VIOLIN AND GUITAR DUO
About
Duo Sonidos brings together the talents of violinist, William Knuth and guitarist, Adam Levin.
The duo is a refreshing addition to the chamber music world, offering an approachable yet sophisticated combination for all chamber music audiences. By forging relationships with contemporary composers, Duo Sonidos has forwarded the mission of expanding the duo repertoire. As international prize winners, Levin and Knuth have performed worldwide, been honored as US Fulbright Scholars in the field of music performance in Madrid, Spain and Vienna, Austria respectively and have released recordings to international critical acclaim.
Critical Acclaim
“Duo Sonidos plays with a loose-limbed, easy virtuoso ‘cool’ and beguiling tonal warmth that combines laid back intuitiveness with classical sophistication... stunning performances from Duo Sonidos.”
– Julian Haylock, BBC Music Magazine, “US Choice Release”
“Knuth plays violin with perfect intonation, a wide range of timbre, sprightly rhythm, expressive phrasing, and great sensitivity. He never overwhelms his partner…and his affinity for this music is ideal. Levin is every bit as fine. This is exquisite music-making… an exciting discovery, recommended to all lovers of great chamber music playing.”
- Kenneth Keaton, American Record Guide
“At times relaxed and lyrical, at others fiery and exuberant, their playing reminds me so very much of a classically oriented Grappelli-Reinhardt collaboration. Both musicians involved are evidently highly trained virtuosi, but luckily for us, they don’t let that training get in the way of their sheer enjoyment of this material... Duo Sonidos plays with exactly the right balance of elegance and élan, never once falling into cheap showmanship for its own sake. These are really dedicated musicians who want people to enjoy what they’re doing, yet refuse to lower their standards in order to broaden that audience... an absolute gem.”
-- Lynn René Bayley, Fanfare Magazine
Biography
William Knuth, violinist
has earned recognition for his artistry as a solo and chamber musician and has been praised by American Record Guide for his “perfect intonation, wide range of timbre…expressive phrasing, and great sensitivity”. Mr. Knuth spent two years as a Fulbright scholar in Vienna, Austria studying at the Vienna Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst. He was a featured performer multiple times for members of the United Nations Council as well as foreign ambassadors from Russia, Spain, Germany, and Austria.
As a member of Duo Sonidos with guitarist Adam Levin, Knuth has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, and South America. In 2010, Knuth and Levin released their debut album Duo Sonidos and subsequently were awarded First Prize at the 2010 Luys Milan International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain. Julian Haylock of BBC Music Magazine chose Duo Sonidos as the “BBC Top Choice US Release Album” when he wrote: “Duo Sonidos plays with a loose-limbed, easy virtuoso ‘cool’ and beguiling tonal warmth that combines laid back intuitiveness with classical sophistication…stunning performances.”
Recent concerts in the US have included a debut at Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fundacao Oscar Americano Sao Paulo, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Harvard Sanders Theater, Boston WGBH Radio, Chicago WFMT Radio, WCNY Radio, NPR Radio, Mayne Stage Chicago, guest solo appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Boston International Guitarfest, and ensemble work with Discovery Ensemble, Signal Ensemble, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Harvard Group for New Music, IMPULS Festival Austria, June in Buffalo festival, and the Ojai Festival. Special projects have included collaborations with Steve Reich, Kaija Saariaho, Salvador Brotons, Eduardo Morales-Caso, Jorge Muniz, Phillip Glass, Julia Wolfe, David Lang, Lukas Foss, Norah Jones, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, Goldfrapp, David Byrne, and Jon Brion.
William holds a MM degree at the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied violin with Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet and Chamber Music with Eliot Fisk, a Fulbright certificate for work with Ernst Kovacic at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, and a BM from the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of Lynn Blakeslee.
Adam Levin, Classical Guitarist
has performed worldwide and been praised for his “visceral and imaginative performances” by the Washington Post. Levin has performed extensively across the United States at renowned venues such as Chicago’s Pick Staiger, Nichols, and Mayne Stage concert halls as well as at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago; Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, and Jordan Hall; Spivey Hall in Atlanta; repeat appearances at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City; and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In Europe, Levin has performed in some of the finest venues across Spain, and in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. In the 2017-2018 season, Levin makes several debut solo, chamber, and orchestral appearances in China, Finland, and Ireland as well as return appearances in Brazil and Spain. Adam Levin’s live performances have been featured nationally numerous times on NPR’s Performance Today, the nationally syndicated Classical Guitar Alive, and studio performances on top radio stations including WFMT Chicago and WCRB Boston.
The recipient of numerous top prizes, Adam Levin has been recognized by Associación Cultural Trujamán, the Society of American Musicians, the Lake Forest Concerto Competition, Minnesota’s Schubert Competition, Boston GuitarFest, and Certamen Internacional Luys Milan de Guitarra in Valencia. In 2008, Levin was honored as a Fulbright Scholar in the field of music performance, researching contemporary Spanish guitar repertoire in Madrid, Spain. He was awarded the Program for Cultural Cooperation Fellowship, promoting cultural understanding between Spain and the United States and the Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, for research and performance of contemporary Spanish music in Madrid. Levin has commissioned over 30 solo guitar works from four generations of Spanish composers and has completed three out of four planned albums for Naxos to document all of these works. Levin’s six albums to date have all received rave reviews from international guitar and classical music publications, including Classical Guitar Magazine, Soundboard, and BBC Music Magazine, among others.
A native of Chicago’s North Shore, Levin holds BM and BA degrees from Northwestern University in Music Performance, Psychology, and Pre-Med. Under the tutelage of Eliot Fisk, Levin completed a MM at New England Conservatory in Boston. His esteemed teachers have included Oscar Ghiglia, Gabriel Estarellas, Anne Waller, Mark Maxwell, and Paul Henry. Levin is co-director of the annual Boston Young Guitarists Workshop, co-founder of the not-for-profit organization, Kithara Project, and is a professor of guitar at the University of Rhode Island and the University of Massachusetts-Boston. Adam Levin is a D’Addario Artist and performs on a guitar by luthier Stephan Connor.
Downloads
