Breaking Boundaries

et al Lidia Kaminska (Artist), J.S.Bach; Domenico Scarlatti; Astor Piazzolla; Tomas Gubitsch; Jaroslaw Bester; Anibal Troilo; Franck Angelis; Torbjorn Lundquist; Brad Cox (Composer), Lidia Kaminska (accordion)'';''James Hall (flute)";"Beau Bledsoe (guitar)";"Ian Flatt (cello)";"Jeff Harshbarger (bass)";"Bill Solomon (percussion)";"Scotty McBee (drum set)";"Fernando Achucarro (cajon)";"Pat Conway (dumbek) (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Lidia Kaminska (accordion)'';''James Hall (flute)";"Beau Bledsoe (guitar)";"Ian Flatt (cello)";"Jeff Harshbarger (bass)";"Bill Solomon (percussion)";"Scotty McBee (drum set)";"Fernando Achucarro (cajon)";"Pat Conway (dumbek)
• Composer: J.S.Bach; Domenico Scarlatti; Astor Piazzolla; Tomas Gubitsch; Jaroslaw Bester; Anibal Troilo; Franck Angelis; Torbjorn Lundquist; Brad Cox
• Audio CD (August 14, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tzigane
• ASIN: B000BGQV0G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,309 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Polish accordionist, Lidia Kaminska, thrills and delights audiences with her energetic and captivating performances. Throughout the United States and Europe, her chamber music, concerto and solo performances explore the complex and expressive range of the accordion as an instrument of classical music. As a versatile classical accordion player, Ms. Kaminska is a definite rarity in today's music scene. Ms. Kaminska is a seven-time winner of national and international competitions, including first prize in both the entertainment and classical divisions of the 2002 Accordion Teachers Guild International Competition. At the age of 21 she received a Masters degree from the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, and at 25, became the first person in the United States to ever receive a Doctorate in Accordion Performance. Her repertoire includes a broad range of classical, contemporary and avant-garde music, as well as other genres and influences such as traditional Argentine tango, the Tango Nuevo, and Klezmer music. She has researched and performed the works of Astor Piazzolla and Sofia Gubaidulina extensively. Ms. Kaminska is currently a member of the Argentine tango ensemble Tango Lorca, and the Brad Cox Ensemble. She has appeared with the contemporary music ensembles the New Ear and the Musica Nova. She has also collaborated with dancer and choreographer Jorge Laico for the Kansas City Ballet’s “In the Wings”, and Matheew Neenan for BalletX. She has performed with symphony orchestras throughout United Sates and Europe. Her first solo recording has been released in June of 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Eye Opener: Searing, Soulful and Elegant, March 22, 2006

By 

Chanty Graves (Chicagoland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breaking Boundaries (Audio CD)

The accordion is perhaps the most misunderstood instrument in the United States. Customarily, one relates it to dance music such as polkas, zydeco, tex-mex and so forth; it does not occur to the average American to relate this instrument to any type of classical repertoire. Quite accidentally, after having purchased a used accordion of my own, I came upon the website of Lidia Kaminska, a rising star in classical accordion performance and the first person ever to earn a Ph.D. in accordion performance in the United States. Her first major American cd release tackles compositions by, among others, J.S. Bach, Jaroslaw Bester, Astor Piazzola and Domenico Scarlatti. The level of musicianship throughout this release is very fine. While her performances of classical compositions are enjoyable, it is in the newer compositions that she truly shines.

While this cd stands excellently on its own, it serves well as a gateway into the marvelous and largely invisible world of accordion and bayan virtuosity in their several idioms. Buy this cd and explore further: sway to the tangos of Astor Piazzola and Alfredo Marcucci, to the classical performances of Friedrich Lips, his student Stas Venglevski, Carmen Carozza and Henry Doktorski (among those first rate performers whose cds are sadly not widely available); to the historic Vaudeville recordings of Guido Deiro, who with his brother made the accordion famous in the U.S. at the turn of the last century (he and his brother named the piano accordion and opened a famous accordion school in New York). Russian and French styles also offer great wealth in listening.

This disc is a wonderful journey toward a deeper appreciation of a much maligned and misunderstood instrument.