"Bebop for Beagles" by Benedikt Brydern Julia Sakharova, Violin Karen Bentley Pollick, Viola "Bebop for Beagles" was commissioned and premiered by Mark and Ute Miller, also known as Duo Renard, based in Dallas, Texas. The duet is a tribute to the couple’s pet beagles, Hoover and Roosevelt and their way of life. From utmost relaxation to frantic and playful moments - the two certainly knew how to make the best of life’s challenges. This “mini-suite” for violin and viola consists of 7 movements. The viola kicks off "Hoover’s Holiday" with a swinging and driving melody, picked up by the violin and developed into a “big band style “arrangement. "Cookies in Space" might be the ultimate dog fantasy – slow motion rotating, sweet treats – you can meditate over that during this slow interlude. "Purzelbaum" is the German word for “Somersault” and this piece plays around with meter changes and overjoyed gestures in double stops and melodic lines. Dog Park anyone? "Roosevelt’s Sun Shower": Sunbathing does have an important moment in a dog’s day (Cats like it too, by the way). And the blues seems to go nicely with it. The 5th movement, "Flea Control: Mission Impossible" definitely speaks for itself. A very fast 5/4 meter groove sets the pace and supports virtuosic melodic lines for both players. What Disneyland might be for children, the kitchen is certainly for dogs. Sneaking around and watching the refrigerator close and, more importantly, to open needs a dog’s full concentration. The "Kitchen Blues" pays tribute to that. The final movement "Bebop for Beagles" connects with the first in its “swinging” nature and drive. A short motif builds and leads to a solo middle section. Although it might sound improvised, all parts have been written out entirely. Triple stops in both instruments suggest a full horn section. Maybe it’s time to start dancing now. -Benedikt Brydern Recorded in Shoal Creek, Alabama on June 28, 2010 Engineer: Karen Bentley Pollick Editing and Mastering: Benedikt Brydern, Con Sordino Music "Bobik in Repose with Violin" Photo Credit: Karen Bentley Pollick Produced by Ariel Ventures c 2011 Benedikt Brydern studied violin and piano at the Richard-Strauss Academy of Music in Munich, Germany. He undertook private composition studies with Rumanian composer Stefan Zorzor.
He was selected out of 1000 applicants for Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival to perform in the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein in 1988. He returned to the Festival in 1990 to be part in the TV series “Orchestra!” hosted by Sir Georg Solti and Dudley Moore. After graduation in 1992 he received a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to continue his studies in the United States where he completed the Advanced Studies Program “Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television” at the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles. Among the instructors were Elmer Bernstein, Christopher Young, David Raksin and Bruce Broughton. During his year at USC he won an additional scholarship sponsored by BMI.
Since then he composed the music for Jon Voight’s film “The Tin Soldier”, the Miramax Documentary “Rhyme & Reason” and several award winning independent feature films. His latest project “Standing Ovation” produced by James Brolin will be released nationwide in July 2010. He won two Marmor Composition Awards sponsored by the Stanford University Music Department, the 2002 William Lincer Foundation Chamber Music Competition and in 2004 the Composer’s Symposium at the Bach Festival in Eugene, Ore., commissioned Brydern to compose a string trio in honor of George Crumb’s 75th birthday. Besides being a classically trained concert violinist he co-founded the “Hot Club Quartette” which pays tribute to the great music of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli. He owns a 1910 Stroh-viol, which he uses in “Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys” vintage band and a custom built electric violin for blues, rock and pop engagements. He played violin on various film, game and TV scores (“Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cats & Dogs 2, Command & Conquer”) As a Past President of the Rotary Club of Hollywood and a board member of the Harmony Project, a non-profit organization providing free music lessons to more than 700 under privileged children in the Los Angeles area, he connects with the community and shares his passion and love for music. For more information: www.consordino.com Violinist Julia Sakharova’s career has spanned 25 years, four continents, and numerous performances as a soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, and orchestral performer. Following her solo orchestral debut with the Moldova Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of eight, her early career included several concert tours on behalf of the Vladimir Spivakov Charity Foundation and solo performances with various orchestras throughout the former Soviet Union and United States. In 1999, after graduating from Moscow’s prestigious Central Special Music School under the renowned Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Ms. Sakharova moved to the U.S. to continue her education at Oberlin College, studying with Taras Gabora, Almita Vamos and Milan Vitek. A year later she made her West Coast solo debut at the Getty Center with composer and conductor John Williams and the Oberlin Orchestra. She was a founding member of the acclaimed Erato String Quartet, which won the first prize of the 2001 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition and gave numerous performances, most memorably at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. While earning a master’s degree from the Juilliard School studying with Donald Weilerstein, she made her New York City orchestral debut under the baton of Maestro Mark Stringer and the Juilliard Orchestra, as well as her chamber music debut at New York’s Alice Tully Hall. Recitals at Steinway Hall, Carnegie Hall, and other venues followed, as well as her South American solo debut with the Caracas Philharmonic Orchestra in Venezuela. Subsequently, she received a certificate for orchestral performance from the Manhattan School of Music studying with Glenn Dicterow and Lisa Kim of the New York Philharmonic. Her busy schedule has included tours, festivals, and competitions throughout her native Russia, Western and Southern Europe, Japan, Venezuela, and the United States. Most recently she has appeared with the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto 
and conducted master classes for students at the University of Iowa School of Music. Ms. Sakharova has participated in the recording of Rachmaninoff's Elegiaque Piano Trios on the Tavros Records label, and has also been recorded with other artists on Naxos Records’ release of works by the New York-based composer Sean Hickey, who dedicated Ampersand, a work for violin and piano, to Ms. Sakharova, which she debuted at a Steinway Hall recital. A variety of her other performances have also been featured in radio broadcasts on WQXR's “Young Artists Showcase,” KMZT's “Sundays Live” as well as on Cleveland's WCLV. Her competition credits include first prize at the International Competition for the Music of Eastern & Central Europe, Top Prize at the Olga Koussevitzky Competition for Strings, and a top prize at the Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition. Ms. Sakharova has also appeared at such festivals as the Music Academy of the West, Festival International de Colmar, the Verbier Festival & Academy, Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and Bowdoin International Music Festival. In recent seasons, Ms. Sakharova has been a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra prior to joining the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in 2008 as an Assistant Concertmaster. She continues to regularly act as a substitute with both the New York Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestras (where she was a finalist in the 2007 audition), and is frequently invited to perform with orchestras in the Southeastern region such as the Tupelo, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa Symphonies. As an active teacher, Ms. Sakharova is presently on the faculty of both Miles College and the Alabama School of Fine Arts, as well as a musician mentor at Carver High School in Birmingham. For more information: www.juliasakharova.com Karen Bentley Pollick has performed as violinist with Paul Dresher’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble since 1999 and performs a wide range of solo repertoire and styles on violin, viola, piano and Norwegian hardangerfele. A native of Palo Alto, California, she studied with Camilla Wicks in San Francisco and with Yuval Yaron, Josef Gingold and Rostislav Dubinsky at Indiana University where she received both Bachelors and Masters of Music Degrees in Violin Performance. She has several recordings of original music, including Electric Diamond, Angel, Konzerto and Succubus and Ariel View, for which she has received three music awards from Just Plain Folks, including Best Instrumental Album and Best Song. On her own record label Ariel Ventures she has produced Dancing Suite to Suite, <amberwood>, and Homage to Fiddlers. She filmed Dan Tepfer’s Solo Blues for Violin and Piano in Shoal Creek, Alabama, in June 2009. Pollick was concertmaster of the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1984 and has participated in the June in Buffalo and Wellesley Composers Conferences. She has appeared as soloist with Redwood Symphony in the world premiere of Swedish composer Ole Saxe’s Dance Suite for Violin and Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony, and orchestras in Panama, Russia, Alaska, New York and California. She has performed in recital with Russian pianist/composer Ivan Sokolov at the American Academy of Rome, Seattle and New York City, throughout the Czech Republic with cellist Dennis Parker at the American Spring Festival, and in England at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Along with choreographer Teri Weksler and percussionist John Scalici, Pollick received a Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham 2008 Interdisciplinary Grant to Individual Artists. Pollick received a grant from the Alabama State Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts for her March 2010 Solo Violin and Alternating Currents concerts in Birmingham and Seattle. With Australian pianist Lisa Moore, Pollick formed the duo Prophet Birds in spring 2009 and the Double Duo with Paul Dresher and Joel Davel. Pollick performs on a violin made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume in 1860 and a viola made in 1987 by William Whedbee. For more information: www.kbentley.com