You’re invited to the 10th NYC Musical Saw Festival:

Flyer art by Zina Saunders

Download the 2013 NYC Musical Saw Festival Flyer
Full page DOWNLOAD HERE
Two on a page DOWNLOAD HERE
Four on a page DOWNLOAD HERE

When: Saturday, June 1st, 2013, 2pm
Where: Trinity Church, 31-18 37th Street (37th Street at 31st Avenue), Astoria, NY

How to get there:
Parking: Street
Public Transportation:
* ‘R’ subway train to Queens: Get off at the Steinway St, Station. Exit near intersection of Broadway and Steinway Street. Walk (2 blocks) west on Broadway towards 38th street. Turn right onto 37th St. Church is at the end of the block.
* ‘N’ or ‘Q’ subway train to Queens: Get off at the ‘Broadway’ stop. Walk on Broadway to 37th street (6 blocks). Turn left onto 37th street. Church is at the end of the block.
View Larger Map

Admission: $10

The NYC Musical Saw Festival recieved a proclamation from the Borough President of Queens, Helen Marshall, declaring June 1st 2013 ‘Musical Saw Festival Day’ in Queens!

What:

* NATALIA ‘SAW LADY’ PARUZ, founder & organizer of the Musical Saw Festival, will present the musical saw as an ensemble instrument in music composed for film and TV

* Premier of new compositions for the musical saw by composers Ady Cohen and Scott Munson

* A musical saw art exhibit
Paintings by: Lisa Alonso Canellas, Shoshana Kertesz Hoyt, Yirmi Pinkus, Zina Saunders, Heidi Younger, Aaron Porter, Jamie Isenstein, Kenly Dillard, Rodney Bauer, Miriam Paskalski, Barrett Cobb, Alyssa Steele, Young Joo, Michael Watson, Kauri Sievers

* Musical saw poetry: poet Willa France will recite her poetry about the musical saw.

* Solos by musical saw players from around the world

* The ‘Chorus of the Saws’ (all participating musical saw players playing together, accompanied by piano).

* Musical saw workshops
Musical saw player Olivier Doucet of Canada will teach a workshop about his unique technique. Points in the workshop:
Advantage of moving both ends of the saw
Approach of bowing based on fundamental physics (from light and fast to slow and heavy)
Fundamental difference between violin bow and musical saw bow
How to jump from note to note without glissando
How to avoid scratching sound
Edge modification & conditioning
Staccato on the saw
Modulating the sound level of a high note after playing a low note

Musical saw player Doc George of NY will teach a workshop about the hammered musical saw.
Musical saw player Mike Waldeck Jr. of West Virginia will teach a workshop about miking the musical saw
Musical saw player Thom Eno of Michigan will teach a Beginner Saw workshop (for people who have never played saw before) – covering how to hold the saw, picking a good saw and some basic theory with demonstrations and a chance for everyone to try to play a saw or two.

The musical saw player who travels the farthest in order to attend the festival is considered the “guest of honor”.

NYC Musical Saw Festival souvenir T-shirts will be available for purchase:
* new design (M, L, XL, – $20 each, XXL – $25)
* old design (only L available – $20 each).

Time Magazine’s report of the last Musical Saw Festival:

Musical saw players wishing to participate in the festival :
If you would like to participate as a saw player (whether as a soloist, a participant in the ‘Chorus of the Saws’ or to take the workshop) or as a member of the audience, please contact us through the ‘Contact’ page and send us your name, e-mail address and whether you are a saw player or not.

If you wish to sponsor the NYC Musical Saw Festival – please contact us.

Non musical saw musicians participating in the festival:

Composer ADY COHEN is a film composer who composed for the musical saw in his score for the award winning animation film ‘Strings’.
He also composes music for the stage, TV and the concert hall. He is the winner of the 2012 ACUM (Israeli ASCAP) Award for Best Score for a Children’s Film, and the 1998 Israeli Academy Award for Best Film Score. His career ignited with the help of the late Maestro Leonard Bernstein, who has been Ady’s patron and sponsored his studies at New York University where he graduated with Honors as a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
Ady has composed over 30 film scores, among them: “Passover Fever”, “Song of the Siren”, “Dangerous Acts” and more. He has written the music for numerous theater plays, among them “The Imaginary Invalid”, “Night in Tel Aviv”, “Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson”, and dance performances, as well as for TV films and series, such as “The Ex List” (Channel 2, sold to NBC), “When Shall We Kiss” (Channel 10, sold to HBO Europe), “Custody” (Channel 2), “Deus” (The Children’s Channel) and more. His talents are also employed by the advertising industry in TV, cinema and radio commercials and jingles.

Composer SCOTT MUNSON’s music has been performed throughout the world in concert halls, TV and on radio. He composed numerous pieces for the musical saw, including the musical saw solo in the Fox Searchlight movie ‘Another Earth’.
In 2007 his work “The Undeterred” for piano, voice and musical saw, premiered at Carnegie recital hall and was later repeated at New York’s Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. His ballet “Stand Back” (with musical saw part) has been performed numerous times by members of the Eric Hawkins Dance Company. In 2009 the ballet company Eidolon performed choreography to two of his works for musical saw at the Joyce Theatre Soho. His two works for musical saw and string quartet were played at a concert in Israel in spring 2010.
Mr. Munson’s music has been heard on many TV stations including CBS, MTV, FOX,CNN, Bravo, A&E, The WE Channel, The History Channel as well as on radio stations such as XM Radio, WBAI, Radio Marabu (Germany), Radio Centraal (Belgium) and others. In 2006 an hour long radio program dedicated to the music of Mr. Munson along with an interview with the composer aired on Radio Kol Hamusika in Israel, the most prestigious classical radio station in that country.
He has won numerous awards, commissions and grants including first place in National Public Radio’s (NPR) “All Songs Considered” contest for his original arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and a “Meet The Composer” grant for his composition “Fantasy” for trumpet and vibraphone.

DANIEL RADTKE (Conductor) has conducted a wide repertory from Medieval through Modern music with the Goliard Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, The Astoria Symphony, The Most Precious Blood Concert Choir and Orchestra, The Bronx Concert Singers, The Brooklyn Consort, The Canby Singers, The Saint Joseph?s Chorale and Orchestra. As a singer, he has performed as a member of The Greg Smith Singers, The Manhattan Chorale, The National Chorale, The Juilliard Choral Singers, The New York Choral Artists, The Temple Emmanuel Choir, Musica Sacra and Voices of Ascension. As a member of the Commission on Music for the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese, has performed as conductor, cantor and organist and has directed workshops in Song Leading and Conducting. He began his professional career in 1973 as a member of the U. S. O. performing for American troops in Europe. He is an honors graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Steven’s Point where he frequently performed leading roles in musical theater, opera and dance productions. He has been the Music Director at Most Precious Blood parish in Astoria for the past 23 years. Dan has been a long time advocate of the music of Scott Munson. He has commissioned and conducted premiers of many composers dating back to 1980.

LAWRENCE ZOERNIG (Cello) has been principal cellist of many New York symphony and chamber orchestras, including New York Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia, Opera Manhattan and the New York Scandia Symphony.
He has appeared with well-known dance ensembles including the Paul Taylor Dance Company and the David Parsons Dance Company. He has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall in New York and the Phillips Collection and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
His Scandia Quartet was invited to play for former US President
Jimmy Carter and his wife, Roslyn, at the Carter Center in Atlanta,
Georgia, and for the Prince and Princess of Denmark at the Hans Christian Anderson Centenniel Celebration.
As a concert artist on the international scene, Mr. Zoernig has
been presented at the Teatro Amazones in Manaus, Brazil and the World Expo in Seville, Spain and has also performed extensively on Cunard Line cruise ships throughout the world, as well as on the National Tour of the award winning hit Broadway show, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”.
Meet the Composer Foundation provided Mr. Zoernig with a
grant for his work as a composer of music for cello.
He received a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School.

ELAINE OLSCHESKY (Flute) residing in Astoria, Queens, is active in many areas of the classical music business, holding positions as a performer, music instructor and arts administrator. She received her Master’s Degree in flute performance from New York University where she studied privately with world-renowned flutist, Keith Underwood, and new music/extended technique classes with Robert Dick. She earned her Bachelor of Music in performance from Ithaca College where she studied with Kelly Covert. Ms. Olschesky’s previous engagements include a solo concerto world premiere with the Astoria Symphony, two concerto soloist performances with Goliard Concerts, and principal flute/piccolo concerto soloist with the Queensborough Orchestra. She has also performed with the Light Opera of New York, the Julliard School, Ohio Light Opera, Vertical Player Repertory, Christ Church Festival Orchestra, and with the New Music and Dance Ensemble at NYU’s contemporary music festival in Genova, Italy. Ms. Olschesky was the conductor and chamber music coach for NYU’s Wednesday Night Orchestra, and she has held several arts administration positions as the Administrative Director of Goliard Concerts, Orchestra Manager for NYU’s Symphony Orchestra, and additional positions with MidAmerica Productions and Interlochen Center for the Arts.

KATHLEEN DITMER (French Horn) M.A., Western Illinois University; B.M., Hartt College of Music. Studied with Paul Ingraham, William Capps, James Jacobs. Former faculty member, pre-college divisions of Manhattan School of Music and Hartt College of Music. Currently teaches privately, at the Wharton School of Music, and at select summer band camps nationwide. Well-known French Hornist with a wide variety of solo, chamber music, orchestral, brass band and jazz band credits in New York and New Jersey as well as throughout the U.S. Extensive career includes performances with the Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Long Island Philharmonic, Queens Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. Broadway credits include Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. Recordings with Odyssey, Audio Media, Sound Stage Productions, LSI Studios, Nashville Sound Studios, and Opryland USA Show Orchestra.

ALEXANDR ANISIMOV (Violin) was born in Russia in 1975 into a musical family, and started his musical studies at the age of six. He graduated from the Russian State Music Academy and also has got the postgraduate Diploma with Prof. Shisman.
Since 2000 he has regularly performed as a soloist and conductor with various orchestras in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan (Tatarstan), Ufa (Bashkortostan), Astana (Kazakhstan) and others. Since 2010 to 2012 Alexander has worked in the National Symphony Orchestra (Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia) as a concertmaster, soloist and a second conductor.
Alexander was the first performer of works by contemporary composers and composes himself. In 2009 Alexander was admitted to the Association of Russian Composers. For his achievements in performing arts, he was awarded a grant from the Russian Musical Association, TV prize “Person of the Year”, and Orenburg Governor’s Prize.
He has also been the prize winner of the following International competitions: “Citta di Moncalieri” (1999, Italy); “Hopes, Talents, Masters” (2004, 2007, Bulgaria); “Valtidone Competition” (2005, Italy) and others. He was awarded prizes in various categories: “Solo performance (Violin)”, “Chamber Ensemble”, “Composition”.
In 2011 Alexander has received his PHD.

MARK WADE (Bass) A graduate of New York University, Bassist Mark Wade is an active freelance player. Credits include the Janecek Philharmonic, Orchestra of the SEM, The Antara Ensemble, Orchestra of the Bronx, DiCapo Opera, Key West Symphony, Light Opera of New York, and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He played on Broadway for “It A’int Nothin But The Blues”. Jazz credits include Jimmy Heath’s “Four Black Immortals” project, Stacy Kent, Bill Warfield, and The Natchez Music Festival. He is a founding member of the Queens Jazz OverGround.

JEFFREY ELLENBERGER (Viola) Violist/violist/mandolinist/conductor Jeffrey Ellenberger graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Erick Friedman. He will receive his masters degree in conducting from Rutgers University in Spring of 2014. He has performed as the concertmaster of the Bar Harbor Festival Orchestra, and played on Broadway with “Les Miserables”, and with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and New York City Opera. In the pop world, he has performed for Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick Jr. This is his 8th season as conductor of the New York Mandolin Orchestra, which perhaps will soon feature a soloist performing on the saw!

JULIANNE KLOPOTIC (Violin) Founder of Light and Sound Concerts, a new music series residing in Brooklyn, NY. She received degrees with honors from the North Carolina School for the Arts, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Mannes College, with post graduate studies at Juilliard. Appearing as a performing artist in NYC and abroad, she is winner of the Artists International Solo Competition, grant recipient of the Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, NY Women Composers Society and has been nominated into both National and International Who’s Who of performers. In addition, to her classical performance is her innate ability to work with and record 20/21st century chamber music; including works of living composers and arranging for songwriters/bands. Recordings Ms Klopotic can be heard: A&M, Arista , American Federation of Microtonal Music, 4-Tay, Colombia, Durtro, Electra, Geffen , Equal Vision, Naxos, Pitch, Polygram, Restless, Socialist, Stockholm , Sony Classical, TTP, Touch and Go and Universal records.
Julianne has played with and arranged for strings and saw on the album ‘Dogs’ with Nina Nastaia. (track-Stormy Weather) You can learn more about Julianne by visiting her Light & Sound website at www.lightandsound-concerts.org

CARLOS BAPTISTE (Violin) was born in London England of Caribbean parentage. At the age of seven he began his Violin studies and continued them at the Yehudi Menuhin school and the Royal Academy of Music in London. During his studentship at the Academy, Mr Baptiste was the recipient of the Academy’s highest honors in Violin performance including the Concerto competition in which he performed the Concerto in D major by Tchaikovsky.
Mr Baptiste came to New York City to continue his studies at the Mannes College of Music as a scholarship recipient. Carlos Baptiste currently makes his home in New York City and he makes regular appearances as a soloist and chamber musician. He is also founder of the critically acclaimed African-American group “Diaspora Chamber Players.”

NUNO ANTUNES (clarinet) was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and began his music studies at the C.N.R. of Leiria at age 11. Mr. Antunes continued his education at ANSO (Lisbon), and earned his MM at Manhattan School of Music.
Mr. Antunes’ appearance in competitions has resulted in several prizes, including the R.D.P. Young Musicians Prize and the Portuguese Young Clarinetist Competition. Having a recognized versatility in several different musical styles, Nuno Antunes has performed extensively as a recitalist, chamber musician and in various professional orchestras, both in the U.S., Mexico and Europe.
His love for chamber music led to the creation of The Gene Project, a unique combination of clarinet, bassoon and harp. He is also a member of Ensemble 54 clarinet quartet. Mr. Antunes had his NYC debut as a soloist in 2007 at Musica Bella Concert Series and he gave a recital at the XX International Clarinet Meeting (Lisbon, Portugal).
Mr. Antunes is the principal clarinetist of the Miami Symphony Orchestra and a member of IRIS orchestra.
Nuno Antunes teaches clarinet at the Horace Mann School and is on the faculty for Praxis Youth Leadership Orchestra and for New York Summer Music Festival

FRANCISCO SALAZAR (Violin) Born in Caracas Venezuela, Francisco Salazar began his violin studies at age 6, and at age 8 made his debut as a soloist with orchestra. Since then he has performed extensively as a concert violinist, and has toured all over the world with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela which he joined at age 14. Having already established himself as one of the top performers in his native country, Francisco decided to come to the United States to attend The Juilliard School where he obtained his B.M and M.M degrees as a scholarship student of Margaret Pardee. Since coming to the States Francisco has continued the success that started early on in his native country, and has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician to rave reviews by music critics in prestigious venues such as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie’s Weill, Kimmel Center, and many others.
Currently Francisco resides in New York City, is a member of the Harrisburg Symphony, concertmaster of a variety of ensembles in NYC, and maintains a busy schedule as a soloist and chamber musician.

JUDY DIMINO (piano) is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, serving in the choir, the handbell choir, as an assisting minister, and as a substitute organist. Judy is a graduate of Queens College, now known as the Aaron Copland School of Music, with a B.A. in Music Education.
Judy was a pianist for the Committee Of Police Societies Chorus and Runner-Up in the International Piano Recording Competition 1982 She received the Presiding Bishop’s Certificate of Church Music from the Leadership Program for Musicians at The Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, Long Island in 2004. Judy has taught piano, guitar and accordion in various locations in the Queens area. Judy recently received a Certificate in Church Music from Westminster Conservatory, Princeton, New Jersey.

ROMULO BENAVIDES (Violin) studied with the late Emil Friedman in his native Venezuela and obtained his Bachelors degree from The Juilliard School. As Concertmaster of Arcos Juveniles de Caracas, he performed as soloist in the United States, Spain, Dominican Republic and throughout Venezuela, and in 1985, he won 1st Prize at the Juan Bautista Plaza Violin Competition in Caracas. He went on to perform as soloist with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Carabobo Chamber Orchestra and the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. In New York City he has performed with the Carpentier Quartet, Ensemble America, Frank Valiente Tango Quintet, and with Mauricio Najt and Alberto Quiroga. Benavides performs as the first violinist of the Dali Quartet and is Concertmaster and featured soloist of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded for New World Records and performed in master classes for Itzhak Perlman at Brooklyn College and for Peter Winograd at The Aspen Music School.

Reactions to the 2010 Musical Saw Festival

Posted August 9th, 2010 by

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of NYC, honored the Musical Saw Festival with the following (click on image to enlarge):

What musical saw players said about the 8th annual Musical Saw Festival:

Natalia, I had a GREAT time today!Thank you for doing this- I WILL be back next year (and I’d love to perform). I had such a blast at this year’s Musical Saw Festival!! I’ve been practicing the saw every day since the Fest!
Take care, Werner (MD)

Had a blast. Hope to return someday.
All the best,
Henry (CO)

26 musical saw players participated at the 8th NYC Musical saw Festival. Photographer: Harris Graber

Hi Natalia,
just wanted to say, congratulations! I know it took so much to put the festival together, and I think it was a wonderful success. The workshop also was amazing. Thank you for all your work, and I hope you get a break now!
All best,
Tine (NY)

Hey Natalia
I wanted to thank you for organizing such a wonderful festival, we had a great time. I especially like the Ameriklectics, what wonderful compositions and arrangements!
I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay for the workshops, I’m sure there was lots of great knowledge being passed along.
I hope the festival was a success for you as well.
All the best, I’ll see you next year if not before!
Jeff (NY)

Musical saw players performing in the ‘Chorus of the Saws’. Photographer: Pat Merino

I had a wonderful time at the festival…I’ve been wanting to go for 5 years since I started playing and this is the first time I was able to be in NYC for the summer. You did an amazing job of putting everything together and sharing your beautiful sawing.
Caroline (NY)

Natalia,
The 8th annual saw festival was, as others, a most enjoyable day. I saw it as a day of opportunity in which we had the chance to play or to listen to others play with their diverse styles. I liked meeting like-minded musicians from across the world and the US, and I learned a lot from the workshop where we could talk freely about problems with our own playing, saws, bows, etc. Also, it was enjoyable to walk to a local restaurant there and dine with you, your husband and our saw playing friends. It was a great day! Thank you and your helpers for the efforts you put into arranging a wonderful experience. I look forward to next year’s event.
Best regards,
Stew (PA)

Thank you so much for the opportunity to get to play at the saw yesterday, and thank you for the kind compliments!
Nicole (NY)

‘Chorus of the Saws’ – all musical saw players playing together. Photographer: Harris Graber

Hi Natalia:
You really did an AWSOME JOB in putting everything together. I enjoyed myself immensly & Stew couldn’t get done thanking me for driving & staying for the workshop & for Dinner.
Sincerely,
Steve (PA)

Hi Natalia,
Thanks for sending me all the information re: the Saw Festival and also inviting me to attend. I also want to thank you for the specific directions you gave. I was able to ride on the train, get out and walk directly to the venue without any problems. That was terrific. It was such a great experience to be there. I had the opportunity to meet you and other Saw players. The workshop was very meaningful and helpful to me. I am sure you recognized how excited I was when I struck my first note. I will be practicing daily so that I can improve my skills on the Saw. So you can expect a few emails from me when I have questions. It was also nice meeting your husband, say hello to him.
Thanks again. Have a great day!
Floyd (WA)

I thought that the Sawfest was terriffic.
Doc George (NY)

Hi Natalia
We really enjoyed this festival and trip.
We are so happy to join you.
We met many wonderful saw players.
Your band was so cool!
That was very exciting.
Hopefully,we wanna join your festival every year.
If next year’s date has been set,please tell me.
The sooner we can get cheaper flight.
Take care,
WooYoung (Japan)

Natalia, what an honor and a joy to have been a part of the saw festival today and to have finally met you and experienced your talent in person. You are an extraordinary person, full of life, love and enthusiasm!
Thank you for creating this event. Thank you for the workshop and the chance to get some great coaching. And thank you for posing for a picture with me!
I am already looking forward to next year’s festival and any other events that may be going on in between now and then. Enjoy the rest of your summer and I look forward to the next time I see you.
Fondly,
Jeff (PA)

I had the best time 2day & can’t wait 4 next year where I will play a solo!
Jenn (NY)

It was such a wonderful experience, thank you for inviting us!
Jeffrey
the Venn Diagrams (NY)

Hi, Natalia. I hope you remember me from the festival and the workshop. I asked you to pose for a photo with me downstairs at the end of the workshop and of course you did!
I have only being playing since March 9, 2010 and was too shy and not confident enough to do a solo in August. Since the festival and the workshop, I have been playing my heart out amost every day. I have improved so dramatically that I cannot wait to register for a solo next summer. I really have YOU to thank for my inspiration…..so thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff B. (PA)

Musical saw trio. Photographer: Pat Merino

Audience reactions:

I loved it Natalia! Your festival was a very happy event. I am sorry I haven’t went sooner.
Heidi Y.

Hey Natalia! Enjoyed the festival. Had a great time yesterday. To finally get to see what I have only read about is an experience I will never forget. Living out here on the island doesn’t give me many chances to see you as much as I would like to which makes each time very special and that I will cherish it for a lifetime. You are a catalyst to a brighter future for N.Y.C. Thank you for everything.
My friend that played the saw with her father’s saw is already planning for the next saw festival. Bravo!!
Bravo Natalia!! You have performed above and beyond all expectations making everyone feel like they were the star of the show. No talent was too small. Again congratulations.
Jeffrey D.

Great Festival !! Enjoyed it very much
Pat M.

Ameriklectic – 10 piece band featuring the musical saw. Photographer: Pat Merino

Kudos to Queens Council on the Arts for support of 8th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival: SawLady + gang is amazing
Clyde F.

Hi -
I went to the Saw Festival last weekend and was really inspired to learn to play the saw. Do you have any suggestions on how to get started? The festival was awesome. I’ve seen you play a number of times in the subway and have been very moved each time. It was a great surprise to see that the Festival was taking place and just a couple of blocks from my apartment as well! Thanks for putting it on!
Best,
Charles

26 musical saw players performing together. Photographer: Harris Graber

Dear Natalia,
Just a word to say that I very much enjoyed the Saw Festival yesterday in Astoria. As a composer I learned a little more about the saw just by listening, especially to the trio at the beginning of the program but also to other parts of the program. I was also pleased to get acquainted with Scott’s work as a composer and arranger– his stuff is first class all the way, a “good listen” and very well put together for the band, including the saw as a lead. Bravo to both of you! (and what hard work to put the whole program on….)
Again, great fun yesterday, and nice to see you and Scott,
Cheers,
Mark G.

Hi Natalia!
just wanted to tell you how much I really appreciated the 2010 Musical Saw Festival. Thanks so much for bringing everyone together. What a wonderful day of such great SAWING!
Cheers!
- Matt

Ameriklectic – band with musical saw as the lead instrument. Photographer: Pat Merino

Reactions of musicians who participated in the Musical Saw Festival, who are not musical saw players:

Natalia and Scott,
Thank you for inviting me to participate in the wonderful concert yesterday. I’m very impressed with the high quality of music, and I am one of many who now see the musical saw as a more serious instrument. I’m looking forward to the recording and future projects with AmeriKlectic.
Rob S.

Hi, Natalia:
It was very nice to be part of this festival this year!
Amazing to see so many Saw Players at the same time.
Great for you to have all this media coverage. It’s great motivation and exposure for the Saw Festival.
Congratulations for this successful 8th Annual Saw Festival.
Thanks!
Sandra

Thank you for asking me to play!! I had a GREAT time! Congratulations
Amy

Ameriklectic band featuring the musical saw. Photographer: Pat Merino

The Musical Saw Festival was so fun today! Scott Munson’s new group Ameriklectic was amazing!
There were some really good players this year too. Very impressed with the ladies from Japan! I don’t think I ever heard Scott play before. Man his group was good!
Judy

Hey Natalia,
I had a great time at the festival Saturday, and many thanks to you for letting me do my thing on stage. If there’s an audience anywhere on Earth that poem was meant for, it was right there.
Mason G.

Hi Natalia,
I really had a great time playing at the festival.
Cynthia

The sound of multiple singing saws. Photographer: Pat Merino

Reactions of people who saw the Musical Saw Festival on TV:

Hey, Natalia!
I’m already gathering money so I can go and join you next year!
I saw a report in portuguese television about this year’s festival… I see it all went well! Congratulations once again!
Yours truly
Edgar

Posted in Musical Saw Players Reactions No Comments Tags: 2010, festival, musical saw, singing saw

Musical Saw Festival 2010

Posted September 20th, 2009 by

You’re invited to the 8th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival:

Flyer art by Zina Saunders

Download the 2010 NYC Musical Saw Festival Flyer
Full page DOWNLOAD HERE
Two on a page DOWNLOAD HERE
Four on a page DOWNLOAD HERE

When: Saturday, August 7th, 2010, 2pm.
Where: Hellenic Cultural Center, 27-09 Crescent Street (corner of Newtown Avenue), Astoria, NY 11102-3142
The entrance to the festival is on Newtown Avenue.

View Larger Map

Parking: Street
Public Transportation: N/W Train to 30th Ave (walk on 31st street towards Newtown Avenue. Make a left onto Newtown Avenue. Walk almost 4 blocks to the Hellenic Cultural Center).

Admission: $10

What:

*NATALIA ‘SAW LADY’ PARUZ, founder & organizer of the Musical Saw Festival, will present the musical saw as a band instrument in jazz/pop/world-music, with AmeriKlectic the band.

* AmeriKlectic – a 10 piece jazz band featuring the musical saw as the lead instrument. AmeriKlectic is an acoustic chamber music group featuring musical saw, vibraphone, strings, horns and rhythm section, performing original music with a disinct sound that seemlessly blends styles from classical and jazz, to pop, newage and ethnic musics.

* World premier of new compositions for the musical saw, commissioned for the Musical Saw Festival, including a piece for three musical saws and piano by Eyal Bat.

* A musical saw art exhibit

* Solos by saw players from around the world

* The ‘Chorus of the Saws’ (all participating musical saw players playing together)

* Musical saw workshop

NYC Musical Saw Festival souvenir T-shirts will be available for purchase – $20 each.

Non musical-saw musicians participating in the festival:

SCOTT MUNSON (composer, vibraphonist) graduated from Rutgers University where he studied composition with Pulitzer prize winning composer Charles Wuorinen, percussion with William Moersch, and jazz theory and jazz improvisation with the legendary jazz musicians Kenny Barron and Ted Dunbar. After graduation he became assistant to composer Charles Wuorinen, working closely with the composer, creating piano arrangements, full scores and performance parts of the composer’s works for performances with the NYC Ballet, the NY Philharmonic, The San Francisco Symphony and other major orchestras around the world.
In 2000 Mr. Munson was composer in residence with the Goliard Chamber Ensemble where he had an opportunity to tour the United States performing his works and giving lectures. Since then, the Goliard Chamber Ensemble has commissioned Mr. Munson numerous times, including a large scale work for string orchestra and voice that premiered in 2004 to an audience of over 600 to great acclaim.
In 2007 his work “The Undeterred” for the unusual combination of piano, voice and musical saw, premiered at Carnegie recital hall and was later repeated at New York’s Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. His ballet “Stand Back” has been performed numerous times by members of the Eric Hawkins Dance Company. In 2009 the ballet company Eidolon performed choreography to two of his works at the Joyce Theatre Soho. He wrote two works for musical saw and string quartet, which were performed on radio and at a concert in Israel in spring 2010.
His most recent commission, for Flute and Orchestra, was premiered December 2009 by the Astoria Symphony in Astoria Queens NY.
His newly formed 10 piece band ‘AmeriKlectic’ is premiering at the Musical Saw Festival.
Mr. Munson has worked as an arranger, orchestrator and music editor for Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and many others. Mr. Munson’s music has been heard on many TV stations including CBS, MTV, FOX, CNN, Bravo, A&E, The WE Channel, The History Channel as well as on radio stations such as XM Radio, WBAI, Radio Marabu (Germany), Radio Centraal (Belgium) and others. In 2006 an hour long radio program dedicated to the music of Mr. Munson along with an interview with the composer aired on Radio Kol Hamusika in Israel, the most prestigious classical radio station in that country.
He has won numerous awards, commissions and grants including first place in National Public Radio’s (NPR) “All Songs Considered” contest for his original arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and a “Meet The Composer” grant for his composition “Fantasy” for trumpet and vibraphone.

ANDREW BEALS (saxophone/flute) joined legendary jazz organist, “Brother” Jack McDuff and the “Heatin’ System” in 1986. Beals became the latest in a long line of Jazz Saxophone greats, including Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Red Holloway, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Harold Vick, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk to work with Jack McDuff’s band. It was marked by a busy performance schedule, which included lengthy tours of North America and Europe. Andrew Beals has appeared as a leader of his own band and as a featured soloist with Jack McDuff, and others, at many renowned Jazz clubs and festivals. Beals was a semifinalist at the 1993 Thelonious Monk Jazz Saxophone Competition; and in 1998 he was awarded the prestigious NYU Jazz Orchestra Scholarship for graduate studies in jazz performance and composition. Andrew is currently an adjunct professor of Jazz Saxophone and Jazz Improvisation at Western Connecticut State University(W.C.S.U) and a woodwind instructor at the Greenwich Music School. He received his Bachelor of Arts Music degree at Livingston College and Rutgers University, and has a Master of Arts Music Degree from New York University. His teachers were Paul Jeffery, John Stubbelfield, Frank Foster, George Garzone (saxophone), and Jim McNeely (composition).

BIM STRASBERG (bass) was born in La Jolla, California and has lived in New York since 1985. He received his B.A. from the University of California at San Diego where he studied with Bertram Turetzky. He later studied bass with John Neves, Todd Coolman, and Dave Holland as well as composition with Jim Whitsitt and Hal Crook.
He has performed with many notable artists including Charles McPherson, Eddie Harris, Terrel Stafford, Dr, Lonnie Smith, Mike Wofford, Johnny Coles, Jack Sheldon, “Papa” John Creach, Scott Hamilton, Mickey Roker, Cecil Payne, Eric Alexander, and Bill Mays. He is currently a member of the legendary Robert “Bootsie” Barnes’ Quintet which features trumpeter John Swana and can be heard on Weldon’s Midtown Blues (Amosaya) and Larry Gillespie’s Contour (Blue Line).

ROB SUSMAN (trombone) has appeared in music festivals in the North Sea, Pori, Vienne, Aruba, Bermuda, Gubbio (Italy), The Canary Islands, COTA (PA), Discover Jazz (VT), Red Bank, OSPAC, NJ Jazz Association (NJ), and What Is Jazz? (NYC).
He has toured the with Chico O’Farrill’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra and Salsa singer La India. He has performed with Branford Marsalis, Clark Terry, Tito Puente, Frankie Ruiz, Ismael Miranda, Liza Minelli, Jay and the Americans, Leslie Gore, Neil Sedaka, The Drifters, Ashford and Simpson and Neil Diamond.
He has been a guest musician on radio’s “Rambling with Gambling” , Television’s “The Vicki Lawrence Show”, and Joe Pesci’s MTV video “Yo Cousin Vinny”. He was a guest faculty soloist with the NYU Orchestra.
He can be heard playing on several nationally televised commercials. He has been a member of the Supper Club All Stars, The Rainbow Room Orchestra, Mike Longo’s NYSAE, Charli Persip’s Supersound and Broadway pit orchestras.
He can be heard on recordings by Swingadelic, Andrea Burns, Science For Girls, The Davenports, Blue Number Nine, The Electric Ladybugs, Peter Buchi, Hemingway, NoNoNonet, Stefanie Seskin, Repercussions, The Marshall Plan Kids, A Mass for Mass Trombones, Janet Speaks French, Fatback, Hagatha, Renar, and the Flipped Fedoras.
He has composed for PBS’s “Reading Rainbow”. His arrangements are performed by top ensembles, such as Boston Brass and brass ensembles under his own direction. His credits include: The Cairo Symphony Orchestra, The N.Y.U. Symphony Orchestra, Johnny Farina (of Santo and Johnny), and The Imani Winds. He arranged the popular swing version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” that appears on the Pottery Barn CD “Hip Holidays II”.
Rob is the Brass Studies instructor for the NYU Dept. of Music Education. He has given master classes at NYU, Brooklyn College, The Dalton School, and the Moses Brown School. He directs ensembles at The Village Community School, and The Rudolf Steiner School.

TIM MCLAFFERTY (drums) The son of a painter and sculptor, Tim grew up in a free thinking environment where he began playing drums at age four. He’s played drum-set and percussion in numerous Broadway shows, including Urinetown and Grey Gardens, Happiness at Lincoln Center, and the premier of the Philip Glass score for The Bacchae at Shakespeare in the Park.
Active in all genres of music, with a focus on jazz and improvisation, Tim has performed with Karl Berger, Mark Helias, David Liebman, Graham Haynes, Badal Roy, MIck Rossi, Eric Friedlander, Rona Figueroa, and also leads and records his own various groups. A very productive poet and visual artist, his poems have been set by composers Mick Rossi and Scott Munson.

AMY NELSON (trumpet) has performed solos in a variety of venues including the Grant Park Music Festival (Chicago), Great American Brass Band Festival (Kentucky), Grand Celebration of Brass Bands (Iowa), World Music Conference (Holland), Illinois Music Educator Association Conference and the International Women’s Brass Conference. She was awarded first place in both the slow melody and technical solo divisions of the North American Brass Band Association’s national solo competition four different years, placing in the top three nine times over nine years. She placed first in the International Women’s Brass Conference category three trumpet solo competition. Amy is a performing artist for Richard Smith Musical Instruments and plays a Smith Watkins soloist cornet.
Amy served as principal cornet and personnel manager of the Chicago Brass Band, winners of the 2004 NABBA Championship division and the NABBA representatives at the 2005 World Brass Band Competition in the Netherlands. Prior to joining the CBB she was a member of the Illinois Brass Band, six-time NABBA champions, where she served as cornet section leader and personnel manager and was a frequent soloist. She toured England with the IBB and toured America with the Regent Brass Band of London, England. These days Amy can be found in New Jersey performing with the Imperial, Princeton, and Atlantic Brass Bands. She is the principal cornet of the Athena Brass Band.
Amy is currently freelancing in the New York City/Tri-State area. She is a member of the Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York. She has performed with such Broadway shows as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the national tour of Evita. Orchestral performances have included work with the Queens Symphony, the American Symphony and the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra. She recently completed a recording project with composer Joseph Dymit of original trumpet works entitled Battlecry (www.piquedamemusic.com). She believes in the importance of music education and works with a program in Brooklyn which provides instrumental instruction for students without access to music in schools.

LAWRENCE ZOERNIG (cello), has been principal ‘cellist of many New York symphony and chamber orchestras, including New York Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia and Opera Manhattan. Mr. Zoernig premièred Lars-Erik Larsson’s Concertino for ‘Cello and String Orchestra at Trinity Church with the New York Scandia Symphony, for which he is also principal ‘cellist. He has also recently performed the Cello Concerto by Johan Svendsen with the Scandia Symphony.
As a chamber musician, he performs frequently with the Goliard
Ensemble and Bachanalia. He has appeared with such noted artists as
violinists Nina Beilina, Sidney Harth and Mark Peskanov, clarinetist
Charles Neidich, guitarist David Starobin, and well-known dance
ensembles including the Paul Taylor Dance Company and the David
Parsons Dance Company. He has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall in New York and the Phillips Collection and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C..
His Scandia Quartet was invited to play for former US President
Jimmy Carter and his wife, Roslyn, at the Carter Center in Atlanta,
Georgia, and for the Prince and Princess of Denmark at the New York
Public Library’s Hans Christian Anderson Centenniel Celebration.
As a concert artist on the international scene, Mr. Zoernig has
been presented at the Teatro Amazones in Manaus, Brazil and the World Expo in Seville, Spain and has also performed extensively on Cunard Line cruise ships Queen Elizabeth II, Caronia, Vistafjord, Sagafjord, and Royal Viking Sun throughout the world.
Lawrence Zoernig recently returned from the National Tour of the
award winning hit Broadway show, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”.
Meet the Composer Foundation recently provided Mr. Zoernig with a
grant for his work as a composer of music for cello. Additionally, he
maintains an active teaching schedule and is presently a faculty
member of the Sylvan Academy of Music in Closter, NJ.
Lawrence Zoernig was born in 1960 in Sioux City, Iowa. He began
studying ‘cello at age eight. He attended the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois, an arts-centered boarding school. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Alan Harris, and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Harvey Shapiro. At Juilliard he also worked extensively with Felix Galimir, Joel Krosnick, John, Cage, Albert Fuller and Jaap Schröder.
He has also coached with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Budapest,
Tokyo, and Hungarian Quartets.
He plays a Stradivarious model ‘cello made by Tim Hulley of Ottawa,
Ontario, completed in 2004.

ZAKARIA ENIKEEV (viola), Zakaria Enikeev is the first-ever violist in South of Russia who won an International String Competition Award. In the age of sixteen he gave his first recital with the Rostov Symphony Orchestra conducted by A.S. Mileikovsky, the People’s Artist of Russia. Later on Zakaria often performed as the soloist with the orchestra, playing works of Hummel, Weber, and Bartok. Now Zakaria studies at the Juilliard School. As a soloist and as a chamber musician, Mr. Enikeev has been performing in the most prestigious concert halls of New York, including Alice Tully Hall, Paul Hall, Merkin Hall and Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall. Zakaria Enikeev has served as principal violist of the Juilliard Orchestra on many occasions. Nina Beilina, an eminent Russian violinist, once said about Zakaria Enikeev: “Not only has the young musician a great technique and a command of various styles, he is truly in love with his instrument. You can feel the charm of a refined artistic individuality in his manner.” Awards, honorary titles: Second Prize of the Togliatti International String Competition (Russia, 2002) and the Governor’s Prize For Great Success in Arts and Culture. Finalist of the Stulberg International String Competition (USA, 2003); awarded the Russian Federation Governmental scholarship program For Outstanding Creative Abilities.

CYNTHIA MARCUS SMITH (violin) performs regularly throughout the tri state area. She is a violinist and Co-Founder in the Dynamic Motion Company. This ensemble pairs a small group of dancers with a string quartet in live performance. She plays in many New York based orchestras and regularly performs at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Cynthia also is the violinist in the chamber pop band, The Staves.
She has been lucky to perform around the world at the major concert houses of Italy, Austria, Singapore, Mexico, Washington DC, and New York. Cynthia is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Pamela Frank and Shirley Givens.

JUDY DIMINO (piano) is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, serving in the choir, the handbell choir, as an assisting minister, and as a substitute organist. Judy is a graduate of Queens College, now known as the Aaron Copland School of Music, with a B.A. in Music Education.
Judy was a pianist for the Committee Of Police Societies Chorus and Runner-Up in the International Piano Recording Competition 1982 She received the Presiding Bishop’s Certificate of Church Music from the Leadership Program for Musicians at The Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, Long Island in 2004. Judy has taught piano, guitar and accordion in various locations in the Queens area. Judy recently received a Certificate in Church Music from Westminster Conservatory, Princeton, New Jersey.

More information about the 2010 NYC Musical Saw Festival will be added here soon.

Musical saw players wishing to participate:
If you would like to participate as a saw player or as a member of the audience, please contact us through the ‘Contact’ page and send us your name, e-mail address and whether you are a saw player or not.

Last year’s Musical Saw Festival:

The NYC Musical Saw Festival is made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Posted in Musical Saw Festival Announcement No Comments Tags: Astoria, festival, music, musical saw, musicalsaw, nyc, Queens, singing

Musical Saw Festival 2009 in the News

Posted July 23rd, 2009 by

FOX5 TV News at 10 reported on the 7th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival:

They Came, They Sawed, They Conquered

The ensemble begins to play Ave Maria and work toward a Guinness World Record.

By Michelle Nishry
July 30, 2009

The Seventh Annual NYC Musical Saw Festival attracted 55 musical saw players to Astoria on Saturday, July 18. In total, 53 of them played together, attempting to break the Guinness World Record of the “Largest Musical Saw Ensemble.” With the current record set in Poland last year with only 27 musical saw players, it looks like the record is in the festival’s pocket.

At least 350 people packed Trinity Lutheran Church in Long Island City, turning the festival into a standing-room-only event, with audience members resorting to sitting on the floor in front of the first pew. A battery of press personnel flashed cameras and took notes, while FOX5 TV featured the festival on their 10 o’clock news.

Though the festival was scheduled to start at 2 p.m., audience members started filling the church as early as 12:30 p.m., eager to secure themselves a good seat. While waiting for the concert to start, they were able to enjoy the art exhibit featuring paintings and collages by eight artists, all featuring the musical saw, of course. A curator from the Metropolitan Museum of Art perused the art exhibit with evident enthusiasm.

The public portion of the festival lasted four and a half hours, followed by a workshop with the saw players. The concert opened with a presentation of four world premieres commissioned by the festival. Composer Scott R. Munson presented “Quintet” for string quartet and musical saw, and “The World is Too Much With Us,” a setting of William Wordsworth’s poem featuring soprano singer Ilya Speranza with strings and musical saw.

Composer Eyal Bat presented “Canticle of Angels” for two musical saws and piano and “1905,” a piece inspired by an old house built in that year in Astoria. This piece featured the Trinity Handbell Choir, directed by Richard Walker. Playing the musical saw part in all the world premiers was the festival’s founder and director, Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz. To round up her set she also played the duet for cello and musical saw from the 1991 French movie “Delicatessen” with cellist Lawrence Zoernig.

A succession of solos by many, many musical saw players followed, some playing with live accompaniment by harp, piano, guitar, banjo or mandolin. While there were a few pianists who took turns accompanying the different saw-soloists, Heawon Kim, who is on the faculty of the C.W. Post/Long Island University, accompanied quite a few of them.

Four of the sawists attached all sorts of electronic gadgets to their saw, creating loops of sound and distortion causing the saw to sound like an electric guitar.

The youngest musical saw player was 15-year-old Peter Harrison, who came with his grandfather from North Carolina. They both share a passion for playing the musical saw. The oldest were two sawists, one from Pennsylvania, the other from Massachussets – both 83 years young. Musical saw players came from near and far to participate in the festival – two came all the way from Japan, three from Germany, four from Canada, one from Belgium, one from France and the rest from various states.

For the record performance, 53 saw players lined up to put their signature on a document for Guinness, witnessed by two witnesses and a notary public. All 53 of them then proceeded to play the Schubert “Ave Maria,” an eight-minute piece, accompanied by Judy Dimino on church organ and conducted by James Bassi. When they were done the audience roared with delight. The enthusiasm for the new world record was through the roof. At the end of the concert all the saw players played together again. This time it was “Over the Rainbow,” and the players surrounded the church, sitting in the isles all around the audience, creating a true surround-sound experience.

Paruz said that she will send all the evidence to Guinness in London by the end of this month. Once the evidence is received by Guinness, the group will notify her in four to six weeks about the acceptance of the new world record.

The festival, which was supported by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and NY State Council on the Arts, was a huge success. As people left the church some asked the Saw Lady if she gives saw-lessons.

Musical saw festival breaks record

by AnnMarie Costella, Chronicle Contributor

07/23/2009

	The seventh annual NYC Musical Saw Festival in Astoria broke the world record for the most saw players gathered in one place. (photo by Michael O’Kane)

   What is the sound of 53 saws being played at once? It’s more like the twang of a theremin or the glass-shattering octaves of a female soprano than the noise made from cutting wood.

   At New York’s seventh annual Musical Saw Festival, saw enthusiasts from across the globe converged at Trinity Lutheran Church in Astoria to break the Guinness World Record for the most people playing the tool at one time, which was set last year in Poland, when 27 players got together.

   This year’s record-breaking saw orchestra played Shubert’s version of “Ave Maria,” which seemed oddly appropriate and awkwardly beautiful in the context of the church setting.
   “The sound was so incredible. It was a once-in-a-lifetime situation,” Natalia Paruz, the founder and director of the festival, said. “It was a combination of the sound and the visual and the vibration that made it so much fun and so amazing.”
   The saw is played in an unusual manner, bent to a curve and held between the legs. Then a bow similar to that used by a violin player is drawn back and forth across the edge of the “instrument” to create different pitches.
   Each participant at the festival had the opportunity to give a solo performance during which all genres of music — from classical to country and even pop — were played.
   “It gives you a lot of freedom to express yourself musically in a way that a lot of other instruments don’t,” Bill Boyer, a Brooklynite who has been playing the saw for the last 11 years, said. “On the piano, the notes are separated from each other mechanically. On the musical saw, they are all connected. I like that about it.”
   Max Butler of Texas has been playing the saw for 20 years. His instrument is a Stanley brand tool which he purchased at Wal Mart. Butler came to New York specifically for the festival because he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share the stage with 52 other saw players. Back home he says people are intrigued by his hobby.
   “First, they look around to see where that sound is coming from and then when they identify it, they come over and want to know all about it,” he said.
   Alex Kim of New Jersey has played numerous musical instruments including the saxophone, trombone and flute, but he said nothing compares to the saw.
   “It’s very special,” he said. “It is my favorite.”
   In perhaps the most unusual rendition of Michael Jackson’s classic “Beat It” ever performed, Californian Cynthia Weyuker sang and played the saw to the accompaniment of an egg beater’s whirr and a flour sifter’s churn.
   “There are so many fantastic, perfectly in tune, beautiful, technically awesome saw players out there, and they have been playing 20 years longer than me,” she said. “I’ll never catch up, so I’m just sort of making my own thing.”
   Similarly, Ralph Stovesandt of Germany also altered his saw playing by running one cable from the instrument into a sound machine and another into a loop station, creating a kind of electric guitar effect.
   “It was only an experiment,” he said. “I’m a guitar player. I play the blues guitar so I tried to put some pick-ups on the saw. I play the classical saw too.”
   Arthur Doerksen of Canada, who rides a unicycle in addition to his musical endeavors, took up saw playing at the request of his wife.
   “She told me that if I was going to marry her, I would have to pick up a musical instrument of some sort,” he explained. “I figured that besides a triangle or a harmonica, this was easiest I could go and the cheapest I could go.”
   Thirty-five years later, he still feels like he made the right decision.
   Although the saw festival lasted over four hours, the audience remained captivated throughout the event.
   “It was wonderful,” Ellie Moss of Australia, said. “I really liked the classical pieces.”
   “I found it mind bending,” Carl Barnett of Rego Park said. “It really ran the gamut. Some people didn’t need accompaniment and others sounded like a science fiction movie.”

Photographer: Pat Merino

They came, they sawed, they conquered!
Jul 29, 2009

slideshow

The 7th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival attracted 55 musical saw players to Astoria on Saturday, July 18. Of those, 53 played together, attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Musical Saw Ensemble.

Over 350 people packed Trinity Lutheran Church LIC, turning the festival into a standing room-only event, with audience resorting to sitting on the floor in front of the first pew. Though the festival was scheduled to start at 2 p.m., audience members started filling the church as early as 12:30 p.m., eager to secure themselves a good seat.

The youngest musical saw player was 15-year-old Peter Harrison, who came with his grandfather from North Carolina. Musical saw players came from all over the country and globe to participate, including two from Japan, three from Germany, four from Canada, one from Belgium, and one from France.

Fifty-three saw players lined up to put their signature on a document for Guinness, and then proceeded to play “Ave Maria” ccompanied by Judy Dimino on church organ and conducted by James Bassi.

Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz, the festival's founder and director, said she will send all the evidence to Guinness in London by the end of this month. Once the evidence is received by Guinness, they will notify her in four to six weeks about the acceptance of the new world record. The current record was set in Poland last year with 27 musical saw players, meaning the Astoria even is likely a new world record.

Videos from the festival can be viewed here.

Photographer: Harris Graber

Posted in Newspaper Articles 2 Comments Tags: festival, Guinness, music, musical, musical saw, musicalsaw, saw, singing, singing saw

Musical Saw Festival 2009

Posted January 5th, 2009 by

When: Saturday, July 18th, 2009, 2pm
Where: Trinity Church, 31-18 37th Street (37th Street at 31st Avenue), Astoria, NY

How to get there:
* ‘R’ subway train to Queens: Get off at the Steinway St, Station. Exit near intersection of Broadway and Steinway Street. Walk (2 blocks) west on Broadway towards 38th street. Turn right onto 37th St. Church is at the end of the block.
* ‘N’ or ‘W’ subway train to Queens: Get off at the ‘Broadway’ stop. Walk on Broadway to 37th street (6 blocks). Turn left onto 37th street. Church is at the end of the block.
View Larger Map

Admission: $10

What:
NATALIA ‘SAW LADY’ PARUZ, founder & organizer of the Musical Saw Festival, will present the musical saw as an ensemble instrument in contemporary, jazz, pop, world-music/new-age music, with participation of a string quartet, soprano singer, percussion, bass and a handbell choir.

* World premier of 4 new compositions for the musical saw by composers Scott R. Munson and Eyal Bat, commissioned for the Musical Saw Festival.

* A musical saw art exhibit

* Solos by saw players from around the world

* The ‘Chorus of the Saws’ (all participating musical saw players playing together, accompanied by church organ and piano) – attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest Musical Saw Ensemble’. The current world record (set in Poland last year) is 27 musical saw players playing together.

* Musical saw workshop
 

 

The musical saw player who travels the farthest in order to attend the festival is considered the “guest of honor”. So far we have confirmation of participation from musical saw player Kazu from Japan. Unless a musical saw player who travels a larger amount of mileage to attend the festival appears – it seems Kazu will be the “guest of honor” this year.

Non musical saw musicians participating in the festival:

TRINITY HANDBELL CHOIR, directed by Richard Walker

ILYA SPERANZA (soprano) is a graduate of The New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School. She recently appeared in the world premiere of Robert Kapilow’s New Moon with the New Jersey State Opera in which she sang the role of the “Royal Mathematician” and “Barbara de la Guerra” in Victor Herbert’s only opera, Natoma at the White Barn Theater in Westport, CT.
Ms. Speranza created the title role in Seymour Barab’s opera Ondine for The Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City and sang “Marenka” in Smetana’s Bartered Bride with The State Repertory Opera of New Jersey. She has also toured with the New York City Opera National Company singing “Frasquita” in Bizet’s Carmen.
Other regional appearances include “Liu” (Turandot) and “Frasquita”, both with the Cincinnati Opera, “Elisetta” (Il Matrimonio Segreto) with Berkshire Opera and “Naiade” (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Long Beach Opera.
She has appeared as a featured soloist with the Lake Charles and Alexandria Symphony Orchestras, the Summit Symphony, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, Bucks County Symphony and Brookhaven Choral Society.
Her most recent performances include a recital of American and German music at the Baroque Concert Hall in Vienna’s Altes Rauthaus and the world premiere of a new American Opera, “A.F.R.A.I.D.” at the New York Fringe Festival.

LAWRENCE ZOERNIG (cello), holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Zoernig has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and in concerts in Hawaii, Brazil, and throughout Europe. He was a featured performer at the World’s Fair in Seville, Spain, and has performed with members of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. Mr. Zoernig performed the New York premiere of the Concertino for Cello and Orchestra by Lars-Erik Larsson with the Scandia Symphony in 2004, and recently performed for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He has performed with such artists and groups as the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the David Parsons Dance Company, clarinetist Charles Neidich, and violinists Nina Bellina, Sidney Harth, and Mark Peskanov. Mr. Zoernig is on the faculty of the Sylvan Academy of Music in New Jersey.

KAREN ROSTRON (violin), As concertmaster of the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra (MCO) and principal violinist of the Manhattan Chamber Players for 15 years, she has participated in over 100 premiere performances in New York City, and over 30 CD recordings. She also appears regularly in New York City as soloist and chamber musician, is a principal guest artist at the Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and tours extensively throughout the United States and internationally.
Recent New York performances in Weill and Merkin Halls, Symphony Space, and Trinity Church. She is currently working on her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Graduate Center – CUNY. Ms. Rostron is on the faculty of the Precollege Division of the Manhattan School of Music, where she received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

MUNE TAKAHASHI (violin), Mune Takahashi received his Bachelor’s degree from Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo with the top honors in Performance studying under Koichiro Harada, founder of the Tokyo String Quartet and received a Master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music.
As an active professional musician, he has participated in more than 250 soundtracks, albums, commercials, and TV shows. He recently was invited to the Asago Music Festival (Japan), where his chamber music concert was well received.
He has participated in festivals such as the Pacific Music Festival, Miyazaki International Music Festival, Kurashiki Music Festival, and the Takefu International Music Festival. He has worked with many conductors such as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Fabio Luisi, Jun Mearkl, Christopher Seaman, Jerzy Semkov and Edo de Waart.
Mune Takahashi was concertmaster of the Toho Orchestra Academy, guest concertmaster of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and associate concertmaster of the Pacific Music Festival Academy Orchestra. He also played with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as Orchestra Studies Diploma Fellow of the Eastman School of Music.

ZAKARIA ENIKEEV (viola), Zakaria Enikeev is the first-ever violist in South of Russia who won an International String Competition Award. In the age of sixteen he gave his first recital with the Rostov Symphony Orchestra conducted by A.S. Mileikovsky, the People’s Artist of Russia. Later on Zakaria often performed as the soloist with the orchestra, playing works of Hummel, Weber, and Bartok. Now Zakaria studies at the Juilliard School. As a soloist and as a chamber musician, Mr. Enikeev has been performing in the most prestigious concert halls of New York, including Alice Tully Hall, Paul Hall, Merkin Hall and Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall. Zakaria Enikeev has served as principal violist of the Juilliard Orchestra on many occasions. Nina Beilina, an eminent Russian violinist, once said about Zakaria Enikeev: “Not only has the young musician a great technique and a command of various styles, he is truly in love with his instrument. You can feel the charm of a refined artistic individuality in his manner.” Awards, honorary titles: Second Prize of the Togliatti International String Competition (Russia, 2002) and the Governor’s Prize For Great Success in Arts and Culture. Finalist of the Stulberg International String Competition (USA, 2003); awarded the Russian Federation Governmental scholarship program For Outstanding Creative Abilities.

JUDY DIMINO (organist/pianist) is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, serving in the choir, the handbell choir, as an assisting minister, and as a substitute organist. Judy is a graduate of Queens College, now known as the Aaron Copland School of Music, with a B.A. in Music Education.
Judy was a pianist for the Committee Of Police Societies Chorus and Runner-Up in the International Piano Recording Competition 1982 She received the Presiding Bishop’s Certificate of Church Music from the Leadership Program for Musicians at The Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, Long Island in 2004. Judy has taught piano, guitar and accordion in various locations in the Queens area. Judy recently received a Certificate in Church Music from Westminster Conservatory, Princeton, New Jersey.
 
JAMES BASSI (conductor) is a composer, pianist and music director. His music direction credits include James Lapine’s Twelve Dreams at Lincoln Center Theater, and Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at White Plains Performing Arts Center. In concerts he has played for Ute Lemper, Deborah Voigt, Judy Kaye, and Jessye Norman. A versatile composer, James’ works have been performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His compositions have been commissioned and premiered by many esteemed ensembles, including Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Voices of Ascension. He has received composiiton grants from NEA, Meet The Composer and New York Foundation for the Arts. His music publisher is Oxford University Press.

HEAWON KIM (pianist) began her auspicious studies in her native Korea and by the age of seven had already performed with the Korea Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic. She was renowned as the winner of many competitions in Korea and was frequently heard on the radio and seen on television. She appeared yearly with its major orchestras as soloist. She was a winner of the Vittorio Giannini Award and the Southeastern Music Teachers Competition. After her studies at the Mannes College of Music Ms. Kim went on to earn her Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music.
Ms. Kim has performed as soloist with many regional orchestras and noted New York chamber groups such as Pierrot Consort, Colonial Symphony, Rosewood Chamber Ensemble, Bronx Arts Ensemble, New York Virtuosi, Garrett Lakes Festival Orchestra, and North Shore Symphony Orchestra. She is in demand as a major partner for such international artists as Erick Friedman, Sanford Allen, Dennis Brott, and Marion Davies, among others, appearing frequently in important New York venues. As the pianist of many master classes of Erick Friedman, Janos Starker, Josef Gingold, Franco Gulli, and Tibor Varga, she has command of an unusual amount of instrumental repertoire. Ms. Kim recently joined the faculty of the C.W.Post/Long Island University for an innovative program in instrumental coaching and has been on the faculty of the C. W. Post Summer Chamber Music Festival since 1990.
 

The art exhibition includes art work by:

Aaron Porter, Jamie Isenstein, Heidi Younger, Zina Saunders, Young Joo, Victor Kerlow, Max Butler, Barrett Cobb

Musical saw workshop:
Open to saw players only (not open to the public at large).
Musical saw player Adam Wirtzfeld of MN will teach the technique of Multiphonics – playing two notes at once on the saw, using overtones.
The workshop will take place after the concert.
 
NYC Musical Saw Festival souvenir T-shirts will be available for purchase – $20 each.
 

More details coming soon.

Video excerpts from the 2008 NYC Musical Saw Festival:

Musical saw players wishing to participate:
If you would like to participate as a saw player or as a member of the audience, please send me your name, e-mail address and whether you are a saw player or not.
Please send an e-mail with the subject line of ‘Musical Saw Festival’ to: SawLady [at] SawLady [dot] com
 
The NYC Musical Saw Festival is made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and Thrivent Financial.

Posted in Musical Saw Festival Announcement 2 Comments Tags: Astoria, festival, ILYA SPERANZA, JAMES BASSI, KAREN ROSTRON, LAWRENCE ZOERNIG, Mune Takahashi, musical saw, nyc, singing, ZAKARIA ENIKEEV

Musical Saw Players Reactions to the 2008 Festival

Posted December 31st, 2008 by

Dear Natalia,
It has been 1 1/2 weeks since the saw festival and I’m still excited about having attended it and about participating in the group songs. The day with all its activities was more than I expected. Thank you for putting the festival together. You did an excellent job. Your accompaniment with the vocalist and the musicians in the first part of the program was truly inspiring and is an example of what can be accomplished with the saw. Each of the participants gave me some insight about style of playing and the type of songs that I might attempt to play. I enjoyed talking with other players about their saws, their bows, their cases, their rosins, their books, etc. Each was willing to share information and seemed excited talking about all of that. Although i was unable to stay until the workshop ended, I gained valuable information on how to play better and get improved sound for my saw with using less bow action. Her suggestions for me were useable and have given an immediate positive impact on my playing.
Thank you again for a wonderful day. I will plan to attend again next year.
Best wishes,
Stewart W.
Lebanon, PA

 

hi Natalia……………this is Paul….met you at the festival and played Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring…………………….thanks for a great experience….i realize i am definitely self-taught……….thank you very much; Natalia. Happy Sawing; my friend,
paul k./northeast PA

 

Natalia:
BRAVO!!! The Festival was both entertaining and inspiring. What a wonderful atmosphere. The church really expressed the beauty of the saw as a musical instrument.
You really did a wonderful job.
Bob H.
Cinnaminson, NJ

 

Hey Natalia,
Thanx again for going to all the hard work and effort for putting on this festival. It was so great to finally meet you in person and also be amongst the other saw players. It was a real treat to meet a few like minded players and just talk saw stuff and compare notes with people who have the peculiar interest of the musical saw. I was really impressed at the level of playing by a lot of people and it was cool to see how other people approach it.
I really enjoyed all of your performances especially the collaborations with Scott but I have to admit a weakness for that Satie piece you did. With the handbells it was really enchanting.
I appreciate your kind words about my solo part. I can’t say I’m completely satisfied with what I did but I’m glad I did it. It gave me something to think about.
And thanx also for send the pictures. I guess I need to learn to smile while I’m playing.
We just got home from New York yesterday evening . We drove back by way of friends and relatives in Virginia and North Carolina. After a week and a half of pounding the pavement in New York and sleeping in strange beds followed by three days of driving we were beat. Then I had practice tonight with my band. We have a show this Saturday. So I haven’t had time or energy to download..or is it upload the pictures I took at the fest but they will be coming your way soon.
Thanx once again for the festival,
terry “SawTrouble” b.

 

Hi Natalia:
It was a work of art. I posted a review in my blog. Here’s part:
“BTW, the Saw Festival was a GAS!!! The audience was relatively large for something like this (and responsive), Natalia Paruz (AND Scott Munson) put on a musically interesting and professional event, and I met a bunch of very interesting, eccentric “Sawists” (but with my head, I’ll never remember their names, so if we talked and you see this, drop me a line.)” BTW, I heard the 5th Annual chorus of saws on Youtube, playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, and I can’t wait until somebody posts the 6th Annual so I can compare them! I did speak to the guy who was recording the concert and he said that he would give me a copy of my performance. I would gladly reimburse him for a record of my performance, (lame as it was). Happy sawing!!! Talk to ya…. Doc George

 

Dear Natalia:
This was my first musical saw festival and it was great! It was great because of your super planning and skills of communication. Your directions from Oakland, New Jersey were excellent and I found a parking space only one block from the church. And, the most exciting part was that I met, after 25 years, my first and only musical saw teacher, Moses. Moses looked well and he still plays a great saw. Moses only gave me one lesson but it started me on an enjoyable musical saw past-time. Now, I should take a few lessons from a New Jersey saw player to pick up some sawing techniques. After observing players like Moses , Irving, Nick, and yourself, i am now committed to improving my playing. Again, Natalia, you are to be commended for your effort and coordination in bringing together some great saw players for all of us to enjoy. You and others have encouraged and motivated us to continue playing and improve. Many thanks and God Bless You.
Roger M.
P.S. Your articles and pictures in the Saw Players News has helped me to learn, not only about great saw players throughout the world, but important techniques and hints on how to play. Thanks again.

 

Dear Natalia,
It was fun to see you again today – thanks again for all you do. I heard some comments similar to what I was thinking last year – that because the saw is mostly a self-taught instrument, an occasion like this is one of the only ways many of us see how other people play and negotiate some of the playing “challenges”. It’s fun and instructive to see how others approach the same situations differently, but successfully.
By the way, I arrived late, so I didn’t hear any “beforehand” comments or instructions (I hope it never takes me 2 1/2 hours to get to Astoria again…), and I forgot to ask later about the status of the e-book you mentioned earlier in the season. How is the progress on that? One more thing: I was asking Francoise about something, and I thought I’d ask you also. I’ve been playing around with trying to minimize bow-noise, and one of the things that works for me sometimes is to bow “at speed” (to do a quick bowstroke on the already-vibrating saw) and also use the edge of the bow hairs. Have you worked on this at all and found success? Francoise was saying that it also helps to “play out” and that this can deaccentuate the bow noise in comparison to the full sound. I also prefer a full sound, like in singing, so maybe that is also helping me at the times I’ve been successful in keeping the noise down. What do you think about it all?
Thanks always,
Gregory N.
NJ

Non-Musical Saw Players Participants:

I enjoyed the festival – must say, have never been involved in anything quite like it!
hope yu have a great summer!!!!!
Ilya S.
soprano singer

 

Natalia and Scott,
    I wanted to thank you again for being such wonderful and supportive colleagues! I had a great time performing with you, and look forward to hearing more performances and more new music.
I hope you’ve been having a wonderful and interesting summer, and that all left arms are back to full working order. I’ll keep an ear out for you, and I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Seth
bariton singer

Reaction of a person in the audience (not a musical saw player):
WFMU Radio DJ Brownwyn’s list of best 10 things of 2008 featured the NYC Musical Saw Festival as number 2!
“The NYC Musical Saw Festival. I’ll say it again: Hearing Satie’s ‘Gymnopedie’ played by a musical saw and a handbell choir was one of the highpoints of my life. Seriously. The piece for musical saw and Japanese music box by Scott R. Munson was outstanding, too. ”

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/01/pretty-good-the.html

Posted in Musical Saw Players Reactions No Comments Tags: festival, musical saw, player, playing

Musical Saw Festival 2008 in the News

Posted December 31st, 2008 by

July 30th, 2008

Musical Saw Festival Held In Astoria

Trinity Handbell Choir with Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz.

For the past six years, in July, afficionados of the musical saw come out for the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival.

Thirty musical saw players came from as far away as Germany, Canada, Georgia, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York to Trinity Lutheran Church in Long Island City. WFMU Radio DJ Bronwyn C said, “[This was] the concert of the summer. The idea of a musical saw backed up by a handbell choir makes the top of my head blow off”.

The festival featured an eclectic mix of sonic sounds. A trio of New York City saw players opened the festival with a hymn accompanied by organist Judy Dimino. The festival’s founder and director, Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz, presented the educational segment of the festival, featuring the musical saw as an ensemble instrument in Donizetti’s opera “Lucia di Lammermoor”, with singer Ilya Speranza and pianist Arielle Levioff artistic director of the Queens Goliard ensemble, followed by a contemporary piece by Queens composer Scott R. Munson, with Seth Gilman, baritone.

“Chorus of the Saws”, consisting of 30 saw players led by Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz.

The Trinity Handbell Choir, directed by Richard Walker, joined Paruz in a rendition of Satie’s “Gymnopedie” followed by the world premiere of a piece for musical saw and Japanese music box by composer Scott R. Munson. Paruz played an amplified old music box which played a traditional Japanese koto song, weaving the sound of the musical saw along the decelerating melody of the music box.

A succession of saw players followed, each presenting music of different styles, from classical to blues, gospel, folk, contemporary and avant-guard. The audience got to witness the use of different types of saws, played in different techniques, some with bows or mallets and others using electronic effects. The “Chorus of the Saws”, which featured all 30 saw players playing together, received a standing ovation.

Different artists also treated the audience to an art exhibit featuring many paintings, all depicting the musical saw. Joe Pecknic, a curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, took photos of the exhibited artwork. Of particular interest an oscillating fan blowing air into bottles creating the effect of a mysterious jug band accompanied a video installation by Jamie Isenstine, featuring a headless magician playing the saw. A clown and vaudevillian act also played saws.

The festival, which was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, concluded with a workshop. New Jersey saw player Gregory Newton said, “Because the saw is mostly a self-taught instrument, an occasion like this is one of the only ways many of us see how other people play and negotiate some of the playing challenges. It’s fun and instructive to see how others approach the same situations differently, but successfully.” Bob Heliger, also from New Jersey, said, “The festival was both entertaining and inspiring. What a wonderful atmosphere. The church really expressed the beauty of the saw as a musical instrument.” Associated Press TV filmed the festival for worldwide broadcast.

Posted in Newspaper Articles No Comments Tags: Astoria, festival, musical saw, Natalia Paruz, nyc

Musical Saw Festival 2008

Posted December 30th, 2008 by

When: Saturday, July 5th, 2008, 2pm
Where: Trinity Church, 31-18 37th Street (37th Street at 31st Avenue), Astoria, NY

How to get there:
* ‘R’ subway train to Queens: Get off at the Steinway St, Station. Exit near intersection of Broadway and Steinway Street. Walk (2 blocks) west on Broadway towards 38th street. Turn right onto 37th St. Church is at the end of the block.
* ‘N’ or ‘W’ subway train to Queens: Get off at the ‘Broadway’ stop. Walk on Broadway to 37th street (6 blocks). Turn left onto 37th street. Church is at the end of the block.

Admission: $10

What: This is the 6th year Paruz is organizing the Musical Saw Festival in Queens. The festival brings together musical saw players from all over NYC, the US and abroad. Astoria has become a pilgrimage place for saw players from such far away countries as China, Japan, India and Canada. The festival enables saw players to meet other saw players and hear them play, perform solos and jam with others, learn about different types of saws and discover different techniques of playing – all in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. The festival is open to the public at large who can learn about the musical saw and enjoy a unique concert featuring the angelic sounds of the musical saw. Another part of the festival is an art exhibit featuring the musical saw.

NATALIA ‘SAW LADY’ PARUZ, founder & organizer of the Musical Saw Festival, will present the musical saw as an ensemble instrument, with participation of 2 singers, a pianist, an organist and a handbell choir

* World premier of a new composition for the musical saw by composer Scott R. Munson, commissioned for the Musical Saw Festival

* A musical saw art exhibit including paintings and a video art installation

* Solos by saw players from around the world

* The ‘Chorus of the Saws’ (all participating musical saw players playing together, accompanied by church organ and piano);

* Guest of honor NICK BARDACH, a musical saw player from Germany, will give a presentation spoofing classical music with the saw:
NICHOLAS BARDACH studied timpani and percussion in Toronto/Canada, Brussels/Belgium and Cologne/Germany. Associate principal timpanist and percussionist of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra since 1978 and teacher of percussion at the State Music Academy in Aachen. (Almost) self-taught to play the musical saw (learning by doing) initially through contacts with contemporary music.
He is in high demand in symphonic orchestras as a specialist for musical saw. He has performed in such orchestras as NDR Radio Orchestra Hamburg, Philharmonisches Orchester Essen, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, WDR-Radio-Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Musikfabrik-NRW, Duisburger Sinfoniker and under such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Hans Zender, Leif Segerstam, Johannes Kalitzke, Steven Sloane, Roland Kluttig.
Meanwhile he has a complete show of comic arrangements which ridicule “classical music” and “classical musicians”. His repertoire also includes original works for musical saw of a more serious nature, not only contemporary music but original compositions from pre-war France. Composers have written specially for him and his instrument. He has performed extensively in western Germany and has appeared on Pro-7 German television.

Non musical saw musicians participating in the festival:

ILYA SPERANZA (soprano) is a graduate of The New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School. She recently appeared in the world premiere of Robert Kapilow’s New Moon with the New Jersey State Opera in which she sang the role of the “Royal Mathematician” and “Barbara de la Guerra” in Victor Herbert’s only opera, Natoma at the White Barn Theater in Westport, CT.
Ms. Speranza created the title role in Seymour Barab’s opera Ondine for The Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City and sang “Marenka” in Smetana’s Bartered Bride with The State Repertory Opera of New Jersey. She has also toured with the New York City Opera National Company singing “Frasquita” in Bizet’s Carmen.
Other regional appearances include “Liu” (Turandot) and “Frasquita”, both with the Cincinnati Opera, “Elisetta” (Il Matrimonio Segreto) with Berkshire Opera and “Naiade” (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Long Beach Opera.
She has appeared as a featured soloist with the Lake Charles and Alexandria Symphony Orchestras, the Summit Symphony, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, Bucks County Symphony and Brookhaven Choral Society.
Her most recent performances include a recital of American and German music at the Baroque Concert Hall in Vienna’s Altes Rauthaus and the world premiere of a new American Opera, “A.F.R.A.I.D.” at the New York Fringe Festival.

ARIELLE LEVIOFF (pianist) ia a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, has appeared as a soloist at Bargemusic in Brooklyn, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. She also has performed at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and the French Embassy in Washington D.C. A past participant at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, Ms. Levioff is especially known for her creative programming and specialization in the French piano repertoire of the 19th and early 20th centuries. She is the artistic director of Goliard Concerts, an organization based in Astoria, Queens which includes a full concert series each season, an annual Southeastern tour, as well as numerous educational programs and community outreach concerts. Ms. Levioff is currently on the faculty of the 92nd Street Y. She is a Yamaha artist.

SETH GILMAN (baritone) is currently freelancing in New York City, and frequently performs within the new and early music communities there. A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Mannes College of Music, he lists among his teachers Stephen Lusmann, Susan Ormont, Arthur Levy, and Tom Goodheart.
Twice an alumnus of the Amherst Early Music Festival, in 2007 Mr. Gilman sang the role of Giove in Cavalli’s La Calisto and performed two roles in Campra’s L’Europe Galante in 2006. Other mainstage roles have included Chato in La Purpura de la Rosa, Liberto in the University of Michigan’s production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Starveling in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Past festivals at which Mr. Gilman has performed include The Aspen Music Festival, Opera Lirica di Orvieto, the Seagle Music Colony, and the Caramoor Festival Young Artists’ Program. Also experienced in operetta through engagements and recordings with the Comic Opera Guild of Ann Arbor, he can be heard in recordings supported by the Victor Herbert Society. In 2005, Seth sang the premiere of Osnat Netzer’s Three Animal Songs, and of Lin Mu-Xuan’s Swimming the Hellespont zhi San this April in Boston. He looks forward to debuting with his historical instrument and vocal ensemble, Ex Temporis, in the fall, a concert, which will include new works by Eric Shanfield, among others.

Christian Nagel (pianist) born in Kiel, Germany, started playing the piano at the age of five. At the renowned Folkwang Music College he studied piano with Catherine Vickers and music theory with Wolfgang Grandjean. Since his praised final exam in 1999, he has been working as a freelance pianist, accompanist, choir master, conductor, composer and improvisor in all kinds of musical genres ranging from the classical to contemporary, from jazz to Gospel music.
Christian Nagel has been performing in many countries including Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the USA, Hawaii, England, France and Austria.

TRINITY HANDBELL CHOIR, directed by Richard Walker

JUDY DIMINO (organist) is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, serving in the choir, the handbell choir, as an assisting minister, and as a substitute organist. Judy is a graduate of Queens College, now known as the Aaron Copland School of Music, with a B.A. in Music Education.
Judy was a pianist for the Committee Of Police Societies Chorus and Runner-Up in the International Piano Recording Competition 1982 She received the Presiding Bishop’s Certificate of Church Music from the Leadership Program for Musicians at The Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, Long Island in 2004. Judy has taught piano, guitar and accordion in various locations in the Queens area. Judy recently received a Certificate in Church Music from Westminster Conservatory, Princeton, New Jersey.

The art exhibition includes art work by:

Jamie Isenstein – video installation titled ‘Acéphal Magical’
Heidi Younger, Zina Saunders, Young Joo, Aaron Porter, Jamie Isenstein – paintings

Musical saw players wishing to participate:
If you would like to participate as a saw player or as a member of the audience, please send me your name, e-mail address and whether you are a saw player or not.

History of the NYC Musical Saw Festival:
Past guests of honor at the Musical Saw Festival:
A tradition which has evolved at the Musical Saw Festival over the years is that the sawist traveling the farthest in order to attend is considered the ‘guest of honor’.
2003 Musical Saw Festival – Mr. Weiss, musical saw player from California
2004 Musical Saw Festival – Mr. Kawagoochi, musical saw player from Japan
2005 Musical Saw Festival – Mr. Minden, musical saw player from Canada
2006 Musical Saw Festival – Mr. Gershom, musical saw player from India
2007 Musical Saw Festival – Mr. Chen, musical saw player from China

Video of part of the “Chorus of the Saws” – a jam-session like (non-rehearsed) performance where all the musical saw players participating in the Musical Saw Festival play together:

Contact the organizer of the Musical Saw Festival:

Please send an e-mail with the subject line of ‘Musical Saw Festival’ to: SawLady at SawLady dot com

The NYC Musical Saw Festival is made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Posted in Musical Saw Festival Announcement No Comments Tags: festival, musical saw, nyc

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