A Mellow Cello Christmas is the most recent release of Erich Kory. It is in his proven tradition of All Cello Music, with beautiful harmonic textures accompanying your most loved Christmas melodies. It contains truly unique arrangements, which bring out the individual messages of each song, from the mysticism of We 3 Kings to the shear innocence and beauty of Schubert’s Ave Maria.
Biography of ERICH KORY
For over 40 years the cello has been the voice of Erich Kory. Even though the music he plays on it has changed, the cello has always helped him to realize who he is, while helping audiences connect to their own inner-selves.
Erich Kory was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 24th, 1956. He began his relationship with the cello at six years old, playing in orchestras by twelve. He joined the musicians union at age fifteen in New York. He was then playing in over fifteen orchestras and chamber groups. At twenty-one he married pianist Elena Belli. They played recitals together and were sought after by many chamber music groups.
In 1979 at age twenty-three, Erich began his New York City freelance career. There he worked in almost every orchestra, many chamber groups, most shows on Broadway; Latin, Jazz, Rock, Classical and Avant-Garde recordings, TV & Radio; Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Radio City and practically every venue in between.
He performed with the cream of the freelance community and well known artists including singers: Freidrica Von Stade, Placedo Domingo, Kathleen Battle, Joan Sutherland, Grace Bumbry and Birgit Nilsson; conductors: Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, Roger Norrington, Andre Previn, Julius Rudel, Trevor Pennock, Dennis Russell Davies, Robert Shaw and John Nelson; popular artists: Sting, Tony Bennett, Liza Minelli, Smokey Robinson, The Moody Blues, Steve Martin, Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Lyle Mays and Astor Piazzola.
On Broadway in New York, he played in shows including: Dreamgirls, Tap Dance Kid, La Cage aux Folles, Phantom of the Opera, Nine, Three Penny Opera and others.
In 1986 Erich had a change of heart. He sold his 150 year old English cello and commissioned a modern, asymmetric cello from luthier Christophe Landon. He bought new electronics to experiment with, and his new artistic life began. After spending a year at The Banff Centre in Canada, it was clear that Erich was happier in creation than in practicing interpretation. He has spent the last 18 years searching his heart, the cello still omni present, but with many new electronic effects, it's sound is now reborn in a new realm.
Erich Kory can now be heard not only in his solo concerts, but performing with multi-media, dance, circus and theater groups throughout the world. Recording being his passion, he has created several film soundtracks in the last years and has opened his own studio. His compact discs Sentient Cello & Never Ending Story have received much critical acclaim & are being played on radio around the world. He has recently produced a DVD of a live concert in Montréal, and has just released a Christmas album, A Mellow Cello Christmas.
Erich is presently touring with singer Elisabeth Von Trapp in the USA and plays occasionally with Cirque du Soleil & Cirque Éloise in Canada, and the Palindrome Multi-Media Performance Group in Europe. He just wrote a Soundtrack for Pale Fire, a dance production of Jane Mappen in Montréal, as well as several film soundtracks with Director Minor Mustain. He often collaborates with pianist & Composer Laurent Eyquem in Québec.
Erich & AnneBruce Falconer, (one of the pre-eminent modern dancers of Canada) live on their Organic Vegetable and Herb Farm in Ayer's Cliff, Québec, has a son, Zacharie, and produce Garlic & Herbal Healing Products under the name Liberterre.
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