74TH SEASON

OF CONCERTS

MARCH 6, 2016 • NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
Photo by Edward Webb

2 • Naticmal Gallery of Art

3:30 • West Building, West Garden Court

Avi Avital, mandolin

Ksenija Sidorova, accordion

Itamar Doari, percussion

Between Worlds

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)

Prelude and Allegro

Traditional Turkish 

Nacyem Nacyem

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Sonata in G Major, BWV

Allegro

Traditional Israeli

Mi Yitneni Of

J. S. Bach

Overture in the French Style, BWV 831

Sarabande

Itamar Doari (b. 1985)

Improvisation

J.S. Bach

Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004

Giga

Sulkhan Tsintsadze (1925-1991) 

"Miniatures" based on Georgian 

Folk Themes

Intermission

Bela Bartok (1881 -1945)

Romanian Folk Dances

"Jocul cu Bata"

"Braul"

"Pe Loc"

"Buciumeana"

“Poarga Romaneasca"

"Maruntel"

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)

Sette Canzoni Popolari Spagnole

"El Pano Moruno"

"Seguidilla Murciana"

"Asturiana"

"Jota"

"Nana"

"Cancion”

"Polo”

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5

Aria (Cantilena)

Nikolai Budashkin (1910-1988)

Concerto in A Minor

74th Season • 3
The Musicians

Avi Avital

Acknowledged by the New York Times for his "exquisitely sensitive playing" and "stunning

agility," GRAMMY-nominated mandolinist Avi Avital is one of the world's most exciting

and adventurous musicians. He is deeply committed to building a fresh legacy for the

mandolin through virtuosic performance in a range of genres and to commissioning new

works for mandolin.

Avital is the first mandolin player to receive a GRAMMY nomination in the category

"Best Instrumental Soloist" for his recording of Avner Dorman's Mandolin Concerto. He has

won numerous competitions and awards including Germany's ECHO Prize for his 2008 

recording with the David Orlowsky Trio and the Aviv Competition, the preeminent national

competition for Israeli soloists.

Born in Be'er Sheva, southern Israel, in 1978, he began learning the mandolin at the

age of eight and soon joined the flourishing mandolin youth orchestra founded and directed

by his charismatic teacher, Russian-born violinist Simcha Nathanson. He later graduated

from the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padua, Italy,

where he studied the original mandolin repertoire with Ugo Orlandi.

Avital has released various recordings in the disparate genres of klezmer, baroque,

and contemporary classical music. He now records exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon, and his debut release featured his own transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach's

concertos for harpsichord and violin. His second disc Between Worlds introduced chamber

music compositions from Ernest Bloch and Manuel de Falla to traditional Bulgarian folk

tunes and was released in 2014 to critical acclaim.

Ksenija Sidorova

Praised as "superbly subtle and virtuosic" by the Arts Desk, Ksenija Sidorova is the leading 

ambassador for the accordion. Encouraged to take up the instrument by a grandmother

steeped in the folk tradition of accordion playing, Sidorova started to play the instrument at

age eight, under the guidance of Marija Gasele in her hometown of Riga, Latvia. Her quest 

for more exposure to both classical and contemporary repertoire took her to London where

she became a prize-winning undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under 

Owen Murray.

In 2009, Sidorova made her debut at London's Wigmore Hall and appeared in the

Park Lane Group Young Artists Showcase, prompting the London Times to single her out

as"one of the real finds of the series." In 2012, she became the first international award 

winner of the Bryn Terfel Foundation, and this year she appears at the Royal Albert Hall

as part of his fiftieth birthday celebrations, alongside Sting.

4 • National Gallery of Art

Itamar Doari

Itamar Doari was born in Israel and began his musical training when he was six years old.

He studied traditional percussion instruments, such as the frame drum, dumbec, riq, and

more. His musical education included private lessons with some of the greatest experts in

hand-drums and percussion from Israel and beyond, including Zohar Fresco, Glen Velez,

Salem Darwish, and Ahmed Taher. Doari graduated from Klor Music School with honors, 

and by the age of seventeen he was playing and touring internationally at renowned concert

halls and festivals. Doari has received worldwide recognition for his unique sound, his gifted

use of diverse percussion instruments, and his collaborations with artists from different

styles and origins. Doari is a winner of the America-lsrael Foundation scholarship and has

worked with the eminent artists Avishai Cohen, Yasmin Levy, Idan Raichel, Shem Tov Levy,

Omar Faruk Tekbilek, and Amal Murkus.

74th Season • 5
Upcoming events of the Seventy- General Information

Fourth Season of The William

Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot

Belin Concerts

Fry Street Quartet

Music by Amy Beach, Laura Kaminsky,

Libby Larsen, and Joan Tower. Presented

in honor of Women's History Month

March 13, Sunday, 3:30

West Building, West Garden Court

COMMEMORATING THE

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART'S

75TH ANNIVERSARY

US Air Force Band Airmen of Note Combo

March 17, Thursday, 12:10,1:10, and 2:10

West Building, East Garden Court

"The President's Own'' Marine

Chamber Orchestra

March 18, Friday, 12:00 and 2:00

West Building, West Garden Court

US Navy Band Sea Chanters

March 19, Saturday, 3:00

West Building, West Garden Court

US Army Chorus and Brass Quintet

March 20, Sunday, 3:30

West Building, West Garden Court

Rachel Barton Pine

Complete Bach Sonatas and

Partitas for solo violin

March 27, Sunday, 2:00 and 3:30

West Building, West Garden Court

Admission to the National Gallery of Art

and all of its programs is free of charge,

except as noted.

The use of cameras or recording equipment

during the performance is not allowed.

Please be sure that all portable electronic

devices are turned off.

Concerts are made possible in part 

through the generosity of donors to the 

National Gallery of Art through The Circle.

Reserved seating is available in recognition 

of their support. Please contact the

development office at (202) 842-6450 or 

circle@nga.gov for more information.

www.nga.gov

www.instagram.com/ngadc

www.twitter.com/ngadc

www.facebook.com/nationalgalleryofart

The department of music produced these

program notes. Copyright © 2016 Board of

Trustees, National Gallery ofArt, Washington

Cover Georges Braque, Fruit, Glass, and

Mandolin (detail), 1938, National Gallery of Art,

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

Back cover West Building, East Garden 

Court, Photo by Rob Shelley, National Gallery

of Art, Washington