Karmazyn, Dennis

Cellist who started playing while still in elementary school and recording with Jimmy Haskell in his teens. When he was only fifteen years old, he performed the Cello Concerto of Franz Joseph Haydn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He attended the Paris Conservatoire where he studied with Paul Tortelier.

Groups with whom he has worked include the American Ballet, the Belair Strings, the Bolshoi Ballet, the California Philharmonic the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Swedish National Orchestra of Gothenberg, and the Topanga Symphony Orchestra.

On 3^rd April 1984, he gave a recital at Alice Tully Hall that comprised Hungarian Rhapsody, Op. 68 by David Popper, Sonata in C, Op. 11 by Sergei Prokofiev, Sonata No. 2 in F, Op. 99 by Johannes Brahms, and works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Enrique Granados, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Giovanni Valentini.

He and pianist Genevieve Lee, violinist Endre Balogh and violist Steven Gordon interpreted Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 by Brahms and String Trio in B flat major, Op. 53, No. 2 by Haydn at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on 5^th September 2004.

In July 2010, he was a featured soloist when the California Philharmonic presented “John Williams & the Rings”. The “Rings”, in this case, consisted of highlights from Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle and Howard Shore’s music from The Lord of the Rings. Dennis performed the solo from Williams “Theme from Schindler’s List”.

He was the guest soloist of the Topanga Symphony Orchestra on 14^th November 2010 when they celebrated the birthday of Robert Schumann with the master’s Concerto for Cello in A minor, Op. 129 and Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 97.

On 11^th September 2011, Dennis and violinist Endre Balogh and violist Steven Gordon shared the stage of the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Their program comprised Duo in G major, K. 423 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Serenade for String Trio by Ernst von Dohnanyi.

Dennis’s discography is too extensive to list in its entirety as he is purported to have played on over 4000 soundtracks, but here are some highlights: Black Rose by J.D. Souther; Bossa Nova Hotel by Michael Sembello; The Christmas Album by Air Supply; The Christmas Album by David Foster; Come By Me, To See You and When My Heart Finds Christmas by Harry Connick, Jr.; Faces by Earth, Wind & Fire; Get Closer, Hasten Down the Wind, Heart Like a Wheel, Prisoner in Disguise and Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt; Heart of the Matter by Kenny Rogers; High Mileage by Alan Jackson; Hollywood by Maynard Ferguson; The Movie Album: As Time Goes Byby Neil Diamond; No Time to Kill by Clint Black; That’s What Friends Are For by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams; Trio by Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt; and, Warm Your Heart by Aaron Neville.

If you have a seen a movie, you have probably heard Dennis’s cello at some point: He has performed on the soundtracks of Along Came a Spider, Bruce Almighty, Caddyshack, Conspiracy Theory, Dark Water, Domestic Disturbance, Dreamcatcher, The Horse Whisperer, Identity, Jack, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jeepers Creepers 2, Joy Ride, King Kong, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Number 23, Panic Room, The Salton Sea, Scary Movie 3, Signs, The Skeleton Key, Star Trek: Nemesis, Throw Momma from the Train, We Don’t Live Here Anymore, The Village, and War of the Worlds.

Gamers may have heard him on the soundtracks of Dark Void and Resident Evil 5.

Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams recordings
Emotion (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb)
S CBS 6164B (UK 45)

Sources:

Karmazyn, Dennis

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