CARLOS FRANZETTI From symphonies to big band jazz, from chamber works to Latin American music and film scores – Carlos Franzetti has no limits. He is the 2009 Latin Grammy® Award Winner in the category of Best Instrumental Album, a 2007 Latin Grammy® Nominee in the category of Best Instrumental Album, a 2006 Grammy® Nominee in the category of Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his opera, “Corpus Evita,” a double 2003 Grammy® Nominee for “Poeta de Arrabal,” in the categories of Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement, and the 2001 Latin Grammy® Award Winner for Best Tango Album, “Tango Fatal.” Carlos Franzetti has received many outstanding grants and awards, including the 2002 New Jersey Council on the Arts Composers’ Fellowship, The Yamaha Composers Award, The Trofeu Laus from Spain, a Clio Award, The Prensario Award, ACE Award and Premio Konex from Argentina, The Foundation for New American Music, The Penfield Music Commission Project, several grants from Meet The Composer, and two gold records. Mr. Franzetti adjudicates for SGAE and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. Carlos Franzetti’s compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by the International Sejong Soloists, the New World Symphony, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas the Moab Music Festival, and the Queens Symphony Orchestra; he conducted his arrangements of music by Steve Kuhn (with Mr. Kuhn performing) at the Caramoor Festival. Collaborations with major orchestras include the opening concert of the VI International Music Festival in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon with the Orquesta de la Plata, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony (Washington, D.C.), the St. Louis Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the National Symphony of Mexico, the National Symphony of Argentina, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the Czech National Symphony, the City of Prague Philharmonic, the Modus Chamber Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Bratislava Radio Orchestra, and orchestras in Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Sweden, Norway and France. He performs and records with jazz artists Arturo Sandoval, Steve Kuhn, David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard, Jane Monheit, Jon Faddis, Ruben Blades and Paquito D’Rivera and scores films for major producers and directors Sidney Lumet, Alan Pakula, Jerry Schatzberg, Harry Belafonte, and Edgardo Cozarinsky. Credits include “La Pelicula del Rey,” “Q&A,” “Misunderstood,” “Beat Street,” “The Mambo Kings,” “See You in the Morning,” “Dans le rouge du couchant,” “Ronda Nocturna,” and “Tango Fatal.” Recent recordings include "Puñaladas en el alma" with the renowned Catalonian singer Dyango on Sony Records, "Unica" with Puerto Rican singing sensation India, “Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 2” with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra on Amapola Records and a solo jazz piano recording, “Mambo Tango,” on Sunnyside Records. 2008 recordings include “Film Noir” on Sunnyside Records and “Duets” with Eddie Gomez on Acqua Records. 2007 recordings are “The Carlos Franzetti Trio Live In Buenos Aires” on Amapola Records, “Graffiti” on Sonorama Records, and “Scenes of Spirits” with the Graham Ashton Ensemble on Signum Records. 2006 recordings include “Songs for Lovers” on Chesky Records. 2005 recordings by Carlos Franzetti are “Corpus Evita, an Opera in Two Acts” on Amapola Records and “Carlos Franzetti and the Jazz Kamerata,” on Chesky Records. 2004 recordings are his double CD, “Reflexiones,” on Amapola Records, “Promises Kept” with Steve Kuhn on ECM Records, and the Grammy® Nominee/Latin Grammy® Winner “Coral” with David Sanchez on Sony Records. “Carlos Franzetti - You Must Believe in Spring” was released on Amapola Records in May 2003 and EMI Argentina in October 2004. He conducted, arranged, and co-produced the 1997 Grammy® Award Winner, “Portraits of Cuba” for Chesky Records. Music Director of Orquesta Nova, his 2 CDs for Chesky Records received international critical acclaim. Several works are included on “Images Before Dawn – Symphonic Music of Carlos Franzetti,” for Premier Recordings. World premieres and recordings of his compositions include “Gauchito and the Pony,” an opera for children, “Concierto del Plata” for guitar and chamber orchestra, released by Klavier Records, “Millenium Concerto for Flute and Orchestra,” commissioned by the Municipal Government of Buenos Aires, Argentina and premiered in September 1999, and “Piano Concerto No. 2,” commissioned by the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires as part of their 50th Anniversary season and premiered in September, 1996 at the Teatro Colon. This concerto is included on a CD with “Sinfonia No. 1,” released by Amapola Records. Sinfonia No. 1” was performed by the Bratislava Radio Orchestra in November 2000, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon in July 2003, and the National Symphony of Mexico in February 2005. Other projects include the 1999 Grammy® Award Nominee, “Remembrances,” for Chesky Records, the 1999 Grammy® Award Nominee, “Obsesion,” for Sony Records, produced by Branford Marsalis, “Tango” with the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, released on DMP Records, and the 2002 Latin Grammy® Nominee “Tango Bar” on Chesky Records. A citizen of the United States for many years, Carlos Franzetti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1948. He began his musical studies at age 6 at the National Conservatory in Buenos Aires. He later studied piano privately with Guillermo Iscla and Lucia Maranca and composition with Manuel Juarez. During the years 1971 - 1973 he studied composition with Humberto Hernandez Medrano in Mexico. After coming to the United States in 1974, he studied conducting with Vincent LaSelva at the Juilliard School. Biographies of Carlos Franzetti are listed in Latin American Classical Composers Second Edition by Michel Ficher and Furman Schleifer, published by Scarecrow Press, Maryland 2002, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, published by MacMillan Press Ltd., London 1988, Diccionario de Compositores, published by La Nacion/Corregidor, Buenos Aires 1998, and Chronology of Western Classical Music Volume 2 by Charles J. Hall, published by Rutledge Great Britain Taylor & Francis Books, Inc. ALLISON BREWSTER FRANZETTI A multiple Grammy® Nominee and 2008 Grammy® Nominee for Best Instrumental Soloist without Orchestra, pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti has received international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her stunning virtuosity and musicality, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performances include the Grammy® Awards Classical Music Tribute to Earl Wild and Lang Lang at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, the Robert Schumann Festival at the Marcella Sembrich Museum in Lake George, New York, the Campeche Festival in Mexico and at the opening of the VI International Festival of Music at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has also been a guest artist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic (featured on NBC-TV News), the Long Island Philharmonic, the English Sinfonia, the City of Prague Philharmonic, the Denver Symphony, the Colonial Symphony playing her own arrangement for solo piano and orchestra of Camille St. Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals,” the European Women’s Orchestra, and the Adelphi Orchestra, amongst others. She has played the world premiere of “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Carlos Franzetti at the Teatro Colon with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires conducted by Javier LoGioia Urbe, commissioned for Ms. Brewster Franzetti as part of their 50th anniversary season, the European premiere with the Janacek Philharmonic conducted by Dennis Burkh, and the US premiere with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos. Solo recital performances include her critically acclaimed debuts at Merkin Hall in New York and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, her recital debut at the prestigious Wigmore Hall in London, and tours throughout the US, Mexico, Europe, Argentina and Japan. Ms. Brewster Franzetti is the piano soloist on the soundtracks of the 2006 American/Argentine film, “Tango Fatal,” the 2005 Argentine/French film, “Ronda Nocturna,” and the 2003 French/Spanish film, “Dans le rouge du couchant.” Allison Brewster Franzetti's many CDs include an upcoming series of solo piano music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg to be released by Naxos. In 2010 her CD, "Maurice Ravel - Ma Mere L'Oye, Valses nobles et sentimentales and Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2" was released on Amapola Records. In 2009 “Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 2” by Carlos Franzetti on Amapola Records. Her Grammy®-Nominated CD, “20th Century Piano Sonatas,” was released on the Naxos label in July 2007. Her CD with flutist Kimberly McCoul Risinger, “Sonata Fantasy,” was released on Albany Records in November 2007. Her double concerto CD, “Reflexiones,” was released on Amapola Records. She is the 2003 Grammy® Award Nominee for “Poeta de Arrabal” on Amapola Records for Best Classical Crossover Album and the 2002 Latin Grammy® Award Nominee for “Tango Bar” on Chesky Records for Best Tango Album. Other solo CDs are “South American Landscapes” on Premier Recordings, “Scriabin/Ravel/deFalla” on Amapola Records and “The Unknown Piazzolla” on Chesky Records. Also available on Amapola Records is her world-premiere recording of “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Carlos Franzetti with the Janacek Philharmonic. She is a featured soloist on the 2001 Latin Grammy® Award Winner, “Tango Fatal” on Amapola Records, “Images Before Dawn – Symphonic Music of Carlos Franzetti” on Premier Recordings, and the 1997 Grammy® Award Winner, “Portraits of Cuba” on Chesky Records. She has recorded two major works by Roberto Sierra, “El Mensajero de Plata” and “Bayoan,” with the Bronx Arts Ensemble for Newport Classics and Albany Records. She has also recorded Latin American and English chamber music for the Musical Heritage Society. An accomplished accompanist and chamber musician, Allison Brewster Franzetti has collaborated with some of the finest performers and composers in the world, including Sir James Galway, John Corigliano, Stephen Paulus, Lowell Liebermann, Melinda Wagner, Paul Moravec, Jennifer Higdon, Robert Aldridge, Victoria Bond, David Maslanka, Ransom Wilson, Eugenia Zukerman, Julius Baker, Robert White, and members of major US and international symphony orchestras. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, festivals in the United States, Mexico and Europe, and on radio and television. Ms. Brewster Franzetti is the author of synopses for the book, “101 Opera Librettos,” published by Black Dog & Leventhal in New York. She writes liner notes for Amapola Records, Chesky Records, Milan Records, and Premier Recordings. Born in New York City, Allison Brewster Franzetti received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. She is a doctoral candidate at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She has won first prizes from the Paderewski Foundation and the Piano Teachers Congress of New York as well as awards from the Kosciuszko Foundation and the Denver Symphony Orchestra. She was the recipient of two HEART (History, Education, Arts – Reaching Thousands) Grants from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Starr Foundation. Ms. Brewster Franzetti was appointed Concert Artist in Piano and Chamber Music at Kean University in 2001 and was elected to the honor society Phi Kappa Phi in 2002. Kean University bestowed its first Graduate Commencement Performing Artist Award on Ms. Brewster Franzetti in 2003. She joined the faculty of Montclair State University in 2007. Allison Brewster Franzetti served on the board of directors for ArtPride, an organization that supports arts advocacy in the state of New Jersey. She currently serves on the advisory board of Arts High in Newark, New Jersey.