THE ARTISTS

Elizabeth Harington

was born of British parents in Pretoria South Africa. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at the University of the Witwatersand, Johannesburg, South Africa in 1964. In 1965-66 for 2 years postgraduate study she pursued a Bachelor of Music degree excelling at the piano. Harington developed a deep interest in the musical interpretation of a score, focusing on the relationship between art and music. She has been productive as an artist, teacher and printmaker. Harington has shown internationally in Norway, Sweden, Spain, Poland Germany, South Africa, Australia and Japan, as well as throughout the United States. Her works are presented in many prominent collections including those of Columbia University, Harvard University, New York Public Library and Christies International. She is a recipient of many awards including a Gottlieb Foundation Award and the Pollock Krasner in 1991 and 1995.

Barbara Siesel

is the Artistic Director of the Storm King Music Festival and a founder of Art Culture & Technology (ACT). She is a Flutist who performs traditionally and is also active in experimental new media and performance projects. She has appeared as a soloist in the principal halls of China, Korea, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the United States; including three weeks at the Central Conservatory of Beijing. Ms. Siesel created and directed the first interdisciplinary program at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida. In 1982, she co-founded the Andiamo Chamber Ensemble, where she commissioned and premiered works by Aaron Kernis, Michael Torke, Zhou Long, and Stefania de Kenessey. She has created classical music videos, and can be heard on CRI, Opus One and BMG. Ms. Siesel is currently working with composer Sidney Corbett on a new media performance in full evening recital. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School under Samuel Baron, and had further studies with Julius Baker, Gerardo Levy and Thomas Nifenger; and master classes with Jean Pierre Rampal and James Galway.

The New Century Saxophone Quartet

continues to extend the boundaries of chamber music with concert performances and a recording of the complete Art of Fugue of J.S. Bach. The have been heard in major concert venues and on radio and television throughout the Americas and Europe, including two command performances for President Clinton in the White House, and a Chinese New Year broadcast seen by a television audience of over 300 million worldwide. Other recent and ongoing projects include performances of Peter Schickele’s New Century Suite with numerous orchestras throughout the U.S., and a new work from renowned jazz saxophonist Bob Mintzer. The only ensemble of its kind to win First Prize of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the quartet is the recipient of grants from the National Endowent for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and Chamber Music America. Bach’s magisterial exploration of the contrapuntal art was intended for no specific ensemble. The saxophone quartet proves the ideal medium, with its seamless blend of acoustically matched instruments corresponding perfectly to each line of counterpoint as originally composed.

Misha Zabranska

is a graphic artist and computer specialist on the forefront of high-end computer animation. In May of 2001 Misha Films, in collaboration with the choreographer David Parsons designed and produced large-scale projections and set design for American Ballet Theatre performance of the Pied Piper at the Metropolitan Opera. Their first animated feature Passers-by, which combines real footage with computer-animated segments, will be released later this year. For the last four years, Misha was a lead animator at Industrial Light and Magic, founded by George Lucas. In 1996 Misha was invited to the ATR Research Facility in Kyoto, Japan. From 1994 to1996 she directed and animated a number of episodes on, then the worlds only, 3D animation television series Reboot in Vancouver, Canada. From 1995 to 1999 Misha convened the popular 3D animation workshops at FAMU, the Film and Television Academy of Prague.

Misha Votruba

is primarily a documentary filmmaker, with extensive creative and leadership experience in media and marketing. Misha has directed documentary films shot on locations in the Czech Republic, Canada, Japan and the US. He was Media Producer for NBCOlympics.com's online coverage of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. From 1996 to 1999 he worked as a writer/story editor for different film production companies in Hollywood. Most notable is his collaboration with the director Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa; The Third Miracle). His documentary film, The Fighter (director Amir Bar-Lev), was named one of the best films of 2001 by the New York Times. In 1995, he co-founded a creative studio W & V Creative Solutions in Prague, the Czech Republic. In 1995 he conceived and managed the Canadian Artists for the Olga Havel Foundation art show, organizing the first large-scale exhibition and auction of Canadian art in the Czech Republic. From 1992 to 1995 he was the co-owner of and in-house producer for Factory Art, a 3D digital computer animation facility with offices in the Czech Republic and Canada. For the last ten years Misha has written magazine articles for leading Czech print and on-line publications.