Joseph Petric reimagining the accordion

An extraordinary performer, Petric was eloquent in the most offbeat, moving and nostalgic of all the Sequenzas
Boston Globe
Sheer brilliance, mesmerizing … the opening combination of music and visuals stunning
Los Angeles Times
...astonishing bravura ... one wants to hear Valkare’s Accordion Concerto again...
Musical Opinion London
...a volcanic brew … molten fire and glowing... (Erosonic’s) astonishing musical resourcefulness was a feast of energetic sonority for the ears...
Halifax Sunday Herald

The Artist

The London debut of accordionist Joseph Petric – “...a performer of miraculous power and understated mastery” (Winnipeg Sun) – was acclaimed by The Independent, while his American debut merited a citation in “Performances of the Year” by the Washington Post’s Joseph D. McLellan. Mr. Petric's trajectory across the Classical concert hall includes solo appearances at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Bunkai Kaikan Hall and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. A forensic advocate for new creation his 360 commissioned works for the accordion reflect curatorial initiatives that have been compared to the artistic stewardship of the Kronos Quartet and London Sinfonietta.

Mr. Petric's concerto debut with the Toronto Symphony under Jukka Pekka Saraste began his concerto-led career and the performance of three concertos in one evening with the Victoria Symphony. He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, David Tudor and  the Penderecki String Quartet, and his discography of 47 CDs was cited for “stunning, powerhouse performances” (Fanfare).

A historian and published author with Augemus Press Mr Petric revived Giovanni Gagliardi’s forgotten 1911 Paris treatise Manualetto del Fisharmonicista with evidence of an embodied interpretive art before 1911. Mr. Petric is professor of graduate performance at the Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal (Québec) and plays a bespoke instrument modelled on the 1910 Italian Camerano built by Leo Niemi, 1996 in Canada.  

Mr. Petric lives in Upper Canada, Montreal and the Aegean coast.

The Reimagining

NEWS

August 17 -21  - les Anches Lyriques, (oboe, acc.,) Recording, Astrila label with Ari Cohen-Mann, oboe; works by Lepo Sumera, CPE Bach, Georg Telemann, Witold Lutoslawski, Maurice Ravel, Newmarket, Ontario.

 

September 8   - Universite de Montreal fall semester begins. 

 

September 19  - Les Anches Lyriques, Music at Noon, Maureen Forrester Hall, Wilfred Laurier University, Kitchener-Waterloo.

 

October 14-16 - Rehearsals and performance of Denis Gougeon's Concerto En Accordeon with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and conductor Jean-Michael Lavoie, Cinquieme Salle, Place des Artes, Montreal.

 

Departmental News, Universite de Montreal                                                                                                           

International student Julius Schepansky of Essen, Germany, was awarded the status of "Exceptional Recital" and a citation for the Prix du President du Jury by jury unanimity for his final Masters accordion recital, April 28. His recital included Ole Schmidt's Toccata (1967), Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas K 175 and 21, J.S. Bach Toccata in D major (ca. 1708), Joe Natoli's Toccata (1971), and Erik Ross's electroacoustic Leviathan (2008). Julius Schepansky has toured as soloist and chamber artist in 20 EU countries, Senegal and Bali. He has appeared at Montreal's Lichtenstein Hall, Salle Serge Garant and the Hamilton Philharmonic with conductor James Kahane. Upcoming performances include an appearance with Montreal's Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and solo performances and premieres for Canadian new music festivals.      

 

Joseph Petric gratefully acknowledges the generous support of:

Canada Council for the ArtsArts Nova ScotiaOntario Arts CouncilConseil des arts et des letters du QuébecToronto Arts CouncilSociété de musique contemporaine du QuébecSOCANCanadian Music CentreCBC Radio CanadaJohn Lewis PartnershipKoussevitzky Music FoundationLaidlaw FoundationNUMUS

...External Affairs Canada, The Svenska Reikskonzerter and the late Toronto philanthropist Roger Moore.