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Excerpted Press Comments from Around the World
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“Everyday
Iraqis are trying to better their lives. American Voices is standing by
them. As jazz enthusiasts and fellow citizens, we owe this organization
thanks.”
Jazz Times, David Adler, October 2007
Last night's event grew out of a concert in
Kabul in 2005 in which the group American Voices teamed up with some of
the best traditional musicians of Afghanistan....it's only thanks to
the fall of the Taliban that Ghulam Hussain, the star of this concert
and one of the top players of the rubab (the Afghan lute), is back in
Kabul and teaching a new generation of players. Hussain is a top
performer ... he opened with some patriotic songs that got the Afghan
crowd primed for the collaborations in part two....highlights included
black American singer CoCo York singing Leili Jan, a classic song by
Ahmad Zahir, the Afghan Elvis, of which the composer (killed in 1979)
would surely have approved.
London Evening Standard, Simon Broughton, February 5, 2007
“With the next act came one of the first delights of the night: the brilliant John Ferguson, who performed "Rhapsody in Blue" on the piano and received thunderous ovations. The soloist offered a masterful performance with an enviable ease and an outstanding timing, especially during the ensemble sections with the orchestra.”
“But the exceptional came with "It Ain't Necessarily So," when Ira Spaulding joined with the choir of University of Mendoza with choreography included. They repeated with an encore. The night exploded then and there and the massive choir shined.”
Los Andes, Mendoza, July 3, 2005, by Walter Gazzo
”It was a truly professional and extremely sincere, emotional performance, of which the best theaters of the world could be jealous. I do mean theaters, not just concert auditoriums, because the dramatic composition of the performance was filled with contrasts, dynamic and free singing as well as subtle artistic nuances.”
Kultura Weekly, Minsk, May 8-14, 2004, by Nadzeya Buntsevich
“The two guest groups from the United States were a miracle on stage. Sometimes the audience was reverently silent; at other times they screamed in admiration. On the second day of the Festival one could hear this kind of conversation in the lobby of the Hall: “Unfortunately, I could not get to the first day of the festival.” “You have lost half of your life! But do not worry - you still have the second half!”
Almaty Business Week, Kazakhstan, April 15, 2002
“You will not hear American music or jazz in Tashkent every day because people here know only about one set of American music…pop and rock. So the concert organizers will hope that such events will reveal another side of music and culture in America as well.”
CNN World Report, Tashkent, ‘Gershwin in Tashkent’, January 1999
“Mr. Ferguson made each piece meaningful and alive, and made us want to know more about the composer and his other works… An example of how we Ukrainians should learn to present our culture and heritage.”
The Kiev Post, Ukraine
“In the ‘Blues’ of George Rochberg, John Ferguson proved himself a pianist of the highest intellectual and performing rank.”
General Anzeiger, Bonn, April 20, 1996
“With rain splattering in from the open sides and the leaky roof of
the performance hall, American Voices director John Ferguson treated
concert-goers in the central city of Hue to its first performance by an
American musician since the end of the Vietnam War. Ferguson's strong
solo renditions of music by Gershwin, Joplin and Charles Ives charged
the audience members with enthusiasm for music forms which many of them
had never before heard.”
U.S. Consulate General, Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam November, 2003
"American Voices recently held an audience of 100 guests in rapt
attention at my Residence…It was a gratifying moment, confirming the
need as often as possible to let the arts speak, to represent the
achievements and goodness of America….The pedagogical aspect to the
project, with its lasting impact on the successor generation of young
musicians is just as important as the group's professional
concerts…They show the finest side of American arts and artists."
Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece, R. Nicholas Burns January, 2001
YES Academy Thailand in the News
