Quartet San Francisco Wins American Airlines-Borello Travel Grand Prize of Concerts in Buenos Aires 
New York, NY — The winners have been announced of the New York City International Tango Competition for professional instrumentalists and singers. The competition finals, which displayed a remarkable range of expression of the tango as an international, living, dynamic art form, were held before a standing room only audience on May 12, 2004, at the auditorium of the Consulate General of Argentina, 12 West 56th Street in Manhattan. The awards were presented by Competition Director Mirian Conti and the Acting Consul General of Argentina Alejandro Bertolo.
The American Airlines-Borello Travel Grand Prize: of round trip tickets to Argentina, complimentary stay at Hotel Presidente, and performances at Café Tortoni and other important Buenos Aires tango venues was awarded to Quartet San Francisco of San Francisco, California for their remarkable performances of their string quartet arrangements of traditional and newer tangos. The group was also awarded a special Chamber Players International Performance Showcase award for Spring 2005 concerts in the New York area. Founded in 2001 by renowned jazz and classical violinist Jeremy Cohen, Quartet San Francisco is dedicated to performing every composition true to the style in which it was conceived. Their repertoire, although solidly grounded in traditional string quartet literature, includes Big Band, Latin and jazz music, performed with infectious enthusiasm and incredible technique. Other members of the group are violinist Kayo Miki, violist Emily Onderdonk and cellist Joel Cohen. Their website at http://www.quartetsanfrancisco.com/. A Special Prize of 4 days free stay, performances and participation in all workshops at the 6th World Tango Congress in Seville, Spain, in March 2005 was awarded to Tango Lorca of Kansas City, Missouri. Visit their website at http://www.tangolorca.com/.
Another Special Prize of 3 days free stay and performances at the 5-star Hotel Grand Marina of Barcelona, Spain was awarded to the Best Duo - Bernardo Monk, Soprano saxophone and Octavio Brunetti, Piano, both from Buenos Aires. The duo was also awarded a Special Prize of a Caramoor Performance Showcase in 2005 at the Caramoor Festival, Katonah, New York. Pianist Octavio Brunetti was also awarded a Special Prize as Best Solo Pianist, sponsored by Certamen Musical Rioplatense of Argentina. Visit Bernardo online. Two more Special Prizes for Best Singers were awarded to Claudia Gargiulo of Washington, D.C. and Chris Vasquez of Buffalo, New York. Other distinguished participants in the competition were singers Mario Barreiro of Colombia, Elisa Brown of New York City, Leonardo Granados of Venezuela and Katie Viqueira of Boston, saxophonist Dr. Willie L. Morris, III of Ohio, "M20" - violinist Machiko Ozawa and pianist Makia Matsumura, both from Japan, flutist Lorena Barile of Argentina, "Duo Hidalgo-Peloquin" - pianist Roberto Hidalgo and Marc Peloquin of Mexico and the United States, solo pianists Dante Medina of Argentina, Sachiko Kato of Japan, Anibal Berraute of Miami, Martin Leopold Diaz of Barcelona, and ensembles The Tango Group of New York City (http://www.avantango.com/index.htm) and QuinTango of Washington, D.C. (http://www.quintango.com/index.html). The marvelous accompanists included pianists Jorge Aguilar of Mexico, Tiraje Ruckman of Turkey, guitarists Pablo Gonzalez and Francisco Navarro, both of Argentina and bandoneonist Tito Castro of Argentina. The competition jury was comprised of Mirian Conti, Chair, Competition Director and internationally renowned pianist, Mario Broeders, composer and New York representative of Academia Portena del Lunfardo, Argentina, Ben Molar, legendary promoter of tango and tango musicians, Richard Nidel, World Music authority, Susan Palma, flutist of the Orpheus Chamber and American Composers Orchestras and Jeffrey James, international arts consultant. More information about the Competition is available at their website. The schedule of performers can be seen at here. Presented by Chamber Players International & Argentine American Society and hosted by The Consulate General of Argentina in New York, the Competition Grand Prize was sponsored by American Airlines and Borello Travel. The Competition's stated purpose of playing a meaningful role in the discovery and support of new talents exploring and preserving the art of Tango was more than realized by the tremendous outpouring of imagination, energy, talent and love of the tango that was evident to the performers and to the public. For more information about the New York City International Tango Competition, contact Mirian Conti, Artistic Director at mirian.conti@verizon.net or publicity manager Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-586-3433 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.
For Professional Instrumentalists and Singers Presented by Chamber Players International & Argentine American Society Hosted by The Consulate General of Argentina in New York
MAY 10-12, 2004
Prizes: Grand Prize: Hotel and Round Trip Tickets to Argentina and performances in Buenos Aires' famous Tango venues in late August 2004 and performances in New York City. Additional special prizes will be awarded. Eligibility: Open to Professional instrumentalists and singers. Soloists, duos, trios, quartets and quintets. Any instrumental combination. No age limit. Open to all nationalities. Requirements: Must perform live 20 minutes of Tangos. Must include a few of the traditional well known Tangos *(at least two) and Tangos composed by other composers such as Stravinsky, Cage, Nazareth, etc. Open to new compositions in this style. Suggested list of Tango Composers: Aieta, Arolas, Bardi, Canaro, Cobian, De Caro, Di Sarli, Discepolo, Donato, Firpo, Gardel, Mendizábal, Mores, Padula, Piazzolla, Pugliese, Matos Rodríguez, Salgan, Troilo, Villoldo, etc. For more information about these composers and others, visit the http://www.todotango.com. Processing Fee: Non-refundable $50. Checks made payable to: Chamber Players International Deadline: March 31, 2004.Send entry form (available at http://www.jamesarts.com/TANGO04APP.htm), biographical material and a sample tape, CD or video of performance of the ensemble - 30 minutes maximum which must include at least two Tangos, along with non-refundable $50 U.S. processing fee (checks made payable to Chamber Players International to:
Mirian Conti Notification: On or before April 5, 2004 Participation: Only 25 ensembles will be selected to participate in the Semifinals (May 10 and 11) and 10 ensembles will be selected to participate in the Finals (May 12). Please note: Invited participants will be responsible for their own transportation to and accommodations in New York. Competition: Semifinals and Finals: May 10-12, 2004 at the Auditorium of the Consulate General of Argentina in New York.
Contact: Mirian Conti, Artistic Director "NYC International Tango Competition"
Publicity manager: Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
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