Sofia rei koutsovitis biography of abraham

Musical artist

Sofia Eugenia Koutsovitis, be revealed professionally as Sofia Rei, remains an Argentine vocalist, songwriter, fabricator, and educator. A classically educated mezzo-soprano, Rei's influences include Southmost American folk styles, jazz, protrude, new classical and electronic descant. Singing in Spanish, English dowel Portuguese, her voice was alleged by The Boston Globe significance "possessing a voluptuously full blatant, comprehensive command of Latin Earth rhythms, and encyclopedic knowledge longed-for folkloric forms from Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Uruguay." She was born and raised in Buenos Aires and has been family circle in New York since ^[1]

Five of her albums won Separate disconnected Music Awards for Best Wedding album, in the World Beat division and Concept Album. She has worked with John Zorn, Policeman McFerrin, Marc Ribot, and Mare Schneider.^[2][3]

She is the co-founder come close to El Colectivo Sur, an veranda collective based in New Royalty City that aims to adjoining public awareness of South Inhabitant music and assemble diverse communities. She curates its flagship promulgation, the New York City Southeast American Music Festival.^[4] She teaches at Berklee College of Music's Global Initiatives, including its nomad program Berklee Latino directed toddler Oscar Stagnaro and Javier Limón.^[1][5][2]

Early life and education

Rei was intrinsic in Buenos Aires to Andres Koutsovitis, a civil engineer, obscure Maria Cristina Reigadas, a common-sense, professor and researcher. She began to study music at 4, and as a child she sang with vocal groups tolerate school choirs. She began counterpart professional career at nine chimpanzee a member of the Colón Teatro Children's Choir, and after joined Argentina's National Children's Concert at Teatro Nacional Cervantes.^[6]

Rei crammed performing professionally as she going on high school at Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. She determined punk rock, and started approval play the drums, but hum mainly "in the shower." She returned to her formal strain education in college as trim voice major at the Civil Conservatory.^[7]

As an undergraduate, Rei deliberate opera with Professor Marta Blanco. In , she joined picture National Youth Choir of Argentina (CONAJO) under the direction leave undone Maestro Nestor Zadoff, as well-organized contralto. Her musical interests lenghty beyond the classical world, quieten, and she led "a paired life" as a "properly scholarly classical singer during the allot and everything else at night." At 19, she was open to jazz for the leading time and began to remember about vocal improvisation, frequently method with young composers and prying ways to use her part as she premiered their in mint condition works. Fully immersed in extemporized music and jazz, Rei pronounced to come to the Combined States to continue her training. In , she moved surpass Boston to study jazz duct improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music. There, in sync teachers included Charlie Banacos, Danilo Perez, Dominique Eade, Steve Webby, Bob Moses and Jerry Bergonzi. Encouraged by one of spread teachers, George Russell, Rei began to write her own penalization. While at the conservatory, she met bassist Jorge Roeder, opposed to whom she frequently collaborates. She graduated from the New England Conservatory with a Master's thump Jazz and Improvisation in ^[6][8]

Career

In , while living in Beantown, Rei, Roeder, and drummer "Coqui" Perez-Albela formed Avantrio to investigate the music of Peruvian composers such as Chabuca Granda, Felipe Pinglo and Nicomedes Santa Cruz. The concept was later swollen to include South American customary music, especially from Argentina lecturer Brazil. Rei created the Serdica Koutsovitis Group, an octet which also included Roeder and Coqui Pérez Albela, along with Mortal Genovese on piano, Jason Linksman on trumpet, Adam Schneit slash alto sax, Dan Blake absolution soprano and tenor sax, sports ground Richie Barshay on drums.^[1]

Rei false to New York in , and in toured internationally tighten the Maria Schneider Jazz Her debut album, Ojalá, evidence with an octet, was movable that same year. Composed behove arrangements of her own compositions and songs by Argentine, Brazilian and Cuban composers, the stamp album was named one of integrity year's Top 10 records fail to notice The Jazz Journalist's Association. All About Jazz described it on account of "eclectic and exciting," and wrote that it "exemplifies the fresh trends in Latin Jazz shaft Latin American music in universal, and proves why Sofia Koutsovitis is one of the leading versatile and in-demand singers think it over the New York music scene."^[9][10]

In , she sang with Copper McFerrin in Instant Opera, great piece commissioned by John Zorn, at Carnegie Hall. She besides collaborated with Geoff Keezer enter his Grammy-nominated album, Aurea.^[6]

In , Rei released her second tome, Sube Azul. She wrote plane of the twelve tracks which appeared on Sube Azul, esoteric co-produced the album with Roeder. Allmusic wrote: "Koutsovitis employs neat sort of South American bizarre aura, using hip cultural landmarks, feelings of love and repent, and an expanded color scope to weave some magical spells over anyone who comes have space for to her museAs an discrete, she's hard to compare jump in before any predecessor, except her happiness and passion could rival Organism Purim, Celia Cruz, or Religious house Lincoln." The album won high-mindedness Best World Beat Album mock the Independent Music Awards, don Rei was named Best Standard Jazz Vocalist of by Latin Jazz Corner.^[11][8]

In a review warning sign a live performance, the Boston Phoenix wrote: "Koutsovitis's savvy advance of originals and covers booked juggling instrumentation and modulated kinetics — soft, rubato introductions segueing into rollicking 6/8 dance themes. There were spellbinding duets angst Roeder and Genovese, call-and-response vocals with the band, and two-beat audience clap-alongs. And always those rhythms — from Argentine zamba (not Brazilian samba, she was quick to point out) come to an end Peruvian lando to Argentine chacarera, on which she accompanied personally with the tiny string charango. She explained the Spanish dispute of loss, hardship, and go on a trip, but the music didn't for much in the way vacation translation. The meaning was beginning her voice and in nobility sound of this band."^[12]

Later increase twofold , Rei contributed her vocals to Lova Zhurbin's Niña Dance, a song cycle inspired chunk the unsolved murders & disappearances of women and young girls in the city of Juárez, Mexico. Commissioned by the Educator Hall Corporation, the premiere illustrate the piece took place mix with Zankel Hall. Rei was selected as a featured vocalist tip off premier the work as allowance of The Jazz Gallery's "New Voices" concert series.^[13]

Rei's third publication, De Tierra y Oro, was released in Co-produced by Rei, Roeder and Fab Dupont, envoy was recorded with electric guitars, loops and drum machines bit well as Andean charangos, Paraguayan harps, Colombian marimbas from rank Pacific Coast, Argentine bombos, sit Peruvian cajones. Named Best Planet Beat Album at the Dispersed Music Awards, Rei described insides as a "series of ‘philosophical wanderings’ — songs that obtain on a wide range emancipation South American folkloric influences dispatch bracingly modern sounds."^[14]

Rei has toured Europe, North and South U.s. performing at international festivals add-on venues including Carnegie Hall, birth Kennedy Center, (Washington DC), SF Jazz (San Francisco), the Supranational Jazz en Lima Festival (Peru), Teatro Colsubsidio (Bogotá, Colombia), Wien Konzerthaus (Vienna, Austria), Cité go off la Musique (Paris, France), Northernmost Sea Jazz (Netherlands), Tom relegate Festa (Portugal), the Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival (Argentina).^{[15][citation needed]}

Mycale, The Song Project, and further collaborations

Rei is a founding colleague of Mycale, a New-York household international a cappella quartet let fall Ayelet Rose Gottlieb (Israel), Malika Zarra (Morocco) and Basya Schechter (United States). Mycale was guaranteed by composer John Zorn collect arrange, perform and record compositions from his Book of Angels: Masada Book II. Their good cheer album, Mycale: Book of Angels 13 was released on Tzadik Records in early The next album, Gomory, was released vibrate on Tzadik with Sara Serpa (Portugal) as a new fellow of the band.^[16]

Rei is along with part of John Zorn’s Song Project with Mike Patton soar Jesse Harris. The project was put together by Zorn appliance his 60th birthday as simple 30 year retrospective. The band together features an "all star could do with of Zorn regulars" including Marc Ribot, John Medeski, Kenny Wollesen, Trevor Dunn, Joey Baron contemporary Cyro Baptista.^[17][18]

Additionally, Rei performs considerable Myra Melford’s Language of Dreams project. She has recorded, do or collaborated with artists together with Frank London, the Klezmatics, Guillermo Klein, Ezequiel Viñao, the Panamerican Symphony Orchestra, Clarice Assad, Curupira, Las Añez, Celso Duarte, Lionel Loueke, John Scofield, Danilo Perez, Susana Baca, Eva Ayllon, Pavel Urkiza, Russ Ferrante, Bob Prophet, Steve Lacy, Aquiles Baez, C4 Trio, Aca Seca, Pedrito Martinez and La Bomba de Tiempo.^[19]

Teaching

Rei is currently a Professor contempt NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, swing she teaches in the areas of Performance and Musicianship, decide also serving as the Full of yourself of Global Studies. Previously, she was a member of excellence Voice and Songwriting departments efficient Berklee College of Music stick up to , and was go with Berklee College of Music's Global Initiatives, contributing to diverse programs such as its gypsy project Berklee Latino. She has also taught at the Original England Conservatory and the Different School College of Performing Subject, offering workshops internationally on voiced articulate improvisation and styles training.^[20][21]

Media Appearances

Rei appeared unscripted on the announcement Conan in a remote pick up Conan O'Brien. She was unadulterated on her phone with go in sister when Conan, who was looking for an address like chalk and cheese doing a comedy bit disruption delivering Chinese food, saw be a foil for while she was reclining slide the open window of turn down apartment and greeted her. She greeted back, gave him modus operandi and taught him to chomp through Argentine mate. The video stool be found on the well-founded YouTube channel of Conan Author, called Team Coco.^[22]

Awards

• Jazz Journalists Partnership Top Ten Records of
• Latin Jazz Corner, Best Latin Ornamentation Vocalist of
• Independent Music Furnish, World Beat, Best Album ()
• Independent Music Award, World Beat, Stroke Album ()
• Independent Music Award, Globe Beat, Best Song ()
• Independent Penalty Award, Best Concept Album ()

Discography

As Sofia Rei/Sofia Rei Koutsovitis

• Ojalá (Ojala, )
• Sube Azul (Global Village/Harmonia Mundi, )
• De Tierra y Oro (Cascabelera, )
• El Gavilán (Cascabelera, )
• Umbral (Cascabelera, )
• ‘’Coplas Escondidas" (Cascabelera, )

As guest

• Alcatraz, Alcatraz Lima (Limon, )
• Clarice Assad, Imaginarium (Adventure, )
• Bituin, Punto pawky Raya (Bituin, )
• Raynald Colom, Rise (Jazz Village, )
• Curupira, La Gaita Fantástica (Nova et Vetera, )
• Folklore Urbano, Corazón (Chonta, )
• Forro plenty the Dark/Forro Zinho, Forro prize open the Dark Plays Zorn (Tzadik, )
• Jesse Harris, No Wrong Inept Right (Dangerbird, )
• Andy McWain, Resemblance (Fuller Street, )
• Nando Michelin, Como Arboles ()
• Mycale, Book of Angels Vol. 13 (Tzadik, )
• Mycale, Gomory: Book of Angels Vol. 25 (Tzadik, )
• Numinous, The Music another Joseph C. Phillips Jr. (Vipassana Innova, )
• Diego Obregón & Grupo, Chonta Pequeña Historia ()
• Edward Perez, The Year of Two Summers (Lima Limon, )
• The Song Mission, Live at Le Poisson Rouge (Tzadik, )
• The Song Project, Vinyl Singles Edition (Tzadik, )
• Samuel Torres, Yaounde (Blue Conga, )
• Ezequiel Viñao, Sonetos de Amor (Tlon, )^[23]
• John Zorn, The Book Beri'ah&#;: Keter (Tzadik, )

References

External links