Singin' Rhythm Vivi Vassileva

• Guillo Espel (b. 1959):
• 1Zamba Para Escuchar Tu Silencio05:27
• Eric Sammut (b. 1968): Sailing for Phil:
• 2Sailing for Phil: 1st Movement04:53
• 3Sailing for Phil: 2nd Movement05:53
• 4Sailing for Phil: 3rd Movement05:03
• Marco Pereira (b.1950):
• 5Bate Coxa02:19
• Grigoras Dinicu (1889 - 1949):
• 6Hora Staccato01:49
• Oriol Cruixent (b. 1976):
• 7Marimba Moksha, Op. 4604:19
• Keiko Abe (b. 1937):
• 8Variations on Dowland's Lachrimae Pavane05:17
• Vivi Vassileva (b. 1994):
• 9Kalino Mome07:12
• 10Pipero Mistuardo09:46
• Oriol Cruixent:
• 11El Parío, Op. 4707:41
• Total Runtime59:39

Info for Singin' Rhythm

The percussionist Vivi Vassileva is one of the most fascinating classical soloists of her generation, and she now releases her debut CD, entitled "singin' rhythm", on the alpha classics label. Born in 1994 to a Bulgarian family of musicians – her mother is a pianist, her father and brother are violinists, her sister plays violin too and she herself learned the instrument – Vivi was captivated by music at an early age especially when she heard some hand drummers playing on a remote, unspoiled beach at the black sea where her parents own a house. It was then that she decided to change from the violin to percussion. With her dynamic, infectious way of making music, Vivi exudes a sense of enjoyment that is in no way limited to the elaboration of rhythms or the igniting of a display of tonal pyrotechnics. Her main aim is to touch people, to tell stories expressed in terms of melodies, harmonies and rhythms. Vivi is motivated and inspired by the diversity of tonal colours and the opportunities they offer, and that is why she is so convinced that percussion is the instrument of the 21st century. However, since the repertoire for percussion is limited, Vivi Vassileva not only commissions new compositions; she arranges and composes herself, constantly on the lookout for new formations and heading up various chamber music groups. As a result, this new album features works by Guillo Espel, Eric Sammut, Oriol Cruixent and Keiko Abe, most of them premiere recordings, alongside some rarely heard or premiere arrangements and compositions by Vivi Vassileva herself.

Vivi Vassileva, percussion
Vivi Vassileva Quintett
Lucas Campara Diniz, guitar

Vivi Vassileva
Born in 1994 in Germany into a family of Bulgarian musicians, Vivi Vassileva first studied the violin with her father, but upon hearing a group of folk artists on Karadere beach on the Black Sea coast she was immidiately inspired to take up percussion. It was these colourful and exotic Balkan rhythms which moulded her into the multi-faceated musician she has become and which continue to influence her classically trained style. Besides her brilliant technique and astonishing virtuosity, she brings an exceptional musicality and poetic expression to her performances. Poised at the beginning of her musical career, Vivi promises to be an artist that will take audiences with her as she explores and pushes the boundries of the percussion world. Passionate about composition as well as commissioning new works to add to the percussion repertoire, Vivi has already been praised for her innovative programming style. Collaboration is key to Vivi’s approach; working regularly with a wide variety of partners including the Vassileva Quintet which she formed in 2015.

Vassileva began her formal training at the age of ten with Claudio Estay and after winning First Prize at the national competition Jugend Musiziert in Germany, she became the youngest member of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany at the age of 13. In the same year, she made her concerto debut with the Hofer Symphoniker. More successes followed including prizes at international marimba competitions in Paris 2009 and Nuremberg 2010, the Ingolstadt Music Cultivation Prize 2013 and two Special Prizes as the youngest semi-finalist at the prestigious ARD-Music Competition in 2014.

At the age of 15 whilst on the scholarship program Talent in Bayern which supports gifted young people in Bavaria she was given the opportunity to record a promotional CD with the support of the Bayrischer Rundfunk. At 16 she was accepted into the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, where she completed her Bachelor of Music under Raymond Curfs and Peter Sadlo. She is currently studying part time at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg under Martin Grubinger.

In 2016, Vivi toured as soloist with the Youth Orchestra of Bavaria including performances in Bamberg and Munich Gasteig where she received the Kulturpries des Kulturkreises Gasteig 2016 for her own composition and arrangement of the Bulgarian Folk Song 'Kalino Mome'. In 2017 she was awarded the Bayrischen Kunstförderpreis.

Highlights of the 18/19 season will see her premiere a percussion concerto written for her by Oriol Cruixent with the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal under Julia Jones, her debut at the Berlin Philharmonie with her Percussion Quartet and a performance with the Nürnberger Symphoniker of Tan Dun’s “Tears of Nature” with Dimitri Jurowski.

This album contains no booklet.