Choose Valinor for Valentine's

SEELEY LAKE - Looking for something special for your special Valentine? Hoping to make Valentine's Day last longer? Bring your Valentine to a performance of the Valinor Quartet Feb. 25, 3 p.m. at the Seeley-Swan High School Auditorium. Included in the ticket price is a dinner reception and a chance to meet the musicians, compliments of Citizens Alliance Bank.

The Valinor Quartet is a unique collaboration between Victor Prieto, considered to be the leading jazz accordionist in the U.S., and the International String Trio consisting of Jakub Trasak on violin, Slava Tolstoy on guitar and Greg Feingold playing bass. The diverse cultural background of the group – Russian, Spanish, American and Czech Republic – creates a unique performance esthetic as they perform everything from Classical to Beatles, from Gypsy Jazz to Klezmer, from popular movie soundtracks to Tango... and a few surprises in between.

When the future members of the quartet played together for the first time, they instantly knew something very special had just happened.

"There was something magical about how the tone of accordion completed the sounds of our guitar / violin / bass trio," Tolstoy recalls.

What started as an informal jam session quickly evolved into a consistent work as the quartet steadily refined its repertoire and expanded its stylistic reach. The group has now honed its energetic concert program into an acoustic collection of arrangements exclusive to this rare instrumentation. Their eclectic sound explodes with buoyant energy, intimate acoustic dynamics and loving attention to detail.

Guitar master Slava Tolstoy's background includes studies of composition and guitar performance at St. Petersburg Jazz Conservatory, Russia. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Contemporary Writing and Production from Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music, where he was a scholarship student. He founded the "International String Trio"(IST) in 1999 and developed a unique performance concept for the String Trio. Slava performs up to 200 shows a year all around the United Stated as a guitarist and a bandleader with both IST and the Valinor Quartet.

The brilliant accordion player Victor Prieto is a Grammy Award winner. Victor has been hailed by The New York Times as "A fiendishly skilled accordionist and composer." All About Jazz named him, "One of the best world music and jazz accordionists."

Jakub Trasak represents one of the most talented and versatile violin players and producers of his generation. Born in Prague, Czech Republic, he began playing violin at the age of three and his inborn talent for the instrument quickly became apparent.

Bass player Greg Feingold started playing piano at the age of five and transitioned to bass when he was 10. He soon began performing all over the Chicago area with various groups. After graduating from the Chicago Academy for the Arts, Greg was given a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.

This multi-cultural concert experience is sure to thrill you, your Valentine, your friends, the whole family. Tickets to The Valinor Quartet's Feb. 25 performance will be available at the door. On Feb. 26, they will perform for area school students in the SSHS auditorium.