Fragments Transcending

Richter Uzur Duo are:

Brad Richter (guitar) and Viktor Uzur (cello)

“One of the most exciting duos on the scene today”¦. The duo performs with effortless precision and musicality”¦. The interplay between the two is playful yet stunning”¦. It grooves, it sings, its fresh, and exciting; this music has it all.” – Brad Conroy, Guitar International

Brad Richter (guitar) and Viktor Uzur (cello) are virtuoso musicians having trained at the Royal College of Music and the Moscow Conservatory respectively. In the U.S. the duo is perhaps best known through its regular appearances on NPR’s Performance Today. Throughout North America and Europe, guitarist Brad Richter has also performed as a soloist, with renowned chamber ensembles, and in duos with artists such as Grammy winning cellist David Finckel of the Emerson String Quartet. It is for David Finckel that he composed Fragments Descending which he also recorded with him. Fragments Transcending is based on Tibetan and Navajo spiritualism and, specifically, a book by Peter Gold, Circle of the Spirit (Ancient Tibetan and Navajo Wisdom) which relates the close connections between these two cultures. Brad has been featured and on the cover of Classical Guitar magazine. Viktor Uzur has also toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician and had been principal cellist and soloist with the ARCO Moscow Chamber Orchestra.

Fragments Transcending was commissioned by David Finckel and premiered by Brad and David in 2003. It was inspired by Navajo and Tibetan culture and the astounding similarities between their languages and mythology, their art and spirituality, and ultimately, unfortunately, their fate. They are connected by what author Peter Gold refers to as “the universal principles of the circle of the spirit:” the awakening to one’s connection to the fabric of existence and the balancing and unifying of earth with spirit. While Brad’s experience with Tibetan culture is largely through books, he has learned about many aspects of Navajo culture first-hand. For the past 10 years, he has spent several weeks each year as an artist in residence on Arizona’s Navajo reservation.

La Folia (Renaissance Theme) – Richter/Uzur

Ironwood – Richter/Uzur

Elation – Richter (guitar solo)

Suite III for solo Cello – J.S. Bach

• Prelude (cello solo)

I am the Walrus – Lennon/McCartney (arr. Richter/Uzur)

Romanian Folk Dances – Bartok

Fragments Transcending – Richter

• Facing East
• Circles

Almost October– Richter/Uzur

Balkan Express – Richter/Uzur

• Kolo Fugato
• Zeijdi Zeijdi
• Carpathian Kolo