Highest clarinet art & trumpet dream sounds
The young Canadian clarinettist Virginia MacDonald is a real ‘shooting star’ of North American jazz. Born and raised in Toronto, she began playing the clarinet at the age of seven. She established herself as a highly recognised international soloist at a young age and regularly plays at the biggest festivals and in the most important clubs worldwide, such as the Detroit Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scotts, Duc des Lombards and many more. She has won numerous prizes, including the International Clarinetist Corona Competition in 2020. In 2023 she will be a guest soloist at the 50th anniversary of the International Clarinet Association in Denver. She has played with Harold Mabern, Ira Coleman, Geoff Keezer, Rodney Whitaker and Pat Labarbera, among others, and is a member of the very successful ‘Canadian Jazz Collective’ together with her father Kirk MacDonald. On this tour, she meets an absolute star of the trumpet scene: Stephane Belmondo is one of the most renowned trumpeters in Europe. He has lived in Paris since 1986 and played in Laurent Cugny's big band ‘Lumiéres’ as early as 1987, including on two of the band's albums with Gil Evans. Under Laurent Cugny, Belmondo also played in the Orchestre National de Jazz (‘Hommage a Miles Davis’ 1994). He accompanied Dee Dee Bridgewater for several years (album ‘Love and Peace’ on Verve 1994) and also played with Andy Emler (‘Sombritude’ 1999), Stéphane Grappelli (‘Michel Legrand et Stephane Grappelli’ 1992), Michel Legrand and many others. His album ‘Wonderland’ was released in 2004, for which he received a ‘Les Victoires du Jazz’ award. In 1994 he received the Prix Django Reinhardt, for the album ‘Hymne au Soleil’ he won both the ‘Les Victoires du Jazz’ award (2004) and the ‘Prix Boris Vian’ in 2003. Another ‘Les Victoires du Jazz’ followed in 2006 for ‘Influence’ with Yusef Lateef. In 2011, Belmondo played at several ‘Trumpet Summits’ with Roy Hargrove and Tom Harrell.
Advance booking: On site at the Sägewerk office (Mon.-Fri. 9-12 o'clock)
Reservation: Phone: +43 (0)6432 6164 E-mail: info@jazz-im-saegewerk.org
