Roger David Kornberg (born April 24, 1947) is an American biochemist and professor of structural biology at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Kornberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2006 for his studies of the process by which genetic information from DNA is copied to RNA, "the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription."
Kornberg was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Sylvy Ruth (Levy) and biophysicist Arthur Kornberg, who won the Nobel Prize. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1967 and his Ph.D. in chemical physics from Stanford in 1972. He became a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology
in Cambridge, England and then an Assistant Professor of Biological
Chemistry at Harvard Medical School in 1976, before moving to his
present position as Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford Medical
School in 1978. His closest collaborator has been his wife, Professor
Yahli Lorch.
All organisms are controlled by their genes, which are coded by DNA, which is copied to RNA, which creates proteins, which are sequences of amino acids. DNA resides in the nucleus. When a cell expresses a gene, it copies (transcribes) that gene's DNA sequence onto a messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence. mRNA is transported out of the nucleus to ribosomes. The ribosomes read the mRNA and translate the code into the right amino acid sequence to make that gene's protein.
The DNA is transcribed to mRNA by an enzyme, RNA polymerase II, with the help of many other proteins. Using yeast,
Kornberg identified the role of RNA polymerase II and other proteins in
transcribing DNA, and he created three-dimensional images of the
protein cluster using X-ray crystallography. Polymerase II is used by all organisms with nuclei, including humans, to transcribe DNA.
Kornberg and his research group have made several fundamental
discoveries concerning the mechanisms and regulation of eukaryotic
transcription. While a graduate student working with Harden McConnell at
Stanford in the late 1960s, he discovered the "flip-flop" and lateral
diffusion of phospholipids in bilayer membranes. While a postdoctoral
fellow working with Aaron Klug and Francis Crick at the MRC in the 1970s, Kornberg discovered the nucleosome as the basic protein complex packaging chromosomal DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells (chromosomal DNA is often termed "Chromatin" when it is bound to proteins in this manner, reflecting Walther Flemming's discovery that certain structures within the cell nucleus would absorb dyes and become visible under a microscope). Within the nucleosome, Kornberg found that roughly 200 bp of DNA are wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins.
Kornberg's research group at Stanford later succeeded in the development of a faithful transcription system from baker's yeast,
a simple unicellular eukaryote, which they then used to isolate in a
purified form all of the several dozen proteins required for the
transcription process. Through the work of Kornberg and others, it has
become clear that these protein components are remarkably conserved
across the full spectrum of eukaryotes, from yeast to human cells.
Using this system, Kornberg made the major discovery that
transmission of gene regulatory signals to the RNA polymerase machinery
is accomplished by an additional protein complex that they dubbed Mediator.
As noted by the Nobel Prize committee, "the great complexity of
eukaryotic organisms is actually enabled by the fine interplay between
tissue-specific substances, enhancers in the DNA and Mediator. The
discovery of Mediator is therefore a true milestone in the understanding
of the transcription process."
At the same time as Kornberg was pursuing these biochemical studies
of the transcription process, he devoted two decades to the development
of methods to visualize the atomic structure of RNA polymerase and its
associated protein components. Initially, Kornberg took advantage of
expertise with lipid membranes gained from his graduate studies to
devise a technique for the formation of two-dimensional protein crystals
on lipid bilayers. These 2D crystals could then be analyzed using
electron microscopy to derive low-resolution images of the protein's
structure. Eventually, Kornberg was able to use X-ray crystallography to solve the 3-dimensional structure of RNA polymerase at atomic resolution. He has recently extended these studies to obtain structural images of RNA polymerase associated with accessory proteins.
Through these studies, Kornberg has created an actual picture of how
transcription works at a molecular level. According to the Nobel Prize
committee, "the truly revolutionary aspect of the picture Kornberg has
created is that it captures the process of transcription in full flow.
What we see is an RNA-strand being constructed, and hence the exact
positions of the DNA, polymerase and RNA during this process."
He has received the following awards:
1981: Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry
1982: Passano Award, Passano Foundation
1990: Ciba-Drew Award
1997: Harvey Prize from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
2000: Gairdner Foundation International Award
2001: Hoppe-Seyler Award, Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Germany
2001: Welch Award in Chemistry
2002: ASBMB-Merck Award
2002: Pasarow Award in Cancer Research
2002: Gran Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer
2003: Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
2005: General Motors Cancer Research Foundation’s Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize
2006: Dickson Prize from University of Pittsburgh
2006: Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2006: Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University
Lang Lang (born 14 June 1982) is a New York-based Chinese concert pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China.
Lang Lang was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. His father Lang Guoren (郎国任) is also a musician, who specializes in the erhu, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. At the age of two, Lang watched the Tom and Jerry episode The Cat Concerto which features the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt. According to Lang, this first contact with Western music is what motivated him to learn piano.
He began lessons with Professor Zhu Ya-Fen at age three. At the age of
five, he won first place at the Shenyang Piano Competition and performed
his first public recital.
When Lang was nine years old, he was near his audition for Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music, and, having difficulties with his lessons, was expelled from his piano tutor's studio for "lack of talent". The music teacher at his state school noticed Lang's sadness, and decided to comfort him by playing a record of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major, K. 330;
she asked him to play along with the second movement. This reminded
Lang of his love of the instrument. "Playing the K. 330 brought me hope
again," he recalled.
Lang was later admitted into the conservatory where he studied under Professor Zhao Ping-Guo.
In 1993, he won the Xing Hai Cup Piano Competition in Beijing and, in
1994, was awarded first prize for outstanding artistic performance at
the fourth International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen, Germany. In 1995, at 13 years of age, he played the Op. 10 and Op. 25 études by Chopin at the Beijing Concert Hall and, the same year, won first place at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Japan, playing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert broadcast by NHK Television. When 14, he was a featured soloist at the China National Symphony's inaugural concert, which was broadcast by China Central Television and attended by President Jiang Zemin. The following year he began studies with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Lang has given sold out recitals and concerts in many major cities and was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and some top American orchestras. A Chicago Tribune
music critic called him "the biggest, most exciting young keyboard
talent I have encountered in many a year of attending piano recitals". Lang has been praised by musicians and critics around the world – the conductor Jahja Ling remarked, "Lang Lang is special because of his total mastery of the piano... He has the flair and great communicative power." National Public Radio's Morning Edition remarked that "Lang Lang has conquered the classical world with dazzling technique and charisma."
It is often noted that Lang successfully straddles two worlds –
classical prodigy and rock-like "superstar", a phenomenon summed up by The Times
journalist Emma Pomfret, who wrote, "I can think of no other classical
artist who has achieved Lang Lang's broad appeal without dumbing down."
Lang's performances have also been criticized. His performance style
has been referred to as having "soggy rhythms and heavy phrasing," and as being "truly boring", "just bad" and "unendurable". Critics who feel that his playing is vulgar and lacks sensitivity have given him the nickname "Bang Bang". Pianist Earl Wild called him "the J. Lo of the piano." Others have described him as immature, though praised his ability to "conquer crowds with youthful bravado". His growth in recent years was reported by The New Yorker: "The ebullient Lang Lang is maturing as an artist." In April 2009, when Time Magazine included Lang Lang in its list of the 100 most influential people, Herbie Hancock
described his playing as "so sensitive and so deeply human",
commenting: "You hear him play, and he never ceases to touch your
heart."
In 2001, after a sold-out Carnegie Hall debut with Yuri Temirkanov, he travelled to Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra on a tour celebrating its 100th anniversary, during which he performed to an audience of 8,000 at the Great Hall of the People. The same year, he made an acclaimed BBC Proms debut, prompting a music critic of the British newspaper The Times to write, "Lang Lang took a sold-out Royal Albert Hall by storm... This could well be history in the making". In 2003, he returned to the BBC Proms for the First Night concert with Leonard Slatkin. After his recital debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berliner Zeitung wrote: "Lang Lang is a superb musical performer whose artistic touch is always in service of the music".
Lang is a featured soloist on the Golden Globe winning score of The Painted Veil and can be heard on the soundtrack of The Banquet. He has recorded for the Deutsche Grammophon and Telarc labels.. His album of the first and fourth Beethoven piano concertos with the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach debuted at No. 1 on the Classical Billboard Chart. In 2008, he was the pianist on Mike Oldfield's 2008 album Music of the Spheres. In 2010, he signed with Sony for a reported $3 million.
In December 2008, Lang partnered with Google and YouTube in the project YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
Lang has also recorded piano works for the video game Gran Turismo 5's soundtrack, mostly under the "Classical" subgenre. This included versions of Danny Boy, Beethoven's 8th Piano Sonata, and one of the game's intro pieces, the third movement from Prokofiev's 7th Piano Sonata.
Finally, he has performed for numerous international dignitaries including the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, President Hu Jintao of China, President Horst Köhler of Germany, Prince Charles, as well as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Polish President Lech Kaczynski.
At the White House state dinner in honour of President of China Hu Jintao on 19 January 2011, Lang played a piece used in the movie Battle on Shangganling Mountain. The tune is popular and has lost much of its political and historical significance in China, but the lyrics include the line "We deal with wolves with guns", which might refer to the United States. The performance was said to be interpreted by some as insulting the USA.
Lang denied intending to insult the United States. The White House agreed.
Lang has performaned at various open-air venues, including Central Park New York, Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, the Ravinia Festival Chicago, Theaterplatz in Dresden and Derby Park Hamburg.
In July 2007, he played at a concert from the Teatro del Silenzio, Lajatico, Italy, hosted by Andrea Bocelli. He performed "Io ci sarò" with Bocelli, and Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody". The performance is available on a DVD entitled Vivere Live in Tuscany.
In December 2007, Lang performed at the Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm. Collaborating with Seiji Ozawa, he appeared at the New Year's Eve gala opening for the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. He also participated in the opening concert at Munich's Olympic Stadium with Mariss Jansons, marking the commencement of the World Cup, and in a celebratory concert for the closing of '08 Euro Cup finals Lang Lang played with the Vienna Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta in front of Schönbrunn Palace.
In 2008, an audience estimated at up to a billion people saw Lang Lang's performance in Beijing's opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics where he was promoted as a symbol of the youth and future of China. During these games, he was also featured on the German TV station ZDF and made several appearances on NBC's The Today Show Summer Olympics broadcasts. In the opening ceremony he performed a melody from the Yellow River Cantata with seven-year-old Li Muzi. Lang also collaborated with a German band Schiller to record "Time for Dreams", used to promote some coverage of the 2008 Olympics broadcast in Germany.
In February 2008, Lang and jazz pianist Herbie Hancock performed together at the 2008 Grammy Awards, playing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The two were again brought in by United Airlines
for the reintroduction of their "It's Time to Fly" advertising campaign
with a series of new animated commercials aired during the 2008 Summer Olympics. In April 2008, he premiered Tan Dun's First Piano Concerto, subtitled "The Fire". Hancock and Lang continued to collaborate with a world tour in summer 2009. Lang played at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for US President Barack Obama and at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo the next day.
Lang has made numerous TV appearances including The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, CBS Early Show and 60 Minutes. He has featured in publications including The New Yorker, Esquire, Vogue (Germany), The Times, Financial Times, GQ, Die Welt, Reader's Digest and People. Lang holds the title of the first Ambassador of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
In 2009, he performed at Carnegie Hall accompanied by Marc Yu, an 11 year-old pianist and musical child prodigy from Pasadena, California, who made his Carnegie Hall debut at the event.
Lang Lang was featured in the award-winning German-Austrian documentary Pianomania, which was directed by Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis. The film premiered theatrically in North America, Asia and throughout Europe, and is a part of the Goethe-Institut catalogue.
In 2010, he was featured at the Carnegie Hall's China Festival and
performed with the New York Philharmonic on New Year's Eve at Avery
Fisher Hall.
In 2011, Lang opened the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall performing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He played Liszt's 1st Piano Concerto and Chopin’s Grande Polonaise Brillante.
In June 2012, he played Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 and Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace.
ang Lang's autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles, published by Random House in eight languages, was released in the summer of 2008. Delacorte Press also released a version of the autobiography specifically for younger readers, entitled Playing with Flying Keys.
Lang has received many awards and made many television appearances. He appeared in Time magazine's 2009 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and in Gramophone magazine's Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2008, the Recording Academy named him their Cultural Ambassador to China. More recently, Lang Lang has been chosen as an official worldwide ambassador to the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Lang Lang was appointed by the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF) as an International Goodwill Ambassador in 2004. The Chinese government selected him as a vice-president of the All-China Youth Federation.
The Financial Times reported that Lang is "evangelical in his efforts to spread the popularity of classical music." In October 2008, he launched the Lang Lang International Music Foundation in New York with the support of the Grammys and UNICEF.
In May 2009, Lang Lang and his three chosen scholars from the
foundation – Charlie Liu, Anna Larsen, and Derek Wang, aged between
eight and 10 years old – performed together on The Oprah Winfrey Show."
In June 2011, Lang Lang was engaged by Telefónica to make appearances concerning culture, technology, education and social commitment.
On 22 July 2012, Lang carried the London 2012 Olympic torch through
Hornchurch on its Redbridge to Bexley leg. On 24 August 2012, he was
awarded the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his engagement in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.
Petula
Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an
English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.
Clark's
professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II.
During the 1950s she started recording in French and having international
success in both French and English, with such songs as "The Little
Shoemaker", "Baby Lover", "With All My Heart" and
"Prends Mon Coeur". During the 1960s she became known globally for
her popular upbeat hits, including "Downtown", "I Know a
Place", "My Love", "Colour My World", "A Sign of
the Times", and "Don't Sleep in the Subway". She has sold more
than 68 million records throughout her career.
Helmuth Robert Duckadam (born 1 April 1959 in Semlac, Arad County) is a retired Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He was dubbed "the Hero of Seville" due to his heroics in the 1986 European Cup Final, won by his main club, Steaua Bucureşti. He represented three other teams in an 11-year senior career.
Duckadam who came from a Banat Swabian background started his career playing in the regional league of Arad County, before moving to FC UTA Arad in 1978 to become professional. In 1982, he played twice for Romania and, subsequently, was signed by country giants FC Steaua Bucureşti.
Duckadam, who was instrumental in helping the capital side to two consecutive league titles, was also between the posts for the 1986 European Cup final against FC Barcelona, which was played in Seville, on 7 May 1986. Amazingly, he saved four consecutive penalty shots in the shootout, from José Ramón Alexanko, Ángel Pedraza, Pichi Alonso and Marcos,
being the first one to do so in an official European competition.
Steaua won it 2–0, and the main European trophy for the first time, and
much of the credit for the surprise victory was given to Duckadam. He
scored one goal for his main club, through a penalty kick against AFC Progresul Bucureşti in the domestic cup.
In 1986, Duckadam suffered a rare blood disorder only few weeks after the Seville performance, and would only resume his career three years later, finishing it with lowly Vagonul Arad, in the second division. According to a personal interview given in 1999, Duckadam had become a major with the Romanian Border Police (Poliția de Frontieră) in his hometown of Semlac, in Arad County. Also, he opened a football school in the city, named after himself.
On 25 March 2008, Duckadam was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu, with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" – ("The Sportive Merit" Order - class II), for his part in winning the
of 1986 European Cup. Two years later, on 11 August, he was named
Steaua's president.
In the 25th of September 2012 he suffered a 7 hour surgical
intervention on the right arm. Now he is fine. "Tell the fans not to
worry I can still give autographs"
Ion Barladeanu (born 1946 in Zapodeni, Vaslui county, Romania) pop art artist.
Ion Barladeanu is born in 1946 in the village Zapodeni, Vaslui county. He
escaped his native village at 20, and during the communist regime he
tried all possible jobs. Starting in the Danube Delta, he worked as a
docker in Constanta. In Bucharest he was a grave digger, wood cutter,
guardian or simple worker at the People’s Palace. After 1989 he had
marginal ways to earn his living, sorting, like a free lancer, the
garbage of a bloc on Calea Mosilor. For more than 30 years, Ion
Barladeanu selected and cut images from magazines and realized more than
1 000 collages. From 2008, he is represented by H’Art Gallery, and his
works have started an international career, being exhibited in London,
Copenhagen, Basel, Paris.
Daniel Hope was born in Durban in 1974. When he was six months old,
his father, the distinguished novelist, poet and anti-apartheid activist
Christopher Hope, was finally granted an exit visa. The family went
first to Paris, then to London, where Daniel’s mother Eleanor was
engaged by Yehudi Menuhin to be his secretary, later becoming the
celebrated violinist and conductor’s long-time manager. In 1978 Hope
began to study the violin in London with Sheila Nelson. Six years later
he commenced his studies at the Royal College of Music with Itzhak
Rashkovsky, Felix Andrievsky and Grigory Zhislin and appeared on British
television. In 1985 he was invited by Menuhin to perform the Bartók
Duos for German television, which began a long association between the
two violinists that included over 60 concerts. From 1992–1998 he was a
pupil of Zakhar Bron at London’s Royal Academy of Music, from which he
graduated. Daniel Hope has appeared all over the globe with the world’s
most renowned orchestras and conductors and has won numerous prizes for
his recordings such as five Echo Awards, the Classical Brit Award, Deutscher Schallplattenpreis andnumerous Grammy® nominations.
1995
Gives the world premiere of Douglas Jarman’s critical edition
of the Berg Violin Concerto; works with Toru Takemitsu, later recording
his violin concerto Nostalghia
1999
Performs the Schnittke Violin Concerto in Düsseldorf in Menuhin’s final concert
2000
Plays and conducts before an audience of 20,000 people on Munich’s Königsplatz
2001
Voted “Classical Performer of the Year” by London’s Evening Standard
2002
Becomes the youngest-ever member of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio; plays premiere of Jan Müller-Wieland’s violin concerto Ballad of Ariel in Berlin, one of many works he regularly commissions from young composers
2003
Gives the world premiere of Schnittke’s newly discovered Sonata 1955 in London
2004
Begins his relationship with the Savannah Music Festival as
artist-in-residence; the festival formally appoints him Associate
Artistic Director (through 2009). At the Classical Brit Awards, Hope is named “Young Artist of the Year”
2005
Premieres the Violin Concerto Abraham composed for him by Roxanna Panufnik and presents the US premiere of his programme East Meets West
with Indian sitar master Gaurav Mazumdar at Savannah; performs at
Dachau for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration
camp
2006
Appearances include concerts with the Orchestre
Philharmonique de Radio France, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National
de France, City of Birmingham Symphony, Gulbenkian Foundation and Los
Angeles Chamber Orchestra; recital tour of Germany; begins collaboration
with Stewart Copeland, legendary drummer of The Police
2007
Signs an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Engagements include concerts with the Netherlands Philharmonic
(collaborating with composer Tan Dun), Munich Philharmonic, the BBC,
City of Birmingham, Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras. Extensive
European and North American tours with the Beaux Arts Trio. Performances
with actor Klaus Maria Brandauer reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and in
their latest collaboration “War and Pieces”. Numerous recitals
throughout Europe and in New York. Festival appearances at Savannah,
Santa Fe, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Bloomington (Indiana), BBC Proms,
Beethovenfest Bonn and the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Chamber music
at New York’s 92nd St. “Y”. Hope’s first book Familienstücke. Eine Spurensuche
is published in German. In his debut recording for Deutsche Grammophon,
Hope presents works by Mendelssohn; he also participates in Anne Sofie
von Otter’s album of music by Jewish composers in the Terezín
concentration camp. His live performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto with
the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo and his
performance of Tippett’s Triple Concerto at the BBC Proms are available
for download within the DG Concerts series
2008
The year opens with a New Year’s Concert in Geneva with the
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Other concerts include performances with
numerous German orchestras, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra,
London Symphony Orchestra, Zurich and Swedish Chamber Orchestras,
Orchestre National de France and Concertgebouw Orchestra; tour to the
Far East. Recitals with pianist Sebastian Knauer; North American and
European tours with the Beaux Arts Trio. Festival appearances include
Ravinia, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lucerne (including his final
concert with the Beaux Arts Trio), Schubertiade and Beethovenfest Bonn.
Release of Hope’s recording of Vivaldi violin concertos with the Chamber
Orchestra of Europe
2009
Performances include concerts with the Stuttgart, Munich and
Zurich Chamber orchestras, Warsaw Philharmonic (in Germany), Orchestre
de la Suisse Romande, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra
and Concerto Köln. “Theresienstadt/Terezín” concert tours of US and
Europe with von Otter; concerts in Cologne with pianist/harpsichordist
Kristian Bezuidenhout; recitals with Knauer all over Europe; with
Brandauer: recital/readings in Germany and Vienna as well as
Stravinsky’s Histoire du soldat in New York. Festival
appearances include Bodensee, Ludwigsburg, Kissinger Sommer,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein, Berlioz (La Côte
Saint-André), Menuhin (Gstaad), Enescu (Bucharest) and Savannah;
appearance with lutenist Stefan Maass at London’s 100 Club. Autumn
release: Air – A Baroque Journey, with members of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe
2010
Air concerts in London, Germany, Norway and
Switzerland; Baroque programmes in Germany. Performances of the Brahms
Concerto in Italy with Orchestra Verdi, in Germany and Korea with the
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (Norrington), and in Luxembourg,
South Africa, Turkey and Australia. Other appearances include concerts
with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra,
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, Danish National Symphony
Orchestra in Copenhagen, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Mozarteum
Orchestra in Salzburg. Recitals with Knauer; recital/readings with
Brandauer (“Faust” – featuring music from Goethe’s time) and author
Roger Willemsen in Germany; widely varied repertoire and chamber
partners in numerous festival appearances including Savannah, Trondheim,
Bonn, Bad Kissingen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Verbier
2011
Bruch concerto with the Orchestre National de Belgique in
Brussels, Germany and Switzerland; concerts with the Lucerne Festival
Strings, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic
Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de France,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and
the Ensemble ACJW. Recitals with Knauer (including Joachim-related
repertoire) and Jeffrey Kahane as well as “Music from Terezín” with Anne
Sofie von Otter. Festival appearances include Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
Savannah, Aspen and Santa Fe. Book presentations (Toi, toi, toi!) in Vienna and Germany. Released this year: The Romantic Violinist, a celebration of Joseph Joachim, including works by Joachim, Schubert, Bruch, Clara Schumann, Brahms and Dvorák
Krzysztof Zanussi, (born 17 July 1939) is a Polish producer and film director.
He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He is also a professor at the Silesian University in Katowice.
Zanussi studied physics at Warsaw University (Uniwersytet Warszawski) and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University (Uniwersytet Jagielloński) in Kraków. He is the director of the Polish Film Studio TOR and has received several prizes and awards, including the David di Donatello Prize of the Accademia del Cinema Italiano, the Cavalier's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, and the Cavalier de L'Ordre des Sciences et Lettres.
Krzysztof Zanussi has written On editing an amateur film (1968), Discourse on an amateur film (1978) and a book of memoirs The Time to Die (1999). He appeared as himself in Camera Buff (1979), a film about an amateur film maker, directed by his friend Krzysztof Kieślowski. His 1989 film Inventory was entered into the 16th Moscow International Film Festival.
He is currently planning on directing an international production about the life and contributions of St. Hedwig of Poland, as well as a Polish-Ukrainian comedy.
According to the records of Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) since 1962 to 1964 Zanussi was registered without his consent as a secret collaborator of communist Służba Bezpieczeństwa
codename "Aktor". He had several conversations with communist secret
service officers, however he never began to act as a secret
collaborator. Zanussi talks openly about his contacts with SB but denies
any wrongdoing. The archives of IPN confirm his words.
He has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement award on 20 November 2012 at the 43rd International Film Festival of India held in Goa.
Ștefan Bănică, Jr. (born October 18, 1967 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian entertainer, the son of actor Ștefan Bănică. In his early career he starred in a couple of successful romantic films ("Liceenii", "Liceenii Rock'n'Roll").
Later he concentrated on television acting, playing the character of Ciupanezu in the TV series "Băieți buni" ("Good Guys"), which was aired in 2005 on ProTV.
In 2005, Bănică also played the role of Billy Flynn in the Romanian stage version of the Chicago musical (based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins) at the National Theatre in Bucharest.
He released several music albums (marketed as rock'n'roll), and successfully toured the country.
In January 2006 he married television producer and show host Andreea Marin. In January 2013, they announced their divorce on amicable terms. Together they have a daughter.
Victoria Abril (born Victoria Mérida Rojas, 4 July 1959) is a Spanish film actress. She is best known to international audiences for her performance in the movie ¡Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) by director Pedro Almodóvar.
Abril was born in Madrid. She became widely known in Spain in 1976 when she appeared for two years in the show Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez
as secretary, although later she has frequently disowned this work and
does not like to remember it in interviews. Besides working in Spain,
she also made films in France, where she resides, Italy and Iceland. She has been nominated eight times for Goya Awards in the Lead Actress category and has won once. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival for her role in Amantes. Two years later, she was awarded with the Berlinale Camera at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.
She is also a singer; in 2005, she made her debut with a bossanova-jazz album called PutchEros do Brasil. She tried to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979 with "Bang-Bang-Bang", but came second by just one point in the national final, losing to Betty Missiego with 26 out of a maximum 29.
She has two sons (Martín and Félix) with director Gérard de Battista.
