Alexander Fiterstein Featured on New Sean Hickey Album

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein is a featured soloist on the new album "Sean Hickey: Concertos," scheduled for release on the Delos Music label on May 28, 2013. The album includes two concertos by American composer Mr. Hickey: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, which was commissioned by cellist Dmitry Kouzov and composed in 2008, andConcerto for Clarinet and Orchestra composed in 2006. Both pieces were recorded in St. Petersburg, Russia with conductor Vladimir Lande and the St. Petersburg State Symphony and the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra. This is the first all-orchestral recording of the works of Mr. Hickey.

Albums are available for pre-sale at Amazon, Arkiv, HBDirect, Itunes and CD Universe. A promotional trailer is also avialable for viewing on YouTube.

The Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra consists of three movements and utilizes elements from Scottish folk tunes The Cross of Inverness, Glenmoriston, and Hunter's House in the finale.New Music Connoisseur describes the concerto as being "... packed (with) many ideas ... without ever digressing from a solid thematic core. The second of the three movements was unique in effect, a restless, yet haunting recollection of life in the US heartland, while the frenzied finale was all metropolitan New York."

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein is recognized for playing that combines flawless technique and consummate musicianship with graceful phrasing and a warm soulful tone. Considered one of today's most exceptional clarinet players, he has performed in recital and with prestigious orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout the world. Recipient of a prestigious 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Fiterstein has been praised by The New York Times for possessing a "beautiful liquid clarity," and the Washington Post wrote, "Fiterstein treats his instrument as his own personal voice, dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility and range. Every sound he makes is finely measured without inhibiting expressiveness."

In the 2013-14 season Mr. Fiterstein will perform the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with conductor Michael Stern and the IRIS Orchestra. In December he will perform at the Kennedy Center with his ensemble, the Zimro Project, in a concert of rarely performed Russian Jewish chamber music, some of which has not been performed in public for close to 100 years. Mr. Fiterstein was also named Co-Artistic Director of the new Sedona Winter Musicfest, taking place in January in Carefree, Arizona. He will return to New York in April to perform with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Fiterstein will also perform the Weber Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with the Minnesota Sinfonia, and will travel to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to perform the Brahms Clarinet Quintet. He will perform with his Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein trio for University of Chicago Presents and the Civic Music Association in Iowa. Mr. Fiterstein will also perform with the Daedalus Quartet in Reading, Pennsylvania in January.

For a review copy of "Sean Hickey: Concertos" please contact Shuman Associates atshumanpr@shumanassociates.net.