Ithaca College

The Enduring Masters series at Ithaca College will continue on Friday, January 30, with a performance by world-renowned bandoneón virtuoso Daniel Binelli. Free and open to the public, the concert will start at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Binelli will also conduct four days of master classes.

A button squeezebox instrument invented in Germany, the bandoneón was brought to Argentina by immigrants in the early 20th century. Because of its melancholic yet sensuous sound, the instrument came to play an essential role in the orquesta tipica, or tango orchestra. Astor Piazzolla, a seminal figure in Argentine tango, greatly influenced Binelli, who carried on the tango tradition and is now considered its foremost exponent.

In addition to playing in Piazzolla's New Tango Sextet, Binelli was a member and arranger of Osvaldo Pugliese and his orquesta típica. He has also performed as guest soloist on bandoneón with numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Dallas Symphonies as well as Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra and the Teatro Colon Orchestra in Buenos Aires.

Binelli has recorded more than 50 CDs including Tangazo with the Montreal Symphony, Orquestango with pianist Polly Ferman and the Uruguayan Philharmonic, and New Tango Vision with the Binelli-Ferman-Isaac Trio. A prolific composer, Binelli is the musical director of Tango Metropolis and the Daniel Binelli Quintet.

The Enduring Masters Series is a partnership of the Ithaca College School of Music and the Gerontology Institute's Linden Center for Creativity and Aging, a part of the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies. The series is funded by the New York State Music Fund established by the New York Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Enduring Masters Website

For more information, contact Susan Harris, coordinator of Enduring Masters, at (607) 274-7007 or sharris@ithaca.edu.