Luciano Berio: Duetti (selections)
Béla Bartók: Duets (selections)
Larry Polansky: #4 (heterophony) from four doods (@ $6.25)
Luigi Nono: “Hay que caminar” soñando

Once a month, the Talea Ensemble curates The Fourth Sundays Chamber Music Concert in The Penthouse at The Roger Smith Hotel. The series aims to promote the accessibility of contemporary classical music; each concert focuses on one single piece by dissecting its inner-workings, while considering the external factors of its conception and existence.  The concerts are interactive in that the audience is considered an equal participant in the performance; they are encouraged to ask questions and participate in discussions after the music is performed.  The reception immediately following serves as a platform for discussion of the work among people of all ages and backgrounds.

Roger Smith Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts-production company providing cultural entertainment as a way to promote dialogue within and between the leading disciplines of the New York and global art worlds. The company’s mission is to establish itself as a pre-eminent and sought-after cultural institution to the city of New York. Recognizing dialogue as the backbone of any cultural organization, RSA embraces variety as a means to foster the exchange of creative ideas. RSA produces concerts, readings, performances, installations, and lectures, all with leading creative intellectuals.

For further information please call 212.339.2092 or rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

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QUICK INFORMATION
The Fourth Sundays Chamber Music Series with the Talea Ensemble
Presented by Roger Smith Arts
The Penthouse at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017, 47th and Lexington (Map)
Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
Sunday November 27th at 4pm
Price: $15 includes wine (pay at door, cash only)
Reservations: 212-339-2092 or rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

The Roger Smith is a hub for social media in #NYC. People. Art. Food. Wine. For 10% off our best available rooms rate: bit.ly/RSrooms

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The Solarium at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Ave, at 47th Street, New York NY 10017
Cross Street: 47th Street and Lexington Avenue
Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
Tickets: $15 (paid at door, cash only)

Reservations: call 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

Roger Smith Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts production company providing cultural entertainment as a way to promote dialogue within and between the leading disciplines of the New York and global art worlds. The company’s mission is to establish itself as a pre-eminent and sought after cultural  institution to the city of New York. Recognizing dialogue as the backbone of any cultural organization, RSA embraces variety as a means to foster the exchange of creative ideas. RSA produces performance art and site specific  installation exhibits, jazz and acoustic singer/songwriter concerts, poetry readings, chamber music concerts, and ongoing speaker series, all with leading creative intellectuals of their various fields.

The mission of the New York City Classical Guitar Society is to provide a framework for the shared enjoyment and exploration of the classical guitar in New York City, and to promote awareness and appreciation of its heritage and influence across musical genres, bringing together performers, composers, supporting members of the guitar community, and the listening public in ways that enrich the experience of all. nyccgs.com

Biographies:

Rafael Aguirre September 11^th 2011, 4pm

Born in Malaga in 1984, Spanish guitarist Rafael Aguirre began his musical studies at the age of seven, later graduating with the highest marks possible from the Malaga Conservatory. By his sixteenth birthday, Aguirre had already made his orchestral debut, performing the “Concierto de Aranjuez” with the Malaga Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, on a tour that included several cities across Spain and Morocco. During the course of his education, Aguirre’s remarkable talents have allowed this young guitarist to participate in masterclasses with world-class classical guitarists such as Manuel Barrueco, Leo Brouwer and David Russell. An accomplished performer, Aguirre has also won an impressive list of first prizes at international guitar competitions.

Austin Moorhead October 9th 2011, 4pm

A two-time finalist in the world’s most prestigious guitar competition (GFA), Austin Moorhead was awarded a DAAD Scholarship by the German Government to study with Tilman Hoppstock. He received his Master’s of Music in 2009 from Yale University while studying with Benjamin Verdery on a full scholarship, and his Bachelor’s from Arizona State University while studying with Frank Koonce. He has received first prize in several other well-known National and International Guitar competitions, including the 2008 National Guitar Workshop Competition, the 2007 ECU Guitar Competition, and the 2007 American String Teachers Association competition. He is an active performer throughout the United States and Europe, and has been a guest artist at guitar festivals around the country, including the Classical Minds Guitar Festival in Houston. Austin plays D‘Addario Strings.

The Alturas Duo November 13th 2011, 4pm

The Alturas Duo has been recognized as one of the most engaging ensembles performing in the chamber music world today. The only group of its kind, the Duo was formed with the idea of playing South American and classical music by bringing together the unusual combination of the viola, charango and guitar, and in doing so, creating passionate music that moves at ease between the Baroque, South American folk rhythms and new pieces written especially for the Duo. The Duo has performed in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Bolivia, throughout the US and Puerto Rico including recitals at: Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Smithsonian Institute, La Guitarra California, and the 34th International Viola Congress. The Duo has worked with artists as diverse as: charango virtuoso Ernesto Cavour; guitarist and composer Horacio Salinas; pianist Polly Ferman and Argentine bandoneon legend, Daniel Binelli and has premiered dozens of commissions, arrangements and transcriptions leading to its being awarded the 2009 CMA / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming.

Jerome Mouffe January 8th 2012, 4pm

Jerome Mouffe is a virtuoso guitarist from Belgium who has dazzled international audiences with his passionate and spontaneous playing. Jerome has toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the Unites States and Western Europe. He released his debut CD, Capriccio, in 2009 on the VGo Recordings label. The album features early nineteenth century virtuoso Italian music. Jerome has a Masters Degree from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in Belgium and a Postgraduate Diploma at the Universitat Mozarteum Salzburg, in Austria. He is currently a doctorate candidate at the New England Conservatory in Boston, under the direction of Eliot Fisk.

Duo Sonidos February 12th 2012, 4pm

Duo Sonidos brings together the talents of violinist William Knuth and guitarist Adam Levin. The duo is at the vanguard of the guitar chamber music world, forging relationships with contemporary composers with the mission of expanding the duo repertoire. In November 2010 Duo Sonidos released their debut album Duo Sonidos, and subsequently, were awarded first prize at the 2010 Luys Milan International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain. Levin and Knuth have performed throughout the United States and Europe and have been honored as U.S. Fulbright Scholars in the field of music performance in Madrid, Spain and Vienna.

João Kouyoumdjian March 11th 2012, 4pm

Praised for his expressive musicianship by Grammy award winner Sharon Isbin, Brazilian-Armenian guitarist João Kouyoumdjian has played in the U.S., Brazil and Central America. A graduate of The Juilliard School and winner of the 2010 Souza Lima National Competition, João recently had his Carnegie Hall debut recital as well as performing at Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kouyoumdjian has performed in international festivals and concerts and is also currently Artist in Residence of Grace Church in Newark.

Alejandro Cote April 8th 2011, 4pm

Guitarist Alejandro Cote is quickly establishing himself as an exciting new face in the classical guitar scene. He plays regularly throughout the United States and the Caribbean, with engagements at Weill Recital Hall, the Goethe Institute in New York City, the Yamaha Piano Salon, the Cas di Cultura in Aruba, and La Belle Alliance in Curaçao. He has been a featured performer at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Chamber Music Festival and the Water Island Music Festival in the Virgin Islands. Performance highlights last season included a tour in Texas of ten solo recitals for the Austin Classical Guitar Society as well as solo and chamber appearances in Houston, Atlanta and New York.

Rupert Boyd May 13th 1212, 4pm

Australian guitarist Rupert Boyd is acclaimed as one of the most talented guitarists of his generation. He has been described by The Washington Post as “truly evocative”, and by Classical Guitar Magazine as “a player who deserves to be heard.” He has performed throughout North America, Europe and Australia, including at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Merkin Concert Hall and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. His solo CD Valses Poéticos received the following review in Soundboard, the quarterly publication of Guitar Foundation of America: “Boyd’s playing is beautifully refined, with gorgeous tone . . . musically and technically flawless . . . [the Granados is] one of the best recorded performances of this work on guitar.”

Texas Guitar Quartet June 10th 1212, 4pm

Forged in Austin as a graduate student group in 2005, the Texas Guitar Quartet has firmly established a reputation as the premier guitar ensemble in Texas. Members Isaac Bustos, Jonathan Dotson, Alejandro Montiel and Joseph Williams II have individually garnered acclaim and critical praise in international guitar competitions and as soloists on concert stages around the world. With their talents combined, they display a virtuosic command of the guitar quartet medium. As a group, TxGQ claimed first prize with “Special Merit” in the 2006 edition of the Brownsville Guitar Ensemble Festival and Competition, one of the few competitions of its kind in the United States. An avid supporter of Texas-based composers, the group has premiered new works by Andrew Dickinson, Alfredo Barros, and Mark Anthony Cruz, who in 2010 wrote “Agitato and Departure” for the quartet.

The Roger Smith is a hub for social media in #NYC. People. Art. Food. Wine. For 10% off our best available rooms rate: bit.ly/RSrooms

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Scott Borg at The Roger Smith Hotel by rogersmitharts

Scott Borg performs “The Prince’s Toys” written in 1980 by Russian composer Nikita Koshkin (b. 1956). The piece illustrates in music the story of a prince who abuses his toys, which includes a mechanical monkey, a doll with blinking eyes and a group of soldiers. They eventually rebel and in turn they mistreat the prince, until he tries to escape in his toy coach. They pursue him, eventually catching him and turn him into a toy too, or do they…? Read full review by Andy Daly here.

On Scott Borg:
Praised by Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin as a guitarist with “enormous facility on the guitar, a fluent technique, who plays with total confidence and professional expertise, panache and artful spontaneity”, Australian classical guitarist Scott Borg performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been a featured artist at major concert halls such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and New York’s Apollo Theatre with rock legend Carlos Alomar. As a winner of Artists International, he made his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall where New York Concert Review described his performance as “well balanced, gracefully presented, and expertly played”. Previous engagements have included performances and masterclasses at the Merida International Guitar Festival in Yucatan, Mexico, ICPNA International Guitar Festival in Lima Peru, Shell Darwin International Festival Australia, the 92nd Street Y, New York City Classical Guitar Society and Sydney Classical Guitar Society.

On The Second Sundays Classical Guitar Concert Series:
The Second Sundays Classical Guitar Concert Series, as the name implies, takes place on the second Sunday of every month in the spectacular and intimate Penthouse on the sixteenth floor of the hotel. Co-curated by composer and musician Frank Wallace and musician and president of the New York City Classical Guitar Society John Olson, the SSCCS series presents musicians performing in styles ranging from the Segovia Tradition to the rock inspired, from flamenco to modern art song.

The Roger Smith is a hub for social media in #NYC. People. Art. Food. Wine. For 10% off our best available rooms rate: bit.ly/RSrooms

twitter: twitter.com/rshotel
fb: facebook.com/rogersmithhotel
blog: bit.ly/RSlife
web: rogersmith.com/

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Praised as a guitarist with “enormous facility on the guitar, a fluent technique, who plays with total confidence and professional expertise, panache and artful spontaneity”, by Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin, Australian classical guitarist Scott Borg performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, he has been a featured artist at major concert halls such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and New York’s Apollo Theatre with rock legend Carlos Alomar. As a winner of Artists International, he made his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall where New York Concert Review described his performance as “well balanced, gracefully presented, and expertly played”. Previous engagements have included performances and masterclasses at the Merida International Guitar Festival in Yucatan, Mexico, ICPNA International Guitar Festival in Lima Peru, Shell Darwin International Festival Australia, the 92nd Street Y, New York City Classical Guitar Society and Sydney Classical Guitar Society. www.scottborgguitar.com

The Second Sundays Classical Guitar Concerts Series As the name implies, this series takes place on the second Sunday of every month in the spectacular and intimate Penthouse on the sixteenth floor of the hotel. Co-curated by composer and musician Frank Wallace and musician and president of the New York City Classical Guitar Society John Olson, the SSCCS series presents musicians performing in styles ranging from the Segovia Tradition to the rock inspired, from flamenco to modern art song.

The Roger Smith is a hub for social media in #NYC. People. Art. Food. Wine. For 10% off our best available rooms rate: bit.ly/RSrooms

twitter: twitter.com/rshotel
fb: facebook.com/rogersmithhotel
blog: bit.ly/RSlife
web: rogersmith.com/

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Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132 Giacinto Scelsi: String Quartet No. 4

This program explores works from the late, mature periods of two musical revolutionaries, Beethoven and Scelsi, whose works are often catalogued into three (or in Sclesi’s case, sometimes four) periods of stylistic evolution. Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132, is one of the cornerstone pieces of his late style, in which traditional forms and genres become fragmented, drawn out, and reinvented in a highly personal language. Traces of autobiography also appear in the quartet; the beautiful central movement, titled Heiliger Dankgesang (“Holy Song of Thanks”), is a hymn of gratitude “from One Made Well, to the Divine; in the Lydian Mode.” In Theodor W. Adorno’s 1937 essay on late Beethoven, he describes the artist’s self-exile and alienation from his contemporaries and audiences as a major cultural moment in the history of music. This program takes its title from Edward Said’s “On Late Style: Music and Literature Against the Grain,” a collection of essays on the subject, which was itself inspired by Adorno’s earlier essay.

Like Beethoven, Giacinto Scelsi found his most individualistic voice late in life. A period of psychological crisis and spiritual transformation led to a new style based on the most basic elements of sound and its infinite varieties. In his fourth string quartet, long drawn-out phrasing allows for migration between areas of extreme focus – on a single pitch, for instance, or slight changes of timbre obtained through special playing techniques.

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Quick Info:
“On Late Style”
Presented by Roger Smith Arts & The Talea Ensemble
The Penthouse at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017, 47th and Lexington (Map)
Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
Sunday June 26th at 4pm
Price: $15 includes wine and cheese (pay at door, cash only)
Reservations: 212-339-2092 or rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com



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Roger Smith Arts and The New York Classical Guitar Society

Present John Lehmann-Haupt

June 12th, 2011 4pm

John Lehmann-Haupt, a New York based guitarist, has been playing since he was five years old. Known equally for his arrangements of popular and traditional songs, as for his classical interpretations, he has performed throughout the Northeast and in the homes of such prominent New Yorkers as Tom Brokaw, Madeleine Albright, and Donald Trump. His twelve year engagement at Windows on the World (atop the World Trade Center) was cited for musical excellence by The New York Times.

Information:
Where: The Solarium at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017, 47th and Lexington (Map)
How: Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
Price: $15 includes Wine and Cheese (pay at door, cash only)
Reservations: 212.339.2092 or rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

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Second Sundays Classical Guitar Concert Series: Lynn McGrath

Sunday, May 8, 2011, at 4:00 PM
Co-Sponsored by New York City Classical Guitar Society and The Roger Smith Hotel
Frank Wallace and John Olson, series co-curators

Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue at East 47th Street
New York City (see map)

Tickets $15, cash only at the door. For reservations, email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com or call (212) 755-1400.

Lynn McGrath has performed and given masterclasses for prominent guitar programs including the University of Veracruz (Mexico) and Oberlin Conservatory, and has appeared on a number of arts series and for colleges across the United States. In 2008, she completed a 6-concert tour of Peru, and has been an outreach artist for organizations such as the Austin Classical Guitar Society and the Da Camera Society (Los Angeles). She has appeared as a soloist with the Northern New York, has adjudicated a number of international competitions, and in 2009 was selected as the clinician and conductor of the Albuquerque Honors Guitar Group.

After having received degrees in Spanish Language and Literature, Education, and Music, Lynn received her Master and Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Southern California. She has studied with some of today’s most prominent guitarists, including William Kanengiser, Pepe Romero, James Smith, and Douglas Rubio. Lynn McGrath is a former faculty member of the Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam, where she received a Student Choice Award in 2006. She serves as the Tour Director for the Guitar Foundation of America and presently lives and teaches in Albuquerque, NM.

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Sunday May 22nd, 2011 4pm

Photo credit : Liz Linder

Fourth Sundays Chamber Music Series with WIRED: Claire Chase and Eric Lamb, Flutes

Claire Chase and Eric Lamb are the flute section of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and have been playing together since a chance encounter in the summer of 1997 on Cape Cod convinced them that they had been separated at birth. Since then, Claire and Eric – often referred to as the duo “Wired” – have played hundreds of concerts together, and have cultivated a tight-knit virtuosity and emotional chemistry well-suited to the challenges of contemporary repertoire, premiering dozens of new duo works for the entire family of flutes. Equally at home with baroque, classical, romantic, and experimental repertoire as well as with new directions in electro-acoustic music and improvisation, they have performed as a duo throughout the US and Europe and given duo master classes recently at Northwestern University, Smith College and the Wiesbaden Academy of Music in Germany.

Find full schedule information for the guitar concerts HERE
and Chamber Music Concerts HERE

Sunday May 8th, 2011 4pm

Second Sundays Classical Guitar Concert with Lynn McGrath

While studying Spanish as a foreign exchange student in Mexico, Lynn McGrath bought a guitar on a whim and asked a visiting professor (Alfredo Sanchez) for lessons, never imagining that years later she would be invited back as a professional musician. Since then, Lynn received her Master and Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree from USC and has studied with some of today’s most prominent guitarists including William Kanengiser and Pepe Romero. She has performed in many international festivals including the XIX Festival Internacional de Guitarra (Lima, Peru), the Guitar on the Mediterranean Festival (Italy), the Niksic Festival (Montenegro), the III Muestra de Guitarra Ajijic (Mexico) and the 2009 GFA Convention. In her unique rendition of Platero y yo by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, she has astounded audiences and received critical acclaim by performing the role of guitarist and narrator simultaneously. She serves as the Tour Director for the GFA and presently lives and teaches in Albuquerque, NM.

For reservations contact Danika Druttman on 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com

Tickets are $15 each (cash only) and include a wine and cheese selection

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How do composers translate or transliterate linguistic concepts or even actual texts into musical material?

And how is that challenge met in purely instrumental
music, using a convincing narrative?

Leos Janacek: Piano Sonata 1.X.(1905)
Derek Bermel: Language Instruction (2003)
Drew Baker: Inter (2007)
In-concert discussion with Derek Bermel and Drew Baker

Composers Derek Bermel and Drew Baker will be on hand to discuss their approaches. Bermel’s “Language Instruction” is a humorous and theatrical description of a “lesson” in Brazilian Portuguese, “taught” by a clarinet to two strings and an impulsive, interrupting piano. Baker’s “Inter” takes the first line of Proust’s “Swann’s Way,” analyzing its rhythmic dictation and stretching its duration to form the rhythmic framework for the piece; perception is thus altered, and events become more momentous through the silences surrounding them.
For reservations email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com or call 212.339.2092

QUICK INFORMATION:
The Fourth Sundays Chamber Music Series with Talea Ensemble
Language and Text in Music
Presented by Roger Smith Arts
The Penthouse at The Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017, 47th and Lexington (Map)
Subway: E, 6, V to 53rd and Lexington or 4, 5, 6, 7 to Grand Central
Sunday April 23rd at 4pm
Price: $15 includes wine and cheese (pay at door, cash only)
Reservations: 212-339-2092 or rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com
For more information: www.rogersmithlife.com/fourth_sundays

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Praised as “an exceptionally musical and accomplished guitarist,” Nicholas Ciraldo is a leader among his generation of American classical guitarists. He has won awards and reached high levels at several prestigious solo competitions, including the Tredrez-Locquemau International Guitar Competition (France), twice at the MTNA Guitar Competition (USA), the Gaetano Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), the GFA Solo Guitar Competition (USA), and the Portland International Guitar Competition (USA). Ciraldo has enjoyed numerous solo, chamber, and concerto performances throughout the United States, South America, and Europe, from Boston’s Jordan Hall to Berlin’s Berliner Dom to Brazil’s Teatro José Maria Santos. An avid chamber musician, Nicholas Ciraldo has collaborated with many fine performing artists, including harpist Franziska Huhn, flutist Thomas Robertello, guitarist Eliot Fisk, violinist Stephen Redfield, and the Quadrivium Guitar Quartet. Currently, Dr. Ciraldo enjoys a busy concert schedule with his wife, flutist Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo, as the Ciraldo Duo. Their recent concert venues include the National Flute Association Convention, the Pelican State Chamber Music Series of Baton Rouge, the Christ Church of Pensacola, and the Escola da musica e bellas artes do Parana, Brazil.
A participating member of the arts community, Nicholas Ciraldo has held diverse positions with several arts organizations, including Artistic Director of the Boston Classical Guitar Society and Vice President of the Austin Classical Guitar Society. Dr. Ciraldo is also founder of the Hammer/Nail Project, a program that links student composers with guitarists and shows how to write for the guitar in the most idiomatic way possible. He currently serves as faculty advisor to the USM Guitar Society.

Another of Dr. Ciraldo’s activities is as artist/teacher. The Quadrivium Guitar Quartet performed as artists-in-residence throughout rural Kentucky under the auspices of New Performing Arts. The Ciraldo Duo twice has been invited by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Classical Guitar Society to be artists/teachers-in- residence. Dr. Ciraldo has given numerous lectures and masterclasses throughout the U.S. and Brazil. Dr. Ciraldo is on the faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Music in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Nicholas Ciraldo holds a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, where he studied with Ernesto Bitetti and Luis Zea. He also holds a Master of Music with Academic Honors from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Leisner and Eliot Fisk. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with Adam Holzman and received the Freeman Fellowship. His most recent research involved the “1928 Manuscript” of the Villa-Lobos guitar studies.

For more information about Nicholas Ciraldo, please visit www.usm.edu/music.

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