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Come on an imaginary musical concert tour that breaks the rules from 18th Century London, England to the West Coast of Canada, through the music of two of the greatest 18th century German Baroque composers, J.S. Bach and G.P. Telemann. Cvetozar Vutev, as violinist and composer Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus' father), and Curtis Howell, as harpsichord player Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (one of J.S. Bach's sons), imagine how those two men’s meeting in London in 1764 could have revolutionized the concept of the concert tour. If playing other composers’ music is illegal, what option do they have but to go on a journey?
Violinist and composer Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus' father) and keyboard player Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (one of J.S. Bach's sons) meet in London, England in 1764.
Leopold stays in London for 6 months, while his 8-year-old son Wolfgang takes keyboard and composition lessons from another son of J.S. Bach, Johann Christian, known as the "London Bach". C.P.E. Bach, known as the "Berlin Bach", whose godfather was the German composer G. P. Telemann (a good friend of their father) comes to London to visit his brother and to look after his harpsichords, which were inherited from their father.
Having plenty of free time, Leopold Mozart and C.P.E. Bach decide to play some music for viola and harpsichord by C.P.E. Bach's father and godfather. In the meanwhile, Leopold finds a really nice modern harpsichord on sale in a music store in London, and he persuades C.P.E. Bach to purchase it.
The two musicians love playing together and decide to play a chamber concert in Hanover Square in London, playing the music of J. S. Bach and G. P. Telemann. This idea is quite revolutionary, since until this time no performing musicians would dare to perform in public music that has been composed by someone else. Knowing that by performing music that has not been composed by themselves, they are committing a crime—a violation of the copyrights of J.S. Bach and G.P. Telemann—they go ahead with the concert. They are then arrested and jailed.
Once released from jail, the two musical partners decide to go on a concert tour to Western Canada in 1765, again playing the music of J. S. Bach and G. P. Telemann..
After their successful concert tour, the entire music world realizes that performing music by other composers should not be considered a crime anymore. This opens the door for a new music performing tradition, which becomes a norm for future generations of musicians.
CURTIS HOWELL (Performer - C.P.E Bach) CVETOZAR VUTEV (Performer - Leopold Mozart)
Cvetozar Vutev has served as a concertmaster with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra and teaches violin, viola, and chamber music in the Kamloops Symphony Music School since 2005. He is a also the concertmaster of the Symphony of the Kootenays, member of the first violin section in the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, a choir instructor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, the music director of the Kamloops Brandenburg Orchestra, and the president of Chamber Musicians of Kamloops.
Cvetozar received a master's degree in violin performance and a doctorate in musicology and musical arts at Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia (Bulgaria). Over the last 35 years, Cvetozar has played in numerous solo, chamber, symphony, and opera performances across Europe, East Asia, and Canada.
As a violin player, he took part in the following Western Canada Theatre productions: The Last 5 Years, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Sound of Music. In 2017, Cvetozar received the Mayor’s Award for the Arts – Artist of the Year: Performing Arts.