The New York Times reported that, "the words 'superstar' and 'mandolinist' still look odd next to each other. Yet in the classical music world they are starting to be joined with some frequency. Avi Avital was nothing short of electric." The first mandolist nominated for a classical Grammy Award joins the adventurous Brooklyn Rider for an evening of virtuoso music for mandolin and strings.
Brooklyn Rider makes chamber music intense and immediate with rock-and-roll energy and vibrantly eclectic programs. Classical and pop critics alike credit the group with what NPR sums up as "recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.".
Defining the string quartet as a medium with deep historic roots and endless possibility for invention, they find equal inspiration in musical languages ranging from late Beethoven to Persian classical music to American roots music to the endlessly varied voices of living composers.
Avi Avital has been compared to Andres Segovia for his championship of his instrument and to Jascha Heifitz for his incredible virtuosity. Passionate and "explosively charismatic" (New York Times) in live performance, he is a driving force behind the reinvigoration of the mandolin repertory. More than 100 contemporary compositions have been written for him, 15 of them concertos including by Anna Clyne, Avner Dorman and Giovanni Sollima.