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Ljova profiled in New York Times -- He Still Plays Weddings: A Musical Polymath’s Quirky Career by Allan Kozinn

Thank you to everyone who joined Ljova and the Kontraband at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium last week, and filled the room to capacity for our anniversary show! We had a blast.

Below, enjoy "The Girl and Her Trust", D.W. Griffith's 1910 silent film, with a new score by Ljova and Clifton Hyde.
Recorded live at TunnelVision, inside Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel.

(Above - photo of Ljova and the Kontraband performing the score to "Cupcake", live at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.)

A quick welcome to readers of the New York Times and new fans - thank you for stopping by!

Here's a brief recap of Ljova's recordings, where you can get them, and how:

VJOLA: WORLD ON FOUR STRINGS - Ljova's debut album, featuring compositions for multitack'ed violas, is available on Amazon.com iTunes, Bandcamp, and other merchants.

MNEMOSYNE - the debut album of Ljova and the Kontraband, is available at Amazon.comas well as iTunes, CDBaby.com.

Both "Vjola: World on Four Strings" and "Mnemosyne" are also available as mp3 downloads from iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp, and many other websites.

SONGS WE SING TO BENJY -- the work-in-progress album of Inna Barmash and Ljova (a.k.a. BarmaLjova), is currently for sale via Bandcamp.com.

For reviews, please see here.
For Ljova's full discography, see here.

Sign up for Ljova's email list|| Follow Ljova on Twitter
Become a fan of Ljova and the Kontraband on Facebook

Thank you all!

stream and purchase all of Ljova's albums via Ljova's store on Bandcamp.com.
You can download the music in mp3, wav, flac, or just about any other audio format. Enjoy!

August 8: Ljova and the Kontraband perform at the American Museum of Natural History

August 10: Romashka at the JCC in Manhattan - Rooftop performance and screening of "Black Lamb", a feature film with a score by Ljova, performed by Romashka.

August 12: Ljova and the Kontraband make their Lincoln Center debut at the Rubenstein Atrium, as part of Target Free Thursdays - FREE!

August 14: Ljova and Clifton Hyde create a new score to D.W. Griffith's 1910 silent film "The Girl and Her Trust". Presented as part of Tunnel Vision, inside Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. (The event is now sold out.)

Join us!
For full details, see:
http://www.Ljova.com/schedule

Now streaming on Carnegie Hall's website -- a live recording of Ljova's song cycle, "Niña Dance", from its premiere on Carnegie Hall's Zankel stage.

Featuring: Sofia Rei Koutsovitis (vocal), conductor Alan Pierson, Ljova and a wonderful ensemble.

Click here to listen & enjoy.

Ljova and the Kontraband perform at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on three dates, as part of "Traveling the Silk Road" exhibition.

Join us May 2, June 6, June 13 and August 8, for 30-minute performances at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

For more information about tickets, see the Schedule.

BEER, BORSCHT & COMPANY
an evening of duets at The Ukrainian National Home Restaurant
featuring performances by:
BARMALJOVA (Inna Barmash & Ljova)
LUCÍA PULIDO & STOMU TAKEISHI
SXIP SHIREY & SARAH ALDEN
and a special guest!

Saturday March 13, at 7:30pm
Ukrainian National Home Restaurant
120 2nd Avenue (bet. 8&9 streets)
New York City:
Subway: 6 to Astor place, R/W to 8th Street
Tickets: $10 at the door

BARMALJOVA is the duet project of vocalist INNA BARMASH and violist/composer/arranger LEV 'LJOVA' ZHURBIN. Tonight, they will perform a set of folk songs from America, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Italy, France, and other lands. Some of these were arranged by Romantic-era composer Luciano Berio; others they found on their own.

LUCIA PULIDO is a Colombian singer with one of the richest voices on the international Latin American musical scene today. She has mined the musical traditions of her native Colombia and other Latin American countries in an ongoing search for a distinct, experimental style, and has participated in projects ranging from traditional Colombian music to jazz and "Nueva Canción" (New Song). Tonight, she performs with the eclectic bassist STOMU TAKEISHI.

SXIP SHIREY & SARAH ALDEN. will present 3 duets, a Moldavian number, a new piece for guitar and alternative tuned violin and an interpretation of a greek chorus from Euripides' Woman of Troy featuring voice, violin, melodica, reverse disc music box (the Mr. Christmas model), shruti box and color coded bells.

SPECIAL GUEST -- you'll have to come and find out!

(best enjoyed in full screen / HD)

MNEMOSYNE (It's autumn in the country I remember)
Music by Ljova (2007)
Lyrics by Trumbull Stickney (c. 1902)
Performed by Ljova and the Kontraband
featuring Inna Barmash (vocal)
and special guest, Frank London (trumpet)
Recorded by Peter Karl / Mixed by Anibal Kerpel / Mastered by Steven Berson
from the Kontraband's debut record album, Mnemosyne, available here.

Thank you to all of our friends and fans who made this double bill sell out in presales - not bad for a 9:30pm show on a school night, in the middle of two major Arts Presenter conferences!

We had a blast - see you next time! Thank you!

--Ljova [and the Kontraband]
P.S. We'll post a few videos from the show soon.
[UPDATE] videos from Joe's Pub 2010 have been added to the Kontraband's growing YouTube Playlist.

Our son, Benjamin Avram Zhurbin (or simply Benjy) was born on July 1, 2009 -- he wishes you a Happy Halloween, and wants you to check out his growing mini-slideshow.

Read an extensive interview with Ljova, at the website CompositionToday.

Aszure Barton & Artists
Directed and Choreographed by Aszure Barton
Music:Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin ("Less", from the album "Mnemosyne")
Lighting:Nicole Pearce
Costumes: Michelle Jank
DP & Editor: Kevin Freeman
Camera Operators: Aubrey Fernandez, Kevin Freeman

Ljova's score for Lev Polyakov's short animation "Only Love" won the "Best Original Score for Short Film" award at the 2009 Long Island International Film Expo.
Watch the 3-minute music trailer on YouTube.

Cynhops, for solo viola and dance.
Recorded at White Oak, Florida

THE ONE THAT I WANT
an epic 7-minute film musical drama, created in 16 days

starring:
Aléna Watters, Amy Verebay, Andrea Gallo, Richard Ugino

Directed by: Sean Gannet
Produced by: Virginia Cromie; associate produced by Jose Venutolo
Writen by: Ethan T Berlin & Eric Bryant
Music by: Ljova
Performed by: Ljova, Steve Tyler, Mathias Kunzli, Jeff Greenwald, Mike Savino & Ron Caswell

Filmed by Sasha Burdett, edited by Steve Tyler, choreographed by Melissa Rae Mahon

Premiering at RIPFEST, along with 5 other brand new shorts:
May 26, at 7, 8:15, and 9:30
Anthology Film Archives
New York NY
[thank you to all who came!]

Hi Friends -- a last-minute show has just been added to the schedule.
We hope you can make it!

FRANK LONDON BAND // LJOVA AND THE KONTRABAND double bill
January 8 at 8pm at MEHANATA (a.k.a. The Bulgarian Bar)
113 Ludlow Street, bet. Delancey & Rivington
Subway: F/J/M/Z to Delancey, V to 2nd Avenue
New York City
Tickets: $10 at the door

see you there!

Ljova was recently profiled on NPR's radio program All Things Considered, in the segment Musicians in Their Own Words. The interview focuses on inspiration for several of Ljova's compositions, relationship to the viola and tradition, and the art of "phoning it in".

Listen to the story -- Ljova: Giving the Viola a Chance.

In November, Ljova had the privilege of arranging orchestral music for the "Person of the Year" evening honoring Gloria Estefan, produced by Phil Ramone, featuring performances by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Americas with Alondra de la Parra, and special guests John Legend (pictured above), Patti Labelle, Jose Feliciano, Santana, Kenny G The Miami Sound Machine and others. See the slideshow.

MNEMOSYNE, the debut release by Ljova and the Kontraband, featuring guest apperances by Frank London, William Schimmel, Uli Geissendoerfer, Marcus Rojas, and Alon Yavnai, was released on September 28th, with a special performance at Joe's Pub, in New York.

For reviews, soundclips, and track listing, visit http://www.Ljova.com/mnemosyne

Get your copy of the CD via:
[CDBaby] [iTunes] [Amazon.com]

Thank you all!