LAURENCE VITTES' - OUR MUSIC CRITIC - CHOICES AND COMMENTS

There is nothing that proves the indivisibility of each one of us from our roots than our response to music when we hear it, write it or play it. Each note, each harmony, each melody goes refers back to something in both our own personal history and the history of the human race. Music at its core is a profoundly deep and intimate emotional experience, and yet it it can be articulated in as many different voices as there are people on the earth, in a host of creative enterprises that can be described in scientifically precise blueprints and eternally ambiguous visual responses.

Beyond the obvious fact that each of the participating musicians in no matter what they play and no matter their own life story and personal circumstances, all share the common musical DNA which comes from the first sounds and songs and lullabies we hear, and which around the world and in every society are similar. That's why we respond to music so immediately and so deeply; it's part of our musical DNA too. Of course, it's the life stories and personal circumstances that shape each participant's entry and I have included reflections on these in my comments.

For best music performance in Find Your Roots competition

FIRST PLACE:
Evgeny Tonkha
Fratres (Arvo Pärt)
In Arvo Pärt's iconic, stratified veins of sound, which function like existential roots throughout a variety of universes (your choice), Evgeny Tonkha meets supremely the performer's ultimate challenge: to humanize them – which he does to mesmerizing perfection.

SECOND PLACE:

Ayse Taspinar
Krunk (Soghomon Soghomonian, known as Komitas)
Ayse Taspinar evokes the timeless dimensions of common Armenian and Turkish roots during the Ottoman Empire with her transcendent performance of the iconic priest composer Komitas's magical setting of a late medieval, Armenian song in which an exile poignantly appeals to a migratory crane returning home.

THIRD PLACE:
Marina Kesler
Misty (Errol Garner)
Marina Kesler personalizes Errol Garner's timeless standard by allowing the emotions behind the beautiful tune to get into her head; not as smooth Johnny Mathis when he made it famous in 1959, but utterly heartfelt.

For best original music composition
in Find Your Roots competition

FIRST PLACE:
Anna Drubich
Japan Dame
Anna Drubich flashes her dazzling toolkit of professional resources to create a succession of coloristic and melodic apéritifs which delight the ear and intoxicate the senses.

SECOND PLACE:
Eva Montealegre
Alligator Woman
Eva Montealegre's earthy love song explores some far reaches of obsession by bringing to life a series of extraordinary verbal images with her infinitely expressive, unaccompanied alligator voice.

THIRD PLACE:
Norman Sachs
The Man I Am With Her
Norman Sachs in both his words and music produces a rare musical intersection of sophistication and experience at the highest artistic levels which then graciously morphs into simple, eloquent expressions of love.

The artwork on the right "The Red Scarf Woman Traveler" by Irina Tuzhilina, chosen by musician - Anna Drubich for her composition