piano

Ziggy and Miles, duo guitarists

Ziggy and Miles, Duo Guitarists

Sunday, March 29, 2026

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Winners of the 2023 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Ziggy and Miles are two of Australia’s finest young musicians forging an international career. Their performances are known for their “deeply considered musicianship, immaculate care and superlative technique” (5MBS). The brothers became the first guitar duo and second guitarists to receive this prestigious award in the organization’s history.

With over 50 awards between them in guitar competitions and local Welsh music Eisteddfods across their home city of Melbourne, Ziggy and Miles proved their artistry as soloists and a duo from a young age. Among their early accolades are major prizes in competitions hosted by the Guitar Foundation of America, the Adelaide International Guitar Festival and the Melbourne Recital Center.

Their long-awaited new album, Sidekick, was featured as one of New York’s WQXR’s “Best New Classical Albums of 2023.” Praised by Soundboard Magazine, it showcases new works written for the brothers, their own “transfixingly beautiful” (Limelight) arrangement of Debussy’s Clair de Lune, and works that have shaped their musical identity from Spain, Latin America, and Australia.

Actively involved in community engagement, they have a passion for providing education and music to people without access to live performances or high-quality music education. They have collaborated with organizations across Australia and the U.S. Graduates of The Juilliard School, Ziggy and Miles were the first Australians and first guitar duo accepted into the school’s prestigious Artist Diploma program, where they also received the Norman Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant.

VIDEOS

“Excellent ensemble skills and articulations

throughout with virtuosity to spare.”

— This is Classical Guitar

“Personable, relaxed and utterly winning.”

— Limelight

“deeply considered musicianship, immaculate care

and superlative technique”

5MBS

PROGRAM

TBA

Ziggy and Miles, Duo Guitarists Read More »

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, piano

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, Piano

Sunday, March 8, 2026

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Winner of the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition and recipient of the Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medal, 25-year-old Canadian pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko has been celebrated by audiences, critics and composers alike for his communicative power, refined technical command and artistic maturity. A few months before his triumph in Leeds, Jaeden became the first Canadian Grand Prize Laureate in an instrumental edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal in May 2024.

An experienced recitalist, Jaeden has made prominent debuts in the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Germany. Recent concerto performances have taken him to Spain, Canada and England. His playing has been broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, BBC4 TV, Catalunya Ràdio, CBC Radio’s In Concert, New York’s WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, and medici.tv.

Jaeden first gained international recognition in 2022, claiming first prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the Maria Canals International Music Competition, and the 20th Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition, where he also won the Canon Audience Prize and the Chamber Music Award. In 2024, he was awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

VIDEOS

“… one of Canada’s most exciting

classical music talents.”

— Anthony Miller, Macleans

“He demonstrated exceptional artistic maturity and imagination, remarkable technical command, and a profound ability to captivate and transport the audience through his storytelling and poetry …”

— Dame Imogen Cooper, Chair of

the 2024 Leeds International

Piano Competition Jury

In a world of competition, hype and promotion, Jaeden Izik-Dzurko stands apart. He is a sincere artist and deserves our attention.

Bachtrack

PROGRAM

TBA

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, Piano Read More »

Bridget Kibbey, harp

Bridget Kibbey, Harp

Sunday, November 16, 2025

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Lending her singular virtuosity and verve to the concert harp, Bridget Kibbey, a native of Findlay, Ohio, is known for her great musical instincts that transcend the harp. She interprets the masters—Bach,Debussy, Ravel, Bartok—bringing “a fresh face to the familiar music”(Seattle City Arts Magazine), while being a bold advocate of genre-crossing storytelling and newly-commissioned works. Her virtuosic and soulful ability to communicate draws in the audience. She has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras and has been featured as soloist in top halls internationally.

Kibbey is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Salon de Virtuosi SONY Recording Grant, premiere prix at the Journées de les Harpes Competition in Arles, France, and won a place in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. Her solo performances have been broadcast widely, and she has recorded to great critical acclaim.

Her debut album was named one of the Top Ten Releases by Time Out New York; her next solo release with Pentatone Records, slated for 2026, is a set

of surprising keyboard transcriptions. She has commissioned concerti from Vivian Fung and Brazilian composer Joao Luiz, exploring the sounds of Carnaval on the harp; and she brings two newly-commissioned concerti to the stage in 2027.

Known for her curatorial strengths, Kibbey builds touring projects merging her own solo transcriptions alongside powerful collaborations; she has performed in duo with Kathleen Battle and Dawn Upshaw, Avi Avital, Alexi Kenney, Samuel Torres, and Mahsa Vahdat, among others.

She appears frequently as soloist and chamber musician at festivals and series across the USA. From 2022–2024, Kibbey was the Artistic Director of MOSA Concerts, elevating a local concert series to a notable world-class, cross-genre performing arts series.

VIDEOS

“… the Yo-Yo Ma of the harp.”

— Vogue Magazine

“… made it seem as though her instrument had been

waiting all its life to explode with the gorgeous colors

and energetic figures she was getting from it.”

— The New York Times

“…Once she applied her fingers to her large concert harp, it was clear that she was a formidable musician, fluent in the ‘modes, colors, and drones’ within music that carries the weight of history.”

Portland Press

PROGRAM

TBA

Bridget Kibbey, Harp Read More »

Manami Suzuki, piano

Manami Suzuki, Piano

Sunday, September 7, 2025

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Historic win of prestigious competition

At just 22 years old, Manami Suzuki made history in 2024 as the first Japanese pianist to win the prestigious Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan. In addition to taking home the First Prize, Suzuki also earned the Chamber Music Award and the Audience Prize, marking an extraordinary achievement.

In August 2023, she received the Grand Prix and Audience Award at the 47th PTNA (Piano Teachers’ National Association of Japan) Piano Competition, as well as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award and the Steinway Award.

In October of the same year, Suzuki won First Prize in the piano division of the 92nd Japan Music Concours, the Iwatani Prize (Audience Award), Nomura Prize, Iguchi Prize, Kawai Prize, Miyake Prize, Argerich Arts Foundation Prize, and INPEX Prize.

Following these awards, she gave recitals in various locations in Japan, receiving favorable reviews.

Additionally, Suzuki has performed with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. She participated in the Hamamatsu International Piano Academy and Kirishima International Music Festival.

Born in Osaka, Japan in 2002, Suzuki began playing the piano at the age of four. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s degree at Tokyo College of Music and is studying under Katsunori Ishii.

VIDEOS

MATINĖE MUSICALE CINCINNATI

is excited to present the US debut of this emerging talent!

Epic in scale and darkly poetic, Suzuki delivered quick passage work with grand lyrical sweeps and assertive gestures while being mindful of the chamber-like interaction between soloist and orchestra at all times.

Interlude.hk

“deep, warm, and refined and honed to the finest detail, and it moves the heart to the very depths…”

— Noriko Ogawa, head judge of the

Hamamatsu International Piano Competition

PROGRAM

TBA

Manami Suzuki, piano Read More »

Martin James Bartlett, piano

Martin James Bartlett, Piano

Sunday, April 6, 2025 | 5 PM

Memorial Hall, OTR

Plays with a maturity and elegance far beyond his years

British pianist Martin James Bartlett, known for his fearless technique, was the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang in 2022. In 2021, he was awarded the Queen Mother Rosebowl by HRH Prince (now King) Charles and, in 2020, won the Virtu(al)oso Global Piano Competition by Piano Cleveland. From 2020 to 2022, Bartlett was the RCM Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow, and made his play-direct and conducting debut with the London Mozart Players at the Cheltenham and Ryedale festivals in 2022. In 2019, Bartlett earned first place at the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and, in 2018, won second prize and the Audience Award at the Kissingen Piano Olympiad.

Bartlett’s early public success was as winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2014, leading to engagements with several orchestras. In 2015, he was one of the youngest-ever soloists to debut at the BBC Proms, with reviews in The Daily Telegraph and The Times praising his musical insight and maturity.

Bartlett has performed with many European orchestras and in recital internationally, including a debut US tour in 2022 in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. He has released two widely acclaimed albums: Rhapsody (2022), featuring concerti by Rachmaninoff and Gershwin; and his debut recital album Love and Death (2019), an exploration of elemental themes from Bach to Prokofiev.

Martin James Bartlett, piano

VIDEOS

“Martin James Bartlett is not only a prodigy of the piano but an accomplished artist who counts among the greats of his generation.”

— Nice Matin

“With Martin James Bartlett on the piano, this was like hearing Gershwin for the first time, he gave it new life, new confidence.”

Behind the Arras, 5 stars, November 2022

“Now in his late 20s, he has become a probing, thoughtful player, directing his exciting virtuosity at the service of a wide range of composers.”

The Guardian

PROGRAM

Les Barricades Mystérieuses……………François de Couperin (1668 – 1733)

Gavotte et six doubles from Suite in A minor, RCT 5………..Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764)

Kinderszenen, Op. 15…………..Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)

Widmung……………………..Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), arr. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

INTERMISSION

Four Impromptus, D. 899, Op. 90…….Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

Ständchen, S. 560…………….Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), arr. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, WWV.90……..Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883), arr. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

La Valse…………………………………Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Ellen Stephens, Martin, Judy Martin, Hazel Bartlett, Marina Abanto

Ellen Stephens, Martin James Bartlett, Judy Martin, Hazel Bartlett and Marina Abanto

After the concert dinner at Seasons 52 with Martin James Bartlett, his mother Hazel, and members of Matinée Musicale.

Martin James Bartlett Read More »

Hanick Hawley Duo

Hanick Hawley Duo

Conor Hanick, Piano

Richie Hawley, Clarinet

Sunday, October 13, 2024 | 3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Explore boundary-pushing music, both new and old!

Through collaboration with some of music’s leading composers and

integration of this work with the classic music of the genre, the Hanick

Hawley Duo seeks to reinvigorate the repertoire for clarinet and piano.

Having met as faculty members at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the

West, they perform regularly at its renowned summer festival and school.

The Times’ Anthony Tommasini says pianist Conor Hanick’s playing is

reminiscent of a “young Peter Serkin.” Regarded as one of his generation’s

most inquisitive interpreters of music, Hanick has been presented by The

Gilmore Festival, the New York Philharmonic, Caramoor, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Park Avenue Armory, and performed with American orchestras. He has premiered over 200 works and collaborated with composers both emerging and iconic. He served as co-artistic director of the Ojai Festival in 2022. Since 2014, he has been a faculty artist at the Music Academy of the West. He has given lectures and master classes internationally and is on the piano and chamber music faculty of The Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute of Music.

Appointed principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1994, Richie Hawley left that position in 2011 to become Professor of Clarinet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He regularly appears on international stages as a soloist and chamber musician. He toured with the legendary Musicians from Marlboro for the 50th anniversary performance at Carnegie Hall. His numerous awards include first prize at the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition and the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Gold Medal awarded by President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Hawley made his orchestral solo debut at age 13 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at 14 performed with the New York Philharmonic.

Richie Hawley and Conor Hanick performing in Memorial Hall on Sunday, October 13, 2024.

VIDEOS

[Conor Hanick’s] “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety ofarticulation benefit works by any master.”

— New York Times

“[Richie Hawley] … An intellectually astute, and technically untouchable clarinetist.”

— Casa Magazine

[Richie Hawley’s] “ability to turn ebony into gold–to impose his will on the instrument and make it sing–was evident throughout, from rapid passages to the hushed return of the opening theme…”

— Mary Ellyn Hutton, Cincinnati Post

 

PROGRAM

Three Romances, op. 22…………………….……..….Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

Etudes for Solo Piano…………………………………….Samuel Adams (b. 1985)

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano…………………….Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

INTERMISSION

Three Smiles for Tracey for Solo Clarinet……Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano……………………..Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Hanick-Hawley Duo
The Reception after the recital
Conor Hanick talked to people at the Reception
Richie Hawley & Janelle Gelfand
Richie Hawley & clarinet students
Students with Richie Hawley & Professor of Clarinet Pavel VInnitsky and family
Two students with Pavel Vinnitsky, Professor of Clarinet at UC-CCM
Audience members
James Farber, Linda Chatterjee, Joyce Alpiner
Conor Hanick, Judy Martin, Richie Hawley
Ellen Stephens, Marina Abanto, Melissa Cox
Happy audience members at the reception

Hanick Hawley Duo Read More »

Julian Schwarz, cello

Julian Schwarz, Cello

Marika Bournaki, Piano

Sunday, October 29, 2023

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Julian Schwarz was born into a multigenerational musical family. His powerful tone, effortless virtuosity and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style. After making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony and his father Gerard Schwarz on the podium, he made his U.S. touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded 1st Prize at the inaugural Schoenfield International String Competition in 2013, he has led an active career as soloist, performing internationally.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with his wife, pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016 the duo was awarded 1st Prize at the inaugural Boulder International String Competition’s “The Art of Duo” before embarking on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in 2017. Mr. Schwarz is a founding member of the New York based Frisson Ensemble (a mixed nonet of winds and strings) and the Mile –End Trio with violinist Jeff Multer and Ms. Bournaki. He collaborates often throughout the country with a number of musicians.

An ardent supporter of new music, he has premiered concertos by Richard Danielpour and Samuel Jones, among others. His recordings include an album of concertos with the Seattle Symphony. A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Assistant Professor of Cello at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Virginia and on the artist faculty of New York University – Steinhardt.

A mass of soaring lines, intricate technique, and heroic aplomb, Schwarz executed all with a fluency of ease that was simply astounding. … Schwarz’s ability to spin the musical line with a fire and musicianship left the audience on its feet.”

— Toledo Blade

“It was cellist Julian Schwarz who had the most challenging, high-

flying passages…and he played them all with impeccable intonation

and artistry.”

— Classical Voice of Los Angeles

“Cellist Julian Schwarz’s deep tone shoots straight to the heart of a listener.”

— Shepherd Express, November 2017

Marika Bournaki, Piano

Described as “the Celine Dion of classical” by The Huffington Post, Marika Bournaki is at once a world-class performer, dazzling pianist, vivacious young woman and one of the freshest faces on the classical music scene. Ms. Bournaki not only brings distinctive interpretations to favorite standards, but extends her passion for music by commissioning works from younger composers and collaborating with artists from various fields.

Marika Bournaki’s current season includes her debuts with the Bozeman, Duluth Superior, Springfield (MO) and Topeka symphony orchestras, a chamber music program with the Palm Beach Symphony, returns to Boca Raton’s The SYMPHONIA and Canada’s Sinfonia Toronto and programs with her duo partner, cellist Julian Schwarz. Of special note is her continuing survey of Beethoven’s complete 32-work piano sonata cycle, presented by the distinguished Bargemusic in Brooklyn.

Marika Bournaki, piano

Marika Bournaki has appeared as guest soloist with the symphony orchestras of Montréal, Quebec and St. Petersburg along with Romania’s Timisoara Filharmonica, Switzerland’s Verbier Chamber Orchestra and Canada’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition to a benefit recital for the Glenn Gould Foundation at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, she has been presented in solo recitals and chamber music collaborations throughout the United States, Canada and the world, including Belgium, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Switzerland and South Korea.

A devoted chamber musician, Marika Bournaki performs regularly at Brooklyn’s Bargemusic, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival and the Frankly Music series in Milwaukee, while serving on the faculties of the Eastern Music Festival and Canada’s Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. She tours internationally with duo partner cellist Julian Schwarz, and together won 1st prize in the 2016 Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “The Art of Duo.” Ms. Bournaki is also a member of the Mile-End Trio with Mr. Schwarz and violinist Jeffrey Multer.

The award-winning documentary “I am Not a Rock Star,” featuring Marika Bounaki and directed by Bobbi Jo Hart, has captivated international audiences of all ages. The feature-length film chronicles Ms. Bournaki’s evolution as an artist from the age of 12 to 20. A runaway success at multiple film festivals throughout the world, screenings of “I am Not a Rock Star” and solo performances were recently presented in Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, Miami, Napa Valley, Palm Springs, Toronto and Vancouver, as well as in Greece, México and Spain. The film has also been seen in Greece (ERT), The Netherlands (NTS), Norway (NRK), Sweden (SVT) theUnited Kingdom (BBC4), Australia (SBS) and New Zealand (Sky). The documentary is the recipient of awards for Best Arts Documentary and Best Editing from the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards.

Marika Bournaki’s innovative approach to her art and performance is reflected in a number of multimedia projects intended to reach out to new audiences. Additionally, her role as Ambassador to the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal’s summer event, “A Cool Classical Journey,” afforded new and stimulating ways to share her music with the public.

Marika Bournaki holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where her principal teachers were Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio. She makes her home in New York City.

PROGRAM


Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70……………………………………..Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Sonata No. 1 in E MinorOp. 38………………………………Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

INTERMISSION

silent for the rain……………………………………………………………..Alex Weiser (b. 1989)

Much Ado About Nothing Suite……………………………….Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)

(trans. Julian Schwarz)

Meditation Hebraique…………………………………………………….Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)

Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C Major, Op. 3………..Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Judy Martin, Executive Director of Matinée Musicale Cincinnati

Judy Martin, Administrative Director of Matinée Musicale

Julian Schwarz, cello, and Marika Bournaki, piano

Julian Schwarz, cello, and Marika Bournaki, piano

Julian Schwarz, cello
Julian Schwarz, cello
Julian Schwarz, cello
Julian Schwarz and Marika Bournaki
Two CCM cello students

Two CCM cello students in the audience

People in the balcony

People in the balcony enjoying the performance

Julian Schwarz and Marika Bournaki
Julian Schwarz and Marika Bournaki
Julian Schwarz talked to the audience about the compositions he played

Julian Schwarz spoke about the compositions he performed.

Standing Ovation!

A standing ovation for our guest artists!

Reception after the recital

There was a reception with cookies, apple cider and water after the concert.

Matinée Musicale members

Members of Matinée Musicale served the refreshments.

Nancy Martin gave M&M packets to the attendees.

Nancy Martin passed out packages of M&Ms with stickers of upcoming recitals on them.

Marika Bournaki & Julian Schwarz at the reception.

Marika Bournaki and Julian Schwarz

at the reception.

Emily Hodges & Charles Spencer

Emily Hodges and Charles Spencer

Judy Martin and the Shertzers

Judy Martin with the Shertzers

Deborah Grove & Ellen Stephens

Deborah Grove and Ellen Stephens

Carolmae Katz, Janelle Gelfand, Gayna Bassin & Ellen Shertzer

Carolmae Katz, Janelle Gelfand, Gayna Bassin & Ellen Shertzer

Artists talking to guests at the Reception

Julian and Marika enjoyed meeting audience members at the reception.

Dinner with members and the artists at Seasons 52 restaurant

Dinner at Seasons 52 restaurant after the recital with

Marika, Julian and Matinée Musicale members.

Julian Schwarz, Cello Read More »

Sara Daneshpour, piano

Sara Daneshpour, Piano

Sunday, September 17, 2023

3 pm

Memorial Hall

See Review of Recital by Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Business Courier.

Still in her early 20s, Sara Daneshpour has performed not only in her native city of Washington, DC, but also in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Russia, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Denmark and Sweden on stages of prestigious venues. She also has been featured nationwide on 160 public radio stations, including the venerable WGBH in Boston.

Ms. Daneshpour has received many awards in international competitions including, among others, 3rd prize at the 2017 Arthur Rubenstein International Piano Competition; 1st prize at the XII Concours International de Musique du Maroc; 2013 Laureate of the ProLiance Engery Classical Fellowship Awards of the American Pianists Association; 1st Prize, Gold Medal and the Audience Award at the 2007 International Piano Competition in San Jose, California; Gold Medal at the 2007 International Russian Music Piano Competition; and a medal at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona.

In concerts with orchestra and solo recitals, she stuns audiences with an unusually wide repertoire ranging from Bach to Boulez, with her dazzling technique and an exceptional level of artistic depth and sincerity. Her performances have earned high accolades from audiences and critics alike.

Ms. Daneshpour has studied under the direction of Leon Fleisher at the Curtis Institute of Music, with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Oleg Volkov at The Juilliard School and with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She will join the faculty at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music this fall.

“She created transfixing poetry.”

— The Washington Post

“…blazing technique, power, expressivity, imagination and stage presence.”

— The New York Concert Review

Program


JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750)

  • Das Wolhtemperierte Clavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier), Book One
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 1, in C Major, BWV 846
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 2, in C Minor, BWV 847
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 3, in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 4, in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 5, in D Major, BWV 850
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 6, in D Minor, BWV 851
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 7, in E-Flat Major, BWV 852
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 8, in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853
  • Prelude and Fugue No. 9, in E Major, BWV 854

Intermission

Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849)

  • 12 Etudes, Op.25

Photography by Constance Sanders

Sara with piano students

Sara Daneshpour Read More »

Alexandre Kantorow, piano

Alexandre Kantorow, Piano

Sunday, February 19, 2023

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, where he also won the Grand Prix, only awarded three times before in the competition’s history. The “young tsar of the piano” (Classica) has received numerous other awards and has performed worldwide at the highest level.

Kantorow began his career at an early stage; at 16 he made his debut at La Folle Journée festival in Nantes and since then has played with many of the world’s major orchestras. Highlights in recent and future seasons include concerts with the Orchestre de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, Philharmonia, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Boston Symphony, Montreal Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras and tours with the Orchestre National de Toulouse, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic; conductors with whom he is performing include Rouvali, Barenboim, Kochanovsky, Yamada, Petrenko, Ivan Fischer, Sokhiev and Pappano amongst others.

In recital Kantorow appears at major concert halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in their Master Pianists series, Konzerthaus Berlin, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Philharmonie de Paris, BOZAR in Brussels, Stockholm Konserthus and at the most prestigious festivals including La Roque d’Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins, Verbier Festival and Klavierfest Ruhr. In the 21/22 season he was Artist-in-Residence at Radio France, the Gstaad festival and with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. Chamber music is also one his great pleasures and he regularly performs with artists such as Victor Julien-Laferrière, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovick and Matthias Goerne.

Kantorow records exclusively with BIS, to great critical acclaim. His latest recording of Brahms Solo Works received the 2022 Diapason d’Or and 2021 Trophée Radio Classique. His recordings of Saint-Saëns Concerti 3-5 and his solo disc of Brahms, Bartók and Liszt also won the Diapason d’Or and the Choc de l’Année (Classica) in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and his à la Russe recital recording won numerous awards and distinctions in 2017, including Choc de l’Année (Classica), Diapason découverte (Diapason), Supersonic (Pizzicato) and CD des Doppelmonats (PianoNews).

Kantorow is a laureate of the Safran Foundation and Banque Populaire, and in 2019 was named ‘Musical Revelation of the Year’ by the Professional Critics Association. In 2020, he won the Victoires de la Musique Classique in two categories: Recording of the Year and Instrumental Soloist of the Year. In 2021 he received the Trophée d’Année from Radio Classique.

Born in France and of French-British heritage, Kantorow studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Franck Braley and Rena Shereshevskaya.

He is the real deal, a fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm and innate stylistic mastery.”

— Gramophone

“This was a tremendous recital, which pulled you into four very different expressive worlds while giving a strong sense of the single personality that shaped them.”

— Telegraph

Program


Piano Sonata No.1 in C Major, Op.1 …………………………………………. Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

-INTERMISSION-

Der Wanderer ………………………………………………………………………………….. Franz Schubert (arr. Liszt) (1797 – 1828)

Der Müller und der Bach …………………………………………………………… Franz Schubert (arr. Liszt): (1797 – 1828)

Frühlingsglaube ………………………………………………………………………………. Franz Schubert (arr. Liszt): (1797 – 1828)

Die Stadt, from Schwanengesang …………………………………………. Franz Schubert (arr. Liszt):(1797 – 1828)

Am Meer, from Schwanengesang …………………………………………. Franz Schubert (arr. Liszt):(1797 – 1828)

Fantasie in C major, Op.15, D. 760, “Wanderer Fantasy” …. Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

-ENCORE-

Valse Triste………………………………………………………………………………………….Franz von Vecsey (1893-1935), (arr. Gyorgy Cziffra) (1921-1994)

Click here to hear Kantorow play Valse Triste in a 2019 concert

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Alexandre Kantorow Read More »

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