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A film by Kevin Lucas & Aanya
Whitehead
The
effortless virtuosity and scintillating musicianship of Slava
Grigoryan have been attracting attention since his emergence
as a concert soloist at the age of 14, when he gave his formal
debut recital. Slava, previously a SONY CLASSICS recording
artist, has in the last two years running won the ARIA for
Best Classical Album with two new releases on ABC Classics.
Born
in Khazakstan in 1976, and raised in Melbourne, Australia,
Slava Grigoryan began guitar studies at the age of five (soon
after emigrating) with his professional violinist father as
his sole teacher. By the age of eight he was performing publicly,
and by 12 he was the guitar soloist with the Melbourne Mandolin
Orchestra, with whom he toured Japan and Europe over the next
few years, receiving many standing ovations. He made his formal
debut as a solo guitarist at a recital in Sydney when he was
14.
The
Grigoryan family's musical lineage is like an evolving fugue;
with the arrival of each new generation the theme becomes
more developed and unpredictable as it weaves in the next
intriguing melodic line to counterpoint the previous generations
efforts.
The
film will explore the nature and depth of this Grigoryan musical
lineage, running over several generations. It will reflect
on the impact of the political landscape they lived through
in Russia and Kazakhstan over the past 80 or so years since
the revolution, and how it effected their musical and personal
lives. It will also examine the close bond of his parent's
two families, who all migrated en masse to Australia
in 1981.
Slava
will travel back to Kazakhstan ( his birth place) and Russia
to meet more of his musical relatives, some of whom continue
to work professionally, like his 73 year-old uncle, a cellist
in one of Russia's leading Symphony Orchestras.
Both
Slava's parents, Eduard and Irena, are professional musicians,
as were his father's parents. Also, Eduard's mother was one
of twelve children - all professional musicians - including
one of the uncles who was the top saxophone players in Russia
in the 60's and used to travel the world playing jazz. Slava's
father, like his own father, is a gifted musician and multi-instrumentalist
who has played in orchestras, ensembles, string quartets,
and jazz-fusion bands. For Slava's part he was already an
outstanding classical guitarist as a teenager, winning competitions
around the world. As a composer and performer his musicality
reflects a mixture of classical and jazz, no doubt carrying
on the traditions of his forebears. And then there's his 17
year-old brother, Leonard, another budding guitarist who,
by all accounts, won't remain hiding in the wings for long.
The
film will in part be structured around Slava's (and other
family members) performance of sections of Tchaikovskys's
Seasons, which his father has painstakingly transcribed
for guitar over the past few years and which he claims, outside
of Slava, few guitarists have the technical facility to play.
It will also feature some informal performances that develop
around family and friends natural interaction.
Duration:
1 hour
Format:
Digital 16:9
Production:
TBF
Contact us
for a briefing document
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