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Sunday, April 20, 2025
— a “hybrid” event —
Mounir Mahmalat
Nikola Paskalov
cello & piano
PROGRAM
Maurice Ravel
“Habanera”
Olivier Messiaen
“Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus“
(Praise to the eternity of Jesus) from the Quartet for the End of Time
Sergey Rachmaninov
Sonata for piano and cello op.19
BIOGRAPHY
Mounir Mahmalat pushes the cello into new territories – from Irish folk, to oriental, and tango – and questions established conventions of classical music to better understand how to create emotional connections. He received a degree in music performance from Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany, and made excursions into jazz with Eugene Friesen (Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA). After endeavors with various (folk-)rock bands as a cellist, singer, and studio musician, a recent ensemble was the Habanera-Duo, an investigation into the hidden gems of the folk and jazz repertoire for cello and piano. In Lebanon, he formed the group “Stories//Bridging traditions” and inquired into another world by fusing classical Oriental and European music in a project with the fabulous oud-player, composer, and singer Ziad El-Ahmadie and Bahaa Daou on percussion.
Praised for his “brilliance in expression … illuminated by gentle intensity” (Fränkische Landeszeitung), pianist, Nikola Paskalov, has actively performed internationally, having given solo and chamber music concerts throughout Europe and USA.
Nikola Paskalov made his first leap in to the professional concert stage during the time of his musical education at the “High School under the Moscow Conservatory P.I. Tchaikovsky” in Moscow. At the time he was 16th he starts his professional career performing concerts with orchestras and playing recitals.
Studying in the class of prof. B. Romanov in Moscow, and than at the Faculty of Music (FMU) in Skopje – Macedonia in the class of the same professor he graduates in 1995, and after he continues his professional development at the “European Mozart Academy” in Poland where he worked with several visiting professors: A. Satz, I. Roman, V. Lobanov, J. Vitenbah, D. Golub, A. Newman and participated at numerous international master classes and worked with well known pianists and pedagogues: Paul Badura – Skoda, Georg Sebok, Gunter Rainhold and Peter Feuchtwanger. In his rich concert life besides his numerous appearances on the Macedonian concert stage including with the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra he performs on the international scene: with Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Croatian Radio and Television. Performed solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, at the Festivals in Italy, Austria, “Piano Festival” in Feuchtwangen – Germany; in London – UK and in Zagreb – Croatia. Performs with various ensembles “Rucner”,“Gajdov” and “Kodaly” string quartets and collaborates with well known instrumentalists. He performed in London for the concert series called “Pianists of the World” playing solo recital at the prestigious concert hall of “St Martin in the Fields” as well with the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio in Zagreb-Croatia where he performed the concerto for piano and orchestra by N.Glassl in the famous “Lisinski” concert hall. On the last jubilee edition of the prestigious Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia he performed with the famous “Kodaly” string quartet from Hungary. Before his move to the USA in 2014 he gave a debut recital at the most prestigious concert hall in the world “Carnegie Hall” in New York. For his concert activities Nikola Paskalov received a reword from the Macedonian Association of Music Artist for outstanding artistic achievement. Beside numerous solo recitals and chamber music concerts in the USA in the last 5 years on a regular bases he performed deferent solo piano and chamber music repertoire with Bowen McCauley Dance company at the prestigious Kennedy Center’s “Terrace Theater” and “Eisenhower Theater” in Washington, DC and performed Rachmaninov second concerto in La Paz Bolivia last year with Cochabamba Symphony Orchestra on their invitation.
Nikola appears on recordings under the JMM (Jeunesse Musicale Macedonia) label and recorded Nikola Glassl’s piano concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radio under their label. After his move to the USA in Washington, DC metro area, beside his performances as a concert pianist and collaborating with many distinguished musicians, eager to help shape and encourage the next generations of young pianists, Mr. Paskalov has also opened and successfully running a private piano studio in McLean, Virginia-USA.
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