartet Indigo, the Soldier String Quartet
and the Orchestra of St. Lukes. Other collaborators include Anthony
Braxton, John Blake, Bob Beldon, Anthony Davis, Regina Carter, Elliot Sharp, James
Blood Ulmer, Cassandra Wilson, John Cale, and Eumir Deodato. Further
uptown, he has recorded with Kathleen Battle, Robert Craft, Jonh Cage,
and Andre Previn.
One of Ron's most exciting projects was a journey to Alaska to record John Luther Adams’ multi-media spectacular, Earth and the Great Weather --A Sonic Geography of the Arctic. Despite a rigorous performance schedule, he was able to break away each evening to cross-country ski under the Northern Lights.
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Mike Block plays in many genres and groups, including his own band
for which he sings and writes. In addition to playing with Sirius String
Quartet, Mike is a member of Mark O'Connor's Appalachia Waltz Trio, Yo-Yo
Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and Kristjan Jarvi's Absolute Ensemble. Mike
has also played in the Hanneke Cassel Band, Bassam Saba's New York Arabic
Orchestra, the Flux Quartet, the Knights Chamber Ensemble, and Argento New
Music Ensemble. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute
of Music, Mike's former cello teachers include Richard Aaron, Joel Krosnick,
and Darrett Adkins. Mike also trained with Pamela Devenport to become a Suzuki
teacher. In the summers, Mike regularly teaches and performs at many festivals,
including Mark O'Connor's camps, the Kansas City Cello Clinic, and the Swannanoa
Gathering. His music and schedule can be found at
www.BlockBlockBlockBlock.com
back to top
Fung chern Hwei
Ron Lawrence
Mike Block
Born in Stuttgart in 1967, Gregor Huebner began studying
piano and violin at the age of six. In 1994 he moved to New York to earn
his MA degree in jazz piano/composition from the Manhattan School of Music
where he received a "President’s Award”.In September 1997 his compositions “New York Stories” and “In Memoriam Bela” were recorded with Richie Beirach and the chamber orchestra Philharmonia Virtuosi for Mediaphon. “New York Stories” was also performed in April 2004 by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In the last 10 years the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has premiered many of his compositions, and together with the chamber choir of the state Baden Württemberg has recorded the CD “FigureJazz” which features his composition “Le Miroire du’n Moment”. His latest works are “Bach21”, commissioned by the Intentional Bachakademie in Stuttgart and performed at the European Music festival 2005, and “Buxtehude 21”, commissioned and performed by the Buxtehude society in Luebeck 2007. As a leader he has released “Panonien”, “Januschke’s Time” and his latest release “New York-NRG Quartet” on the Niveau label. In 1998 he received the Jazz award of the state Baden Württemberg.
As a composer and founding member of the musical theater group "Tango Five” he has toured throughout Germany and performed at the World Exhibitions in Sevilla 1992 and Hannover 2000, the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, as well as Tango Festivals in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Together with the bandoneon master Raul Jaurena, Huebner was a soloist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at the 1998 Tango Festival in Los Angeles.
His decade long collaboration with jazz pianist Richie Beirach has produced many CDs, including “Snow Leopard” and the widely acclaimed Beirach/Huebner duo “Duality”. “Around Frederik Mompou", released by the ACT Company, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2002. Huebner has appeared on Jazz festivals in Cork (Ireland), Tiblisi (Georgia), Montreux, New York (JVC, Bell Atlantic), Stuttgart (Jazz Open) and Porto (Portugal). He performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, NY Jazz club Birdland,the Berlin Philharmonic, Frauenkirche in Dresden, Gewandhaus Leipzig and traveled to Southeast Asia, Japan, Russia, Columbia, Mexico, Hawaii, Spain. As a sideman he worked for Johnny Almendra and “Los Jovenes del Barrio”, Harvie S., Juan Carlos Formell and “Son Radical”, Diane Reeves, Joe Zawinul and many others.
Gregor’s most recent project is a collaboration with producer Ricky Lake and director Abby Epstein in the movie “The Business of Being Born”. Gregor not only wrote the some of the movie’s score, but his wife’s home birth of their daughter Naima is shown on camera.
See Gregor at www.gregorhuebner.de
back to top
Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Fung Chern Hwei absorbed
a large amount of musical information since young in his diversed surroundings:
Chinese pop and classical music, Indian Bollywood tunes, Malay dance music,
and Western classical music. He insisted to learn the violin since he was
4 or 5 years old, but couldn't find a teacher until he was 8 years old.
Since then Chern Hwei thrust himself into the world of violin and never
looked back.Shortly after starting his violin lessons, Chern Hwei soon found himself imitating electric guitar and saxophone sound on his violin. In his high school years, he actually broke the school's banning on rock music and electronic instruments by sneaking in a heavy metal band onto the stage during a charity night.
Upon finishing his masters in New York, Chern Hwei chose to stay on as a freelance musician, playing different genres of music, absorbing yet even more musical languages and expressions. Styles that he plays frequently include, western classical, jazz, Middle Eastern belly dance music, baroque historical performance, rock, and hip hop.
Artists that he was fortunate to play with include Tony Bennet, Bobby McFerrin, Antonio Sanchez, Ada Rovatti, Michelle Marie Nestor, Dr Lonnie Smith, George Colligan, Janek Gwizdala, Mark Feldman, Dana Leong, Jeremy Harman, Mike Block, among others.
As a studio musician, he recently recorded for Ryuichi Sakamoto for his latest film score for the Iranian film "Women Without Men", also for a new film by Michel Gondry.
Check out Chern Hwei at www.myspace.com/fungchernhwei
back to top
From John Adams to John Zorn, violist Ron Lawrence has
performed and recorded with many of new music's most exciting personalities. Besides
being a founding member of the Sirius String Quartet, he has performed
extensively with Cuartetango, Quartet Indigo, the Soldier String Quartet
and the Orchestra of St. Lukes. Other collaborators include Anthony
Braxton, John Blake, Bob Beldon, Anthony Davis, Regina Carter, Elliot Sharp, James
Blood Ulmer, Cassandra Wilson, John Cale, and Eumir Deodato. Further
uptown, he has recorded with Kathleen Battle, Robert Craft, Jonh Cage,
and Andre Previn.One of Ron's most exciting projects was a journey to Alaska to record John Luther Adams’ multi-media spectacular, Earth and the Great Weather --A Sonic Geography of the Arctic. Despite a rigorous performance schedule, he was able to break away each evening to cross-country ski under the Northern Lights.
back to top
Mike Block plays in many genres and groups, including his own band
for which he sings and writes. In addition to playing with Sirius String
Quartet, Mike is a member of Mark O'Connor's Appalachia Waltz Trio, Yo-Yo
Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and Kristjan Jarvi's Absolute Ensemble. Mike
has also played in the Hanneke Cassel Band, Bassam Saba's New York Arabic
Orchestra, the Flux Quartet, the Knights Chamber Ensemble, and Argento New
Music Ensemble. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute
of Music, Mike's former cello teachers include Richard Aaron, Joel Krosnick,
and Darrett Adkins. Mike also trained with Pamela Devenport to become a Suzuki
teacher. In the summers, Mike regularly teaches and performs at many festivals,
including Mark O'Connor's camps, the Kansas City Cello Clinic, and the Swannanoa
Gathering. His music and schedule can be found atwww.BlockBlockBlockBlock.com
back to top