Here is a low-fi teaser recorded by one of the techs during warm-up on his iphone! Watch it here
Here are some of the vintage keyboards MK plays on the new album TIME? WHAT'S TIME? This is the basic set-up for the soon to be launched MUSIC ALCHEMY tour! Hope you enjoy these, Cheers!
SKATEBOARDING Champion BOB BURNQUIST and MK's Amazonica album as soundtrack to awesome skateboarding video! Cheers, Bob! Check out the album TIME? WHAT'S TIME? Track 16 for a new, hypnotic version of the piece! "And We Are Still Not Listening..."
Time? What's Time? on Jambands Radio Chart! Less than two weeks after its release, Time? is cruising the radio waves at No. 16 :) The album and tracks can be bought at MyStore right here, Amazon, iTunes, Napster... Cheers! Check it out!
An amazing young artist on his way to a beautiful career for sure. Heath Marks did such a wonderful job with the artwork for Time? What's Time? He simply paints the music... Thank you, Heath! Here is the link to Heath's site, cheers!
Exciting News!
Hey Everyone! Time? What’s Time? is finally here! The music video for the album’s track, “The Calling,” is now available to watch on YouTube as well! Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V0s-bcXBss The Album is now officially released and available from my personal store here:http://bit.ly/PremiumPackage. The album is also available on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, and others. The physical record (when purchased from www.miguelkertsman.com), comes with: a companion computer game, “Coniclysm” by ZoopTek, 8 panels of original images, a complete booklet, lyrics, and a digital wall-paper gallery of the artwork! Would love to hear what you all think of the album! Cheers!
Check out the Miguel Kertsman YouTube channel here:http://www.youtube.com/user/MiguelKertsman
A cool link! If you dig Mahler, Electronic Music, Remixing, Nietsche, and NPR Radio check out WNYC's New Sounds with radio host John Schaeffer, featuring MK's revisiting of Gustav Mahler's 3rd Symphony and the RCA Victor album Rhythmic Fission. MK's work is featured at 0:45 - 1:45, at the program's intro, and then at 15:05. Click on "Listen to entire show." It's all very interesting!
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/newsounds/episodes/2009/04/19
Bassoon Virtuoso Martin Kuuskmann releases new album "Nonstop" featuring Miguel Kertsman's "Nocturne and Lullaby." Martin has recently performed Berio's Sequenza XII for Bassoon with the New York Philharmonic and has been referred by the press as the "Jimi Hendrix of the Bassoon"
http://www.erpmusic.com/p_Nonstop.htm
New PC video game CONICLYSM by ZoopTek featuring Miguel Kertsman's album Time? What's Time as soundtrack. About the game: A Multiverse in a constant state of flow... conflict, adapt, evolve...
http://store.steampowered.com/app/39900/
Robert De Niro's Tribeca and Flashpoint Academy of Media Arts join as Tribeca Flashpoint! We are all very proud of being a part of, and excited about this new cooperation which is surely to produce fantastic synergies for our students, and everyone involved! Check out http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/and http://www.flashpointacademy.com Cheers!
NEWS, UPDATES & SPECIAL EVENTS
“The World Premiere of the Children's Music Theater piece O Saci”
August 27, 28, 29, 2009:
O Saci, Miguel Kertsman's Children's Music Play premieres in London's Covent Garden with great success.
Click here for the latest press on the O Saci world-premiere!
Click here for more on the World Premiere of the Chidren's Muisc Theater piece O Saci, or visit the Orchestra of St. Paul's website!
“The World of the Vienna Philharmonic”
January 1, 2009:
Miguel Kertsman appears on new documentary about the legendary Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
New Year's Day broadcast in Europe preceding the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert -- one of the world’s top televised events.
“The World of the Vienna Philharmonic” Miguel Kertsman speaks about the orchestra’s singular sound, the famous Musikverein Concert Hall in Vienna, and the music creation process. Classical music stars such as Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and others appear and speak on the documentary celebrating the Vienna Philharmonic legacy and its impact on the music world. TV broadcast across Europe prior to the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert -- one of the world’s top televised events.
Upcoming Unitel DVD release in 2009
A program of deliciously vibrant and nostalgic classic “Choros” from Brazil’s Belle Epoque, and Chamber Jazz compositions by composer and pianist Miguel Kertsman. Kertsman is joined by bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann and flutist Shinpei Inoue, bringing this music to life in a uniquely intimate, fresh, and progressive approach. From traditional Chorinhos of Rio de Janeiro’s golden days, to progressive textures, Mr. Kertsman’s unique compositional idiom, and indeed improvisation, this musical experience will not only transport the listener back to the sensuous salons of old Rio, but also propel one’s imagination into new musical landscapes.
Concert and Live Radio Broacast: MIGUEL KERTSMAN, PIANO
with MARTIN KUUSKMANN, BASSOON, and SHINPEI INOUE, FLUTE
Interview with PianoForte
PianoForte recently interviewed Mr. Kertsman about his experiences with music, and got some excellent and thorough responses. See below for the full Q&A!
PianoForte: How did you become interested in playing music? Was there a certain event in your life that inspired you to start playing, or did it just come naturally?
Miguel Kertsman: Growing up in Brazil, one gets exposed to music almost everywhere… on the streets, at the beach and the work space. People sing a lot and there is always some type of folk musical manifestation around you. Perhaps that contributed as further incentive to become interested in music — further because music was also very much part of our household as both my mother and older sister played the piano. My father was not musical but loved to sing and loved music as well.
At about age 7, I decided to play the guitar but fell in love with keyboard instruments — organ, piano and harpsichord but very quickly switching to the piano and organ. I did not pursue music 100%, however, until I was in college and at age 19 I finally left the electrical engineering university (which at that time was a coveted school with a competitive ratio of 23 to 1 to even get in) for a music school.
PF: Who and/or what where your influences? Who inspired you and encouraged you?
MK: It would be too many to mention…at some point very early on, the incredibly rich folklore of Brazil, the Viennese waltzes and Hungarian dances my grandparents loved, Bach and Beethoven mainly. Not long after, progressive rock, fusion jazz, bop, cool, experimental, electronic, contemporary music and just about every composer I have heard - from Mahler to Ligeti. 
I had some incentive from home, not much at the beginning but much more later on, and there were a couple of relatives and dear friends in New York who were absolutely wonderful in making sure I would not leave the music path for other more “logical” or perhaps “easier” choices. I am forever grateful.
PF: I see you have an extensive repertoire! What are your favorite pieces to play and why? Do you even have a favorite?
MK: I remember already in my early 20’s in New York, I would be doing a studio session as an arranger and keyboardist for a club house music record, and playing a flute and organ recital at a Park Avenue Church during the session break in the same evening! I was also founding the jazz ensemble Amazonica Universal Orchestra at that time and writing a Tone Poem for orchestra — all at the same period. It may sound like spreading oneself thin, but it really is not.
Yes, the repertoire is extensive and it will always be. There are areas I can enjoy more deeply at one point in time or another, such as writing new music for the concert stage, doing an experimental electronic studio project or playing progressive jazz or in a chamber music setting. I would not really be able to say I have a “favorite”.
I would make an analogy as going to a great home-cooking pasta place in the Italian countryside: you love pasta and everything they have there is great and gives you much pleasure. Nuances may be different between one type of pasta or another, but in the end the experience will be equally wonderful.
Still, if I had to really pick one, it would probably be writing a new piece and simply sitting back and watching what a group of musicians and/or soloist may do and add to the music; to experience other people conveying that message in their own way.
PF: Music has been said to be the food of love and the universal language.
MK: Indeed — “universal music” has long become almost a jargon. I have always seen it that way. My first tour in Brazil at age 17 or 18 was a program called “Musica” — it featured only original works performed on the organ, piano, synthesizers and a drummer/percussionist where genres and labels did not mean anything. All proceeds went to charity to help drought victims in the remote countryside. Music brings - it certainly can if we all as a global group of Earth residents allow it - the world and people together. We are all in tune with a wonderful dimension, and sharing that dimension by creating and communicating together.
Music has always been universal to me. Genres and styles do not matter. It is about what one feels, hears, and wants or needs to communicate and be communicate to in return. It is a wonderful synergy.
PF: Name one “fun fact” about yourself.
MK: I guess deep down I will always be a kid, and very much enjoy crunchy snacks sometimes after already having a dessert!