Girma Yifrashewa
- Live at The Count's
- The Count’s
The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts
Monash University Clayton Campus
$10 - $25
Past Event
Making his Count’s debut is Ethiopia's Girma Yifrashewa, performing with members of Melbourne-based JAZmaris.
Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Girma Yifrashewa is a worthy new torchbearer of African pianism.
His highly personalized approach to the piano likens him to Ethiopian composer Emahoy Tsege Mariam, while his use of Ethiopian pentatonic scale within the Western Art Music format places his compositions in conversation with more academically minded work.
Traditionally Ethiopian in melody, cinematic in vision, and deep in beauty, his compositions occupy a lyrical middle ground between classical and jazz that is supremely listenable yet defies easy classification.
Yifrashewa emigrated to Italy where, while under the care of Caritas, his talent and desire to return to his studies in Bulgaria were discovered by the Christian Brothers. Through their support, he was able to return to the Sofia Conservatory in 1991, where he graduated with a Master’s in Piano under Professor Atanas Kurtev. It was in Bulgaria that he made an impact as a solo pianist, performing the works of Schumann, Schubert, Chopin, and Debussy, throughout the country until his return to East Africa in 1995. Since then, Yifrashewa has established himself a pre-eminent composer of Ethiopia, touring Africa and Europe extensively.
He will be supported by an opening set by Melbourne-based Ethio-jazz trio JAzmaris led by Daniel Seifu.
