Inbal Segev: 20 for 2020 Volume IV Inbal Segev

• Molly Joyce (b. 1992): It Has Not Taken Long For You To Break for Cello and Electronics:
• 1 Joyce: It Has Not Taken Long For You To Break for Cello and Electronics 06:09
• Between The Worlds for Piano Trio:
• 2 Between The Worlds for Piano Trio 07:21
• La Hija Del Neón for Cello, Piano and Electric Guitar:
• 3 La Hija Del Neón for Cello, Piano and Electric Guitar 05:53
• Immanuel Wilkins (b. 1998): Exhale for Solo Cello:
• 4 Wilkins: Exhale for Solo Cello 05:58
• Stewart Goodyear (b. 1978): The Kapok for Cello and Piano:
• 5 Goodyear: The Kapok for Cello and Piano 05:35
• Total Runtime 30:56

Info for Inbal Segev: 20 for 2020 Volume IV

When cellist Inbal Segev conceived 20 for 2020, her ambitious commissioning project in response to the extraordinary events experienced since the pandemic outbreak and social unrest of 2020, she could not have foreseen the immense range of musical imagination from the 20 composers she asked to write works for her.

The fourth and final digital EP in the series carries the torch of transcendence: electro-acoustic, extended techniques, multiple instruments, overdubbing, and genre-fluidity all work their way into the multi-cultural canon that Inbal has inspired.

Volume IV of 20 for 2020 opens with It has not taken long by Molly Joyce, ‘one of the most versatile, prolific, and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome,’ (The Washington Post). Layered cellos and electronics highlight Inbal’s intensely lyrical and melodic playing, and the juxtaposition of new technology with Inbal’s Ruggieri cello built in 1673.

The orient and occident coalesce in Dance Between the Worlds, a piano trio by Arab-Jewish pianist-improvisor and composer Camille El Bacha in which heady rhythms support expressive melody.

Oscar Bettison’s La hija del neón (“The Daughter of Neon”), for cello, piano and electric guitar, is a chamber concerto inspired by ideas of interference and the distorted buzz of old neon signs. Quarter tones, special effects, polyrhythms, and non-traditional effects all integrate seamlessly.

Ground-breaking saxophonist, composer, educator, and bandleader Immanuel Wilkins composed Exhale for solo cello during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Technically challenging, the work nevertheless feels improvisatory and flows beautifully.

Pianist-composer Stewart Goodyear turned to Trinidadian folklore for The Kapok, inspired by a tree referred to as “The Castle of the Devil”. His collaboration with Inbal channels into a work that is devilish and defiant, yet ultimately hopeful and optimistic.

Inbal Segev, cello
Camille El Bacha, piano (track 2)
Conrad Tao, piano (track 3)
Stewart Goodyear, piano (track 5)
Jennifer Frautschi, violin (track 2)
Oren Fader, electric guitar (track 3)

Inbal Segev
is “a cellist with something to say” (Gramophone). Combining rich tone and technical mastery with rare dedication and intelligence, she has appeared with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony, collaborating with such prominent conductors as Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Lorin Maazel, Cristian Măcelaru and Zubin Mehta. Committed to reinvigorating the cello repertoire, she has commissioned new works from Timo Andres, Avner Dorman, Gity Razaz, Dan Visconti and Anna Clyne. Recorded with Alsop and the London Philharmonic for Avie Records, Segev’s 2020 premiere recording of Clyne’s new cello concerto, DANCE, was an instant success, topping the Amazon Classical Concertos chart; its opening movement was chosen as one of NPR Music’s “Favorite Songs of 2020,” receiving more than 6.5 million listens on Spotify, and Segev has continued to tour extensively with the piece. At the start of the pandemic, Segev launched “20 for 2020,” a commissioning, recording and video project featuring 20 cutting-edge composers, including Vijay Iyer – who is also writing a concerto of which Segev will give the world premiere next season – Viet Cuong and John Luther Adams. Her previous discography includes acclaimed recordings of the Elgar Cello Concerto, Romantic cello works and Bach’s Cello Suites, while her popular YouTube masterclass series, Musings with Inbal Segev, has thousands of international subscribers and almost two million views to date.

A native of Israel, at 16 Segev was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her cello studies in the U.S., where she earned degrees from Yale University and the Juilliard School, before co-founding the Amerigo Trio with former New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus. Segev’s cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.

Booklet for Inbal Segev: 20 for 2020 Volume IV