New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ CBS Corporation) Watch!, the glossy celebrity/fashion/lifestyle magazine published by CBS, announced today a collaboration with 28-year-old violin virtuoso Charlie Siem, who penned his very first composition for the magazine's annual marketing campaign. Siem, whose fourth album, Under the Stars, will be released by Sony Classical
Music this September, wrote and performed an original score for the CBS publication, which will use the music for its interactive, tablet, mobile and social media campaigns. The score - a five-minute composition with three distinct melodies - was recorded in London on Dec. 20 with members of the prestigious English Chamber Orchestra. The behind-the-scenes video and the official marketing presentation can now be seen here. The video will be live for viewers to see on www.cbswatchmagazine.com, CBS.com, TV.com, the CBS Audience Network and a growing list of digital platforms.
Watch! was created and is published by the CBS Communications Department. The bimonthly publication is available on newsstands and through subscription.
"I've had a terrific relationship with Watch! for several years now," said Siem. "It's a very unique magazine with a distinct point of view, and composing its first original score turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, creatively fulfilling projects of the last year."
"So much of what we do today is in the interactive space, and we wanted an original piece of music that reflected our brand to complement our digital strategy," said Jeremy Murphy, Editor-in-Chief of Watch! magazine and Vice President, Communications, CBS Television. "Charlie's score does that perfectly - he is a world-class talent, and to know this is the first piece of music he has ever written makes it extra special. We are incredibly pleased to have partnered with him on this ambitious project."
"To bring all those different things together - an old church in London, a 28 year-old violin virtuoso and a classical chamber orchestra, all playing a score for a magazine that had never even been performed before that morning we made the video - that's the epitome of creativity. That says everything about Watch!," said
James Hendry, Group Creative Director, Team One, the division of Saatchi & Saatchi that produced and edited the campaign.
The composition - titled "Canopy" - was recorded and filmed last December in St. Silas, the Martyr, a church in Northern London. CBS used portions of the score for a two-minute brand presentation, which was narrated by "NCIS" star Pauley Perrette. The five-minute behind-the-scenes video tells the story of how the composition came together and will be seen on CBS websites.
Siem will make his first national appearance to promote the composition on "THE INSIDER," the CBS Television Distribution-produced entertainment magazine (check local listings for time and station).
Siem, who plays a 1735 Guarneri del Gesu violin known as the d'Egville, discovered the violin at the age of three, after hearing a broadcast of Yehudi Menuhin performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto. Later, Siem studied with Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky and Maestro Shlomo Mintz. He recently appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech
National Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra alongside conductors such as Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Yuri Simonov, Ed Gardner and Libor Pesek. In
September 2012, he had his Wigmore Hall debut in London with pianist Itamar Golan.
Siem's debut CD featuring violin sonatas by Grieg and Elgar was released in 2008. Siem subsequently signed to Warner Classics and Jazz and produced two critically acclaimed albums, one including spectacular virtuoso repertoire from the great violin masters Paganini, Sarasate, Wieniawski and Kreisler and the second with the London Symphony Orchestra released in August 2011. The album featuring Wieniawski's first violin concerto became #3 in the UK Specialist Classical Chart.
In addition, Siem has revived the age-old violinistic tradition of composing virtuosic variations of popular themes, which he has done alongside artists including Bryan Adams,
Jamie Cullum and The Who's
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend. Alongside his concert activities, Siem has been adopted by a number of brands such as Dior, Dunhill and presently by Armani as a result of his charismatic performances combined with a natural ease in front of the camera and audience.
