The convergence of cataclysmic events of 2020 spurred cellist Inbal Segev to conceive an ambitious and inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, for which she asked 20 composers to document in music their responses to the challenges posed by the pandemic and social unrest.
The result is an utterly moving and immensely varied palette of strong and distinctive compositional voices spanning a range of ages, genders and cultures. Originally released over time as four digital EPs, all 20 compositions come together for the first time in a 2CD deluxe digipack and are capped by the premiere of Inbal's own work, Behold for cello quartet.
When Inbal conceived 20 for 2020, she could not have foreseen the scope of musical imagination from the 20 composers she asked to write works for her. Further pronouncing her passion for promoting new works for her instrument: "Art needs to move forward, otherwise it will die." Collectively these compositions celebrate a stunning array of music for the soulful sound of the cello in the 21st century.
Inbal Segev is 'a cellist with something to say' (Gramophone). Combining rich tone and technical mastery with rare dedication and intelligence, she has appeared with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony, collaborating with such prominent conductors as Marin Alsop, Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta. A co-curator of chamber music at the Baltimore Symphony's New Music Festival, she co-founded the Amerigo Trio with former New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus. Committed to reinvigorating the cello repertoire, she has commissioned new works from Timo Andres, Avner Dorman, Gity Razaz, Dan Visconti and Anna Clyne.
Recorded with Alsop and the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Avie Records, Segev's 2020 premiere recording of Clyne's new cello concerto, DANCE, was an instant success, topping the Amazon Classical Concertos chart and being chosen as one of NPR Music's 'Favorite Songs of 2020'. The cellist's discography also includes acclaimed albums of Bach's Cello Suites (Vox) and Romantic cello works (Avie), while her popular YouTube masterclass series, Musings with Inbal Segev, has thousands of subscribers around the world and more than a million views to date.
Segev's many honours include prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo and Washington International Competitions. A native of Israel, at 16 she was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her cello studies in the U.S., where she earned degrees from Yale University and the Juilliard School. Her cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.
Artists
Inbal Segev, Anna Polonsky, Timo Andres, Vivek Pandya, Mari Tanaka, Julien Labro, Vijay Iyer (piano), Ian Rosenbaum, Charlotte Mundy, Christopher Tyler Nickel, Charles Mueller (digitaleditingsecondengineer), Camille El Bacha, Jennifer Frautschi, Conrad Tao, Oren Fader, Stewart Goodyear (piano), Caleb van der Swaagh, Brook Speltz, Karen Ouzounian
Brooklyn Rider
