Andrew Smith
latest news
MSR Classics Release the Complete Works of Mozart for violin and piano
With an extensive liner notes by renowned Mozart Scholar Cliff Eisen, this 6 box set CD features rarely heard gems and sketches, all recorded live in concert for WSHU National Public Radio with pianist Joshua Pierce
Purchase now at MSR Classics
Watch more about the recording process with Grammy winning producer Rob Fraboni
Acoustic String Drones released on Gothic Storm label
Hidden in Plain Sight - The Complete Mozart Sonatas
Since 2016 Andrew has been working with renowned concert pianist Joshua Pierce preparing and performing the complete works of Mozart. In addition to live radio broadcasts, the duo are releasing the complete set as a follow up from his release of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas. The 6 CD set will be released in 2020 - watch this space.
Andrew releases 2nd CD of original music for Faber Music
Andrew performs the work of Angus MacRea. a beautiful score for the Marc Brew Dance Company
The Elan Duo recording of Beethovens Complete Violin Sonatas is on the PNova Label. The official release on April 8th 2016 was proceeded by rave reviews and a feature interview in Fanfare magazine. The CD or Download is available on Itunes, Amazon or CD baby
CD Release: The Complete Beethoven Sonatas
What the Critics Say:
... a special distinction of artistic merit
... a deeply considered interpretation
... finesse and poise are the hallmarks of this cycle
... so well matched musically that they rival any number of famous performers
... capable of Mozartean cheerfulness that shifts into the self-reflective eloquence of Sonata no.10
... a style that shows the way some of the finest artsist perform Beethoven in the 21st Century
artistic impressions by Heidi Harrington
Award winning UK portrait artist Heidi Harrington, has produced a series of sketches of the the Elan Duo and violinist Andrew Smith. Attending their first Beethoven concerts back in 2010, Heidi became fascinated with capturing the essence of "the live performance" in a series of sketches and has been a regular audience member ever since.
The series of sketches were recently exhibited at the Art4Music Exhibition in Westport, CT
ensembles
The Elan Duo
Elina Christova and Andrew Smith formed the Elan Duo in 2010. Originally their partnership emerged from a casual agreement to perform the ten violin sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven but soon the collaboration blossomed to include a huge array of repertoire from the classical sonatas of Schubert to Romantic show pieces by De Falla and Ysaye to the contemporary music of Messiaen, Part, Baciewicz and Previn.
After completing their recordings of Beethovens's ten violin sonatas on a record schedule they enter their third season with programs of contemporary American music and romantic English and French music
The Castillon Trio
The Castillon Trio have been hailed as a “dynamic American Trio” Having studied with the foremost names in chamber music - the Beaux-Arts Trio, the Amadeus Quartet, the Emerson Quartet, the Chilingarian Quartet, the American Quartet and the Cleveland Quartet - this international trio (with members from England, the US and Italy) formed as faculty at Valparaiso University in 2002. Individually, they have performed as soloists in Europe, America and China and appeared in recital for charities such as “World Hunger” and “Artists Against Aids” and at venues including the Dame Myra Hess Concerts, the Edinburgh International Festival, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the British Music Information Center, the French Embassy, Paris, the Purcell Room, the US Coast Guard Concert Series, the American Liszt Society and the Fetzer Society. The Castillon Trio are ensemble-in-residence at the Stamford International Music Festival in the UK.
Since their formation they have been recognized for their "dynamic" interpretations of both classic and less familiar repertoire. Their concerts have been described as "outstanding musical events". English newspapers hailed their 2004 UK debut as “a veritable feast of sound from this dynamic American trio … these accomplished players rapidly displayed their superb technique … prolonged applause rewarded this trio’s superb performance”
(The Evening Telegraph).
The trio takes its name from the French composer, Alexis de Castillon, who died tragically in the early years of his career. His memory was held dear by a generation of young French composers, from Saint-Saëns and Fauré to Debussy and Ravel, who remembered him as the first composer of his generation to devote himself exclusively to chamber music. Echoing the music of Castillon, the trio's repertoire combines classic masters with contemporary and lesser-known composers: from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Piston, Bridge, Shostakovich and Nyman.