EDVIN MARTON – PRINCE OF THE VIOLIN Sizzle Reel

http://vimeo.com/84062072

The Danube river is no stranger to romance… But on a moonlight night in March, it delights with the world famous sound of one of it’s own. Edvin Marton: Prince of the Violin brings his magic to Princess Margaret Island on the Danube in the heart of Budapest, the European capital of the violin. This 60-minute program brings the music of this internationally celebrated violinist to U.S. public television for the first time ever. Seen by millions in his gold winning performance on the ice with Gold Medal Champion Evgeni Plushenko, Edvin Marton is one of Europe’s most electrifying and original violinists. His unique arrangement of classic favorites and his own original pieces have made him a Gold and Platinum artist in Europe, Russia and China.

Edvin is a winner of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for best new song in Europe. The Eurovision Song Contest program is seen by more than 200 million people. Other awards include a 2008 MTV Europe Award for Best Music Video, and an American Television EMMY Award for Best Original Composition (ABC Television Network) for a sporting event.

Debuting March 2014 on US Public Television, Edvin Marton: Prince of the Violin is an unforgettable, thrilling concert featuring classic favorites performed in a way you have never heard before, and original compositions that move the spirit and rock the house!

International Media’s PBS Special “Michael Londra’s Beyond Celtic” receives two Emmy nominations!

Great news! International Media’s PBS Special “Michael Londra’s Beyond Celtic” received two Emmy nominations! 

From Michael himself: “Great news!!! My TV special “Beyond Celtic” filmed for PBS Television has been awarded 2 Emmy Nominations by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the US. We earned nominations in the categories of Special Television Event and Direction (for the amazing Travis Fox) . The winners will be announced in Las Vegas on June 15.

The special aired nationally over 400 times in North America and featured my special guests Frankie Gavin and De Dannan, a gorgeous orchestra, musically directed by my rockstar producer, Steve Skinner, Sephira and my fantastic touring band and dancers. 

I was so proud of the TV special anyway but getting this endorsement makes me feel like I am doing what I am meant to do. It was a long and difficult road putting it together and getting it out there. I had the best team around me, on and off stage plus great co – producers in the dynamic Travis Fox, Brenda Markstein and the tireless Adrienne Crane Ross. They showed so much belief in me that it was overwhelming sometimes. What they created on that special day was something magic…”

Best Male Classical Crossover Artist Winner MARIO FRANGOULIS Live with the Boston Pops on Public Television this month

Mario Frangoulis, the powerhouse classical crossover tenor and #1 recording artist of Greece, returns to Public Television/PBS this month in a Television Special Event, Mario Frangoulis LIVE With The Boston Pops. Frangoulis is joined by guests Hayley Westenra of Celtic Woman fame, the “Liza Minelli of Greece” Alkistis Protopsalti, French/Greek singer George Perris, and pianist/composer Stephan Moccio.

This beloved world-renowned vocalist started his career as Marius in “Les Miserables” in London’s West End, Raoul in “Phantom of the Opera” (cast by Andrew Lloyd Webber), and Tony in “West Side Story” at La Scala in Milan. His TV special includes an exclusive advance offer for his new CD, “Beautiful Things.”

Premier tickets to Frangoulis’ upcoming US Concert series will be offered by participating stations as pledge gifts:

May 11 – Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA (in association with KVCR)

May 31 – The Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI (in association with DPTV)

June 2 – Théâtre Rialto, Montreal, Canada (in association with WCFE).

June 6 – Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA (in association with WGBH)

Click here for more information.

German Superstar HERBERT GROENEMEYER announces highly-anticipated US Tour Dates

 

EXCLUSIVE SHOWS IN CHICAGO AND NEW YORK FEBRUARY 2013

Public Television Concert Special Premieres Beginning December 2012

 (check local listings)

 

In response to high public demand, German superstar, Herbert Groenemeyer and his band, have just  announced exclusive tour dates in 2013. The tour is a Live Nation presentation. On Saturday, February 23^rd, the artist, who has sold over 18 million albums, will perform at The Chicago Theatre, and on Tuesday, February 26^th, he brings his spectacular live show to New York City’s Beacon Theatre.

 

Initially, tickets to Groenemeyer’s concerts will be exclusive to WLIW 21 and WTTW11 viewers during the December 2012 pledge airings of his television special. New York’s WLIW21 airs the special on December 3 at 9:30 p.m. and again on December 8 at 8:00 p.m. and Chicago’s WTTW11 will air the special on December 9 at 8:00 p.m.  On-sale dates to the general public will be announced shortly. 

 

I Walk, the English-language debut in the U.S. for Groenemeyer, will be released on February 26, 2013 on Groenland Deutschland/EMI Label Services. For this album, Groenemeyer recorded some of the most impressive songs in his vast catalog in English, and wrote two new songs. On the album’s lead-off track, “Mensch,” Groenemeyer is joined on vocals by Bono, one of the special guests on the album, along with Antony Hegarty of Antony and The Johnsons on the dramatic “Will I Ever Learn” (“When he started singing, my skin went up,” Groenemeyer recalls) and guitarist James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers on “To The Sea.”

 

Over the course of the past three decades, Herbert Groenemeyer has established himself as Germany’s most successful recording artist of all time, with album sales surpassing 18 million copies, and two of his albums, 1984’s 4630 Bochum and 2002’s Mensch, becoming the biggest German-language releases in history. 

A Real “Mensch”: A Conversation With Germany’s Biggest Pop Star, HERBERT GRONEMEYER

by Mike Ragogna, The Huffington Post

Herbert Groenemeyer is Germany’s most successful recording artist ever, with album sales of over 18 million. Two of his albums — Bochum (1984) and Mensch (2002) — became the biggest German-language sellers in history, although in the United States, he is mainly known for playing Lieutenant Werner in the critically acclaimed film Das Boot, not as a recording artist. That may change with the February 2012 release of his new album I Walk that features his international hit duet with Bono, “Mensch.”

In support of the new album and to introduce Herbert to U.S. audiences, there will be American performances in New York and Chicago, and a public television special will air in those markets as well during pledge weeks. The first broadcast will air on New York’s WLIW on December 3 at 9:30 pm and replay on December 8 at 8:00 pm. It will also be broadcast on Chicago’s WTTW on December 9 at 8:00 pm. Additional broadcasts will begin in January.

(read more)

Introducing Herbert Grönemeyer, Germany’s Biggest Star!

by Wyndham Wallace, TheQuietus.com

Virtually unknown in Britain, Herbert Grönemeyer is a huge star in his native Germany, having sold 18 million albums. Now his sights are set on the country he called home for over a decade. Wyndham Wallace meets him at Berlin’s Hansa Studios…

The man opposite and I have little obvious in common. Herbert Grönemeyer is the most successful pop star Germany has ever sired: in 1982 he kept Thriller off the top of the country’s charts with an album, Bochum, that’s now the country’s third biggest selling record of all time, and he also lays claim to its biggest – 2002’s Mensch – with well over three million sales to its name.

Having first come to prominence as an actor in Das Boot, the epic film / TV series that captured an international audience in the early 1980s, he now hangs out with Bono, calls Anton Corbijn a best friend, and that’s not to mention his humanitarian work: amongst other things, he assembled Band Für Afrika, Germany’s equivalent of Band Aid, in 1985, and helped establish Deine Stimme Gegen Armut, the country’s own Make Poverty History campaign, earning the title ‘European Hero’ from Time Magazine in 2005. Then there’s Groenland, the record label he owns – which has delivered releases as contrasting as Neu’s back catalogue, The Earlies, Roedelius, Psapp, Gang Of Four and Metric – and his role as co-financer of the Corbijn-directed Control (in which he also made a cameo appearance) andThe American (for which he also wrote the score).

As for me? Well, let’s not go there… But it turns out we do, in an unusual way, share something after all.

(read more)

NIGHT OF THE PROMS Coming To America!

Coming to America for the first time, International Media proudly presents Night Of The Proms: Classic Meets Pop, a spectacular special event featuring Seal, James Blunt, Div4s, Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, Nile Rodgers & Chic, and other international superstars. With a 27-year history and over 9 million attendees, Europe’s most prestigious live concert brand will give Public Television audiences a front-row VIP seat to an incomparable musical extravaganza, packed with unsurpassed performances of pop and classical favorites, embellished by a full world-class orchestra and choir.

An electrifying visual and musical experience, with beloved artists performing their own hit songs (including Seal’s “Crazy” and “Kiss From A Rose”; Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”; Chic’s “Good Times” and “Le Freak”, featuring Nile Rodgers; James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”; and Div4’s “The Prayer”), Night Of The Proms is a seamlessly passionate convergence of musical exuberance.

WLRN Remembers Robin Gibb

Words by WLRN’s Meredith Porte

That’s our own  Exec Producer Gustavo Sagastume in the far left! 

I have been remembering the many ways that Robin Gibb supported WLRN over the years. I had produced a national pledge special called Making Your Dreams Come True with the Creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Books Jack Canfield.  This show was produced 15 years ago in the WLRN Television Studios. Robin and Dwina Gibb hosted the premiere party for the program. Our former General Manager Gustavo Sagastume is also in the above photo along with Jack Canfield. Dwina Gibb has blonde hair and is wearing the black jacket.

Images and Voices of Hope also had its very first Miami conversation 13 years ago in the WLRN Studios. Over 100 of  Miami’s leading  broadcast, and print journalists along with  community leaders  participated in this conversation whose theme was about the power of the media to bring benefit to the world. Robin Gibb spoke at our event about  the significance of the words he chose when writing his music.  His son Robin John performed with his rap group at that event as well.

He will be sorely missed by many, and I will forever treasure the fact that I got to work with him.