Projects

DOCUMENTARY, LIVE PERFORMANCE

Iva Bittová: A Luckman Virtual Experience

dir. Nicholas Mestas & Justin Cone
dp. Michael Elias Thomas
prod co. Luckman Fine Arts Complex

Hailing from the present-day Czech Republic, Iva Bittová is one of Europe’s most innovative and celebrated artists. She began her career as an actor in the mid-1970s, appearing in several Czech and Slovak feature films.

Born to famed Roma violinist Bittó Kálmán, she playing violin and singing at a very early age. By 1990 her unique vocal and instrumental technique gained her international recognition. Since then, she has released nearly 20 albums and has performed regularly throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States – including twice at the Luckman.

Bittová has continued acting and still occasionally appears in feature films. She played the part of Zena in the critically-acclaimed film Želary which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.

Shot on location on her Hudson Valley, New York property, this special episode features musician and composer Antonín Fajt.

Source: michaelthomasfilm.com

MIT CAST welcomes Czech avant-garde violinist, singer, and composer Iva Bittová in 2022 for a Distinguished Visiting Artist residency exploring themes of space, nature, and survival through monthly visits to collaborate with MIT student ensembles and faculty, as well as visits to classes.
During her visits to the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, world music classes, and in participatory workshops, Bittová shares her own original compositions, teaches improvisation with voice and movement, and conducts conversations on local and trans-local music, linking Slovak and Moravian traditional song to jazz, rock, and contemporary concert music.

Save the date for Bittová’s MIT concert on February 25, 2022 featuring collaborations with students and guest artists, Bittová’s own compositions, improvisations, and through-composed chamber music.

Bittová is “a forward thinking composer who sings and plays violin simultaneously… Her sound is
,invigorating, urgent, and also soothing; it is a fusion of Old World and new-music sensibilities, infused with the spirit and language of Czech, Slovak, and Moravian music.”
– New York Magazine

Bittová’s appointment as the 2022 CAST Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist builds on her relationship with MIT
, having performed with MIT faculty and students on numerous occasions dating back to the CAST Marathon Concert in 2013.

In 2019, Bittová performed the US premiere of her album Zvon with the MIT Symphony Orchestra (MITSO)
and guests Keala Kaumeheiwa, bass; Phil Sargent, guitar; Austin McMahon, drums; and Venkatesh Sivaraman, piano. Evan Ziporyn, faculty director of CAST and professor of Music and Theater Arts, conducted the opening concert of MITSO’s season, which is part of the 2019–20 MIT Sounding series, an annual concert series curated by Ziporyn and presented by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) and MIT Music and Theater Arts.

In April 2016, as part of EVIYAN (a trio with Gyan Riley and Evan Ziporyn), Bittová presented “Exploring Improsition—the melding of improvisation and composition.” They were joined in MIT’s Kresge Auditorium by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, led by Frederick Harris, Jr., Music Director, members of the MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble and special guest Ricky Richardson ’12. Included were world premieres of arrangements of EVIYAN compositions by Jamshied Sharifi ’83 and arrangements by Richard Oates ’18 and Garrett Parrish ’17 of compositions by Kurt Rosenwinkle and Leslie Bricusse. Additional music by Thad Jones, Bob Mintzer
, Cole Porter, and Hermeto Pascoal (in honor of his 80th birthday) was performed.

More informations here.

Workshop and Concerts with students

After forty years of touring globally as a professional singer and violinist, it has become my dream to open a small vocal school in Rhinebeck, NY. Over the years I have received many invitations to teach. Now I am ready to make this the focus of my work. Through my experiences offering workshops and mentoring students one on one, I know teaching to be immensely gratifying for both my students and me. I believe in the freedom of the voice, and of using the voice as a tool for expressing our deepest needs and desires. I have worked with children and adults, professional singers and people who have never sung before. It would be my goal to create a school that welcomes people from all different backgrounds, including families and those who are unable to pay the full tuition.

July 12 – 14 2019

As the school grows it would be bring me great joy to invite musicians I have met from around the world to share their expertise as guest teachers. At first, the curriculum will take its focus with the Moravian, Slovak and Roma folk melodies that have been central to my music. In addition, my teaching will emphasize free expression, improvisation, and connection with nature.

More info:  www.zingora-vocal-school.com