Music
Press
"When I asked a friend to accompany me to a concert last night, a friend who had never heard of the Kosmos ensemble, this was what I said to her: ‘Imagine everything that is great about music, the rigour of the classical repertoire, the tunefulness of folk music, the willingness to seek the new in modern, and above all, the source of music itself, the passions of the human spirit, that is what Kosmos is about’, she happily accompanied me, intrigued.
Our only disappointment was that it did not last forever. Kosmos involves you like no other music I know. It takes you into itself. The music waits on a precipice, over which you both yearn and fear to fall. The music soars, you soar too; the music is playful, you find yourself laughing. There’s a moment when they even create the song of a lark: you cannot believe how creative these musicians are.
In fact, that’s exactly what sets these musicians apart. All three – Meg Hamilton on the viola, Harriet Mackenzie on the violin, the Serbian Milos Milivojevic on the accordion – are classically trained, and the virtuoso pieces are phenomenal. But what they have done, quite literally, is to travel the world (‘Kosmos’ means ‘world’, ‘order’, ‘beauty’ in Greek), seeking out its oldest and most enduring music, and create something quite new and magical, something you have to hear to believe."
Olivia Fane - Worthing Herald
"revelatory..... their wild synthesis of tango arrangements, Jewish folk songs, Leonard Bernstein riffs and improvised takes on Vaughan Williams was an unexpected gift: brilliantly done with style and spunk" - The Telegraph
"revelatory..... their wild synthesis of tango arrangements, Jewish folk songs, Leonard Bernstein riffs and improvised takes on Vaughan Williams was an unexpected gift: brilliantly done with style and spunk" - The Telegraph
Discography
Mazi Mazi (CD recording), radio play on BBC Radio 3, Radio London, Radio Cambridge and Jersey Radio
Pomegranate (CD recording), radio play on BBC Radio 3
Photos
Bio
Kosmos has performed all over Europe as well as at the UK’s most prestigious music festivals and venues, notably London’s Southbank Centre, London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, Kings Place, Leeds International Concert Season, Oundel, Ryedale, Swaledale, Deal, Wales and Wimbledon International Festivals, live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and Radio London. Highlights in 2013 include tours of Scotland and the Channel Islands.
Each member of Kosmos is a soloist in their own right and brings their own individual flavour to the group. The members of the group are brought together by a shared passion for different world musics and improvisation as well as the rigours of classical training: Harriet is an international soloist with a particular interest in contemporary music, Meg is a unique viola player specialising in world music styles and Milos is an International competition winner on the classical accordion.
“Revelatory.....their wild synthesis of tango arrangements, Jewish folk songs, Leonard Bernstein riffs and improvised takes on Vaughan Williams was an unexpected gift: brilliantly done with style and spunk.” - Michael White, The Telegraph.
Individual Biographies:
Harriet Mackenzie
Harriet has toured Europe, America, China, South America, South Africa and Japan as a concerto soloist and chamber musician. Harriet made her highly acclaimed Purcell room debut as part of the Park Lane Young Artists Series. Since then she has given recitals worldwide in prestigious venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and the Expo Dome in Japan. She premiered Robert Fokkens violin concerto, written and dedicated to her, at the South Bank Centre, London. Harriet was also the dedicatee of Graham Coatman's violin concert based on Balkan themes, which she performed at the Swaledale Festival 2012. Harriet regularly performs concertos both in England and abroad. She has broadcast recitals 'live' for BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and for Hungarian National Radio. Harriet graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with First Class honours, M.Mus and DipRAM - the highest honour for graduates.
"Searing intensity... a performance full of panache... captivating" - The Strad
Meg Hamilton
Kosmos bridges Meg's western and non-western music worlds, while providing opportunities for daring creativity, group composing, cross-genre arranging, and in particular freedom either to use or abandon rules and labels. Most memorable performances have been at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Munich's gasteig, Aldeburgh’s Snape proms, Glastonbury festival, and while touring the British Islands (Scotland/ Channel Islands/Ireland). Collaborations in UK include concerts and recordings of klezmer and Balkan music with She'Koyokh, Yiddish song with Hilda Bronstein, Jewish pop with Oi Va Voi, Greek and Turkish music with Cigdem Aslan, Arabic classical and traditonal music with Lebanese singer Abdul Salam Khier, as well as Romanian lautareasca music with Monooka’s Caravan. With La Tipica Flamenco Company, she blends Gypsy with contemporary and the project has led to innovative flamenco collaborations with Kosmos. London’s Turkish violinist and music educator Cahit Baylav and his Nihavent Ensemble inspired Meg to spend time in Turkey to learn the Ottoman tradition of Turkish Art Music, alongside Armenian, Kurdish, Alevi and Persian, folk and pop music. Her experiences and discoveries are channeled into the ever evolving ingredients in the Kosmos Kauldron...
Milos Milivojevic
Serbian born accordionist Milos Milivojevic is a first prize winner at International Competitions in Germany, France, Italy and Denmark. In Serbia he studied with Vojin Vasovic and with Owen Murray at the Royal Academy of Music where he graduated and was awarded with Dip RAM. In 2007 he became the first accordionist ever to win the RAM Club Prize at the Academy open to all instrumentalists and in the 2008 was the Winner of the prestigious Derek Butler London Prize at the Wigmore Hall - contested by students from all four of the London conservatories. He has given many solo, chamber music and concerto performances in Serbia, Montenegro, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Canary Iceland, Iceland, Malta, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Milos has performed in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Purcell Room, St John Smith Square, St James Piccadilly, St Martin in the Fields and has performed at the Foundation Day, an award ceremony attended by HRH The Princess Royal. “A hurricane of imaginative invention” Hilary Finch, The Times
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