Varna Summer International Music Festival
Symphonic and chamber music
04.07. 7:00 PM – Varna State Opera, Stage Filial
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CLASSIC–JAZZ
“100 Years of Oscar Peterson”
Trio
Kristina Miller – piano
Gergo Borlai – drums
Tibor Fonay – bass
Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson and his music have always felt at home in jazz clubs and in concert halls alike. In its crossover panel “Classic – Jazz” , the “Varna Summer” festival pays tribute to one of the legends of jazz. It was through another project, “Jazz at the Philharmonic”, produced by legendary Norman Granz with the idea to elevate jazz from nightclubs to prestigious concert halls, that Oscar Peterson made his debut at the Carnegie hall. Only 24 at that time, he delivered a dazzling solo set that had stunned the audience and the critics and became part of the jazz lore. From this moment on, Oscar Peterson became a fixture of the global jazz circuit and performed only with jazz giants like Ray Brown, Roy Eldridge, and Ella Fitzgerald. He won eight Grammy Awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement.
Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal just a few months before the first festival concert in Varna in 1926. Now, a legendary concert of his trio concerts at the Konzerthaus in Vienna in 1968, will be re-played by a classical pianist and two jazzmen. Kristina Miller studied in St. Petersburg, Munich, and Vienna. She won the International Berlin Piano Competition and has toured across Europe, the USA, and Australia as a soloist and chamber musician. She admits she’ been inspired by Oscar Peterson’s music since her early childhood.
Los Angeles and Barcelona-based Hungarian drummer Gergo Borlai have appeared in more than 500 albums, he had won 3rd place in Modern Drummer’s Poll for “Best All-Around Drummer” in 2019 and is “Golden Drumstick” prize-winner, as well. In 2020, he was considered for a Grammy Award nomination in two categories with his solo album The Missing Song. A year later, the world’s most historic drum company, Gretsch, released the Gergo Borlai Signature Snare Drum. Besides being a band member and session/studio musician on world-renowned productions with multi-Grammy Award–winning musicians, he is a devoted educator.
Tibor Fonay is among the most sought-after double bassists for various projects in Hungary; an alumnus of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, he won first prize at the Hungarian Radio National Bass Competition as a student and has since swept every possible jazz award in his country.
These three musicians will bring the spirit of Oscar Peterson to Varna – thus bringing together the pianist and the festival that both started their journey 100 years ago.
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