23-02-2018

American star cellist to give a free concert at the Rothko Centre

Ian Maksin, a world-renowned American cellist, composer and vocalist of Russian descent, will give a free concert in Daugavpils, performing at 6 p.m. on Friday, 9 March 2018 at the concert hall of Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre.

Ian Maskin has gained international recognition with his innovative rhythm of play and charismatic stage persona. As a soloist, he gives more than 200 public performances annually across the U.S. and abroad. He has appeared at a number of eminent festivals, such as Ravinia, Lollapalooza and Spoleto. Apart from being highly regarded as a classical artist, Maksin collaborates with other artists in a variety of musical genres such as jazz, blues, flamenco, rock, R&B and world music, which are blended together by the cello as a leading common element throughout. As a guest artist, he has performed and recorded with such artists as Andrea Bocelli, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan and Barry Gibb.  He has also opened performances for Sting and his guitarist Dominic Miller​.

Born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Maksin began playing the cello at the age of six at the Special School for Gifted Children of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. At seventeen, he came to the United States to attend the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and later became the principal cellist of America’s one-of-a-kind training orchestra “The New World Symphony” in Florida, where he had an opportunity to receive personal mentorship from such artists as Lynn Harrell, Mstislav Rostropovich and Yo-Yo Ma.

Maskin’s latest album “Zaria” (2017) is an ultimately eclectic mix of traditional music from different corners of the world, both instrumental and vocal (Maksin is singing in six different languages). The album also features several of Maksin’s new original instrumental compositions infused with Balkan, Arab and Slavic rhythms, Mississippi blues and Argentine milonga.

At the concert in Daugavpils, the U.S. cellist and vocalist will perform with guitarist Jānis Ruņģis, who plays in different jazz and rock bands, has performed with Aminata and Linda Leen and has been nominated for the Annual Latvian Music Recording Award with the band “Spāre”.

The programme will feature music by Bach, Gershwin, Levinson, Grebenshikov, Withers, Sting, Lloyd Webber and other composers as well as some of Maskin’s own compositions.

Entrance to the concert is free of charge.

The concert is organised in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Latvia.

Publicity photo:

-          Poster for the concert and cellist Ian Maksin.

Contacts:

Lauma Brūvele

BruveleL@state.gov