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There is a pre-concert talk at 2.15pm

One of America’s most thought-provoking, multi-faceted and compelling artists, pianist Jeremy Denk was awarded a 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year Award. And now we’ve secured his Vancouver debut!

“Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination – both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing.” –The New York Times

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808
WILLIAM BYRD: The Passinge Measures: the Ninth Pavan from Lady Nevell’s Book
IGOR STRAVINSKY: Piano-Rag-Music
PAUL HINDEMITH: “Ragtime” from Suite “1922”
SCOTT HAYDEN / SCOTT JOPLIN: “Sunflower Slow Drag”
CONLON NANCARROW: Canon for Ursula, No. 1
WILLIAM BOLCOM: Graceful Ghost Rag
DONALD LAMBERT: “Pilgrims’ Chorus” from Tannhauser
JOSEPH HAYDN: Fantasia in C Major, Hob. XVII:4
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Carnaval, Op. 9

In Association With:

Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin

Wu Qian, piano
Leonard Eischenbroich, cello

The three young players of the Sitkovetsky Trio met and worked together at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Since founding the trio in 2007 they have received many awards, and high praise the world over.
 

“They are three young musicians who clearly have a natural empathy and passion for the music they play… the work was lifted off the page and into the room producing an utterly captivating performance.” – Leicester Mercury

Program

Brahms     
Piano Trio no. 3

Mendelssohn      
Piano Trio no. 2 in C minor

Schubert    
Piano Trio in E flat

Links

Learn more about the Sitkovetsky Trio.

Biography

First prizewinners of the International Commerzbank Chamber Music Award 2008 and recipients of the NORDMETALL Chamber Music Award at the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival 2009, the Sitkovetsky Trio is a collaboration between three young musicians who share a passion for Chamber Music. Having met and worked together at the Yehudi Menuhin School, they founded the ensemble in 2007 and have since emerged as one of the outstanding Trios of today, receiving numerous awards and critical acclaim.

As a Trio they have won the Philharmonia-Martin Chamber Music Award, the Kirckman Society Award, the Tillett Trust Award and are supported by the Hattori Foundation, the Fidelio Trust, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation.  They held a Junior Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in 2007-2008 and 2008-2010, and were recipients of the Golubovich Fellowship and the Richard Cairnes Junior Fellowship for Chamber Music at Trinity Laban College of Music, resulting in many performances and educational worships at the College and across London.  The Trio has most recently been awarded a Fellowship at the Royal Northern College of Music for the 2012-13 season.

The Sitkovetsky Trio made its debut appearance at the Wigmore Hall in November 2008, resulting in re-invitations in May 2009 and May 2012.  The Trio made its highly successful Southbank debut playing a recital in the Purcell Room and was subsequently invited to play in front of Her Majesty the Queen in London.  The Trio has already been invited to give recitals at various festivals throughout the UK and abroad, in venues such as Kettle’s Yard, St. George’s Bristol, Wigmore Hall, Frankfurt Alte Oper, the Chamber hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels.  The Trio has on ongoing relationship with the the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival and was resident at the Festival’s 2012 Chamber Music week, where they performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester under Gabriel Feltz.  In 2009 and 2010 the Trio also performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto on tour with the Orchestra of the Swan and the Münchner Symphoniker.

Highlights of the 2012/13 season included a debut tour of China, featuring concerts in Beijing, Shanghai Tianjin and Guangzhou.  The Trio also returns to the Bath Mozartfest, as well as giving a three concert series at St George’s Bristol and various recitals across the UK and abroad.  Other future highlights include return visits to the Wigmore Hall and Amsterdam Concertgebouw as well as a debut performance at the Vancouver Recital Society.

The Trio has made several broadcast appearances for BBC Radio 3; including performances as part of the Lunchtime Concerts series and appearances on In Tune.

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Described by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest young string quartets”, whose members are “musicians with fascinating things to say”. Powerful and passionate, the Doric offers precise performances of terrific panache and perception.

“The Doric String Quartet perform Haydn’s music with spirit, wit and sophistication at Wigmore Hall. Rating: *****

Haydn and the Doric are a perfect match. This is an ensemble, young but mature of insight, that plays Haydn’s music with spirit, illuminating its blend of wit and sophistication, grace and vivacity, cunning and seemingly effortless spontaneity…. The Doric’s performances, without exaggeration but with just the right degree of elucidation, revealed the music’s extraordinary originality and the way that Haydn can explore the potential of his thematic material so thoroughly yet so artlessly…. Unequivocally, these were performances of terrific panache and perception, seeming to get right under the skin of Haydn’s creative genius.” The Sunday Telegraph

Program

Haydn
String Quartet Op 20 No 3

Korngold
String Quartet No 3

Schubert
String Quartet No 14 (Death and the Maiden)

Links

Watch the Doric String Quartet on the Vanouver Recital Society YouTube Channel.
Visit the Doric String Quartets website.

Biography

Alex Redington violin
Jonathan Stone violin
Simon Tandree viola
John Myerscough cello

Described by Gramophone Magazine as ‘one of the finest young string quartets’, whose members are ‘musicians with fascinating things to say’ the Doric String Quartet has received glowing responses from audiences and critics across the globe. In 2008 the Quartet won 1st prize in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. The Quartet was represented by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) from 2006-2010.

Since its formation in 1998 the Quartet has performed across the world and collaborated with artists including Ian Bostridge, Philip Langridge, Mark Padmore, Piers Lane, Kathryn Stott, Chen Halevi and the Florestan Trio. In autumn 2010 the Quartet made their highly acclaimed American debut with recitals at the Frick Museum in New York and Library of Congress in Washington. Other recent highlights include recitals at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and in Brussels, Frankfurt, Lucerne, Milan and Paris. In addition to their regular appearances at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern they have performed at the Carinthischer Sommer, Incontri inTerra di Siena, East Neuk, Isle of Man, I Soloisti del Vento and Schwetzinger Festivals. Further afield they have toured to Japan, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.

Highlights of the 2011/12 season include the Quartet’s debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus, return tours to the USA, including a residency in Augusta, Georgia, and to Denmark and Israel. The Quartet will also give recitals in Hannover, Geneva and Prague. UK engagements this season include concerts at Wigmore Hall, a “Music in the Round” tour and performances in Manchester and York as well a continuation of their long-term residency at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-upon-Avon.

In 2009 the Doric String Quartet’s first CD was released to critical acclaim on the Wigmore Live label and was chosen as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone “The Doric’s Haydn sparkles with wit on their impressive [and] very auspicious recording debut”. Since 2010 the Quartet has recorded exclusively for Chandos Records. The first CD, the complete Korngold String Quartets, was released in September 2010 and featured as one of the 2010 Critic’s Choice discs in Gramophone, followed by string quartets by Walton in spring 2011 which was similarly enthusiastically received by the press. The Quartet’s next release will be the Schumann String Quartets (autumn 2011). Future releases will include works by Schubert, Chausson, Bartók and Haydn.

Formed in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School for Young Chamber Music Players, from 2002 the Doric String Quartet studied on the Paris-based ProQuartet Professional Training Program, where they worked with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis, Hagen and LaSalle Quartets and with György Kurtag. The Quartet continues to work with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet).

Consistently cited in the press for his “gorgeous tone” (The New York Times), “poetic communication” (The Washington Post), and “fast-fingered brilliance” (The New Yorker), Augustin Hadelich is well placed in the top echelon of young violinists. He is joined by pianist Joyce Yang, “a wonderful player with the accuracy of a surgeon and the heart of an artist” (Naples News).

“The essence of Hadelich’s playing is beauty: reveling in the myriad ways of making a phrase come alive on the violin, delivering the musical message with no technical impediments whatsoever, and thereby revealing something from a plane beyond ours.” Washington Post

Program

Schumann
Sonata No. 1 in A Minor Op. 105

Takemitsu
From Far Beyond Chrysanthemums and November Fog (1983)

Ravel
Tzigane

Janáček
Sonata

Previn
Tango Song and Dance (1997)

 Links

Visit Augustin Hadelich’s website.
Watch Augustin Hadelich on the VRS YouTube Channel.

Biography

Consistently cited in the press for his “gorgeous tone,” “poetic communication” and “fast-fingered brilliance,” Augustin Hadelich has confirmed his place in the top echelon of young violinists.  After a sensational debut with the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival in 2010, he was immediately re-engaged to play in Vail in 2011 and at the Caramoor Festival in New York.

Mr. Hadelich makes his debut with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in August 2012, playing the Barber Violin Concerto, and his New York Philharmonic subscription debut in October, playing Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole.  Other upcoming debuts include Buffalo Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony and the Toronto Symphony, as well as re-invitations to the Houston Symphony and to the New York Philharmonic at Vail in the summer of 2013.  Among his worldwide engagements next season are the BBC Philharmonic, SWR Orchestra/Stuttgart, Tampere Philharmonic and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.

In the United States, Augustin Hadelich has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and the symphonies of Alabama, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Colorado, Columbus, Florida, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Louisville, Nashville, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Syracuse, Utah, Vancouver and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Festival appearances include Aspen, Blossom, Bravo! Vail Valley, Chautauqua (where he made his American debut in 2001), Hollywood Bowl and Tanglewood.

Worldwide appearances include the Badische Staatskapelle/Karlsruhe, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie/Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern, Dresden Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, RTE National Symphony Orchestra/Dublin, Tokyo Symphony, and chamber orchestras in Budapest, Cologne, Hamburg, Lucerne and Stuttgart, among others.  He has collaborated with such renowned conductors as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Lionel Bringuier, Justin Brown, Alan Gilbert, Hans Graf, Giancarlo Guerrero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Hannu Lintu, Fabio Mechetti, Juanjo Mena, Kazushi Ono, Peter Oundjian, Vasily Petrenko, Christoph Poppen, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Larry Rachleff, Stefan Sanderling, Michael Stern, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Bramwell Tovey, Mario Venzago and Kazuki Yamada.

Also an enthusiastic recitalist, Mr. Hadelich  has appeared at Carnegie Hall, The Frick Collection (New York), Kennedy Center, the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Kioi Hall (Tokyo), the Louvre, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Vancouver Recital Society, to name a few. As chamber musician, he has been a participant at the La Jolla, Marlboro, Ravinia, and Seattle festivals, and has collaborated with Midori at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater.

Mr. Hadelich has recorded two CDs for AVIE: Flying Solo, a CD of masterworks for solo violin (including the Bartók solo sonata); and Echoes of Paris, which features French and Russian repertoire influenced by Parisian culture in the early 20^th century.  For Naxos, he has recorded Haydn’s complete violin concerti with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra and Telemann’s complete Fantasies for Solo Violin.

The 2006 Gold medalist of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Mr. Hadelich is the recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award (2012), an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2009) and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in the UK (2011).

Born in Italy in 1984, the son of German parents, Augustin Hadelich holds an artist diploma from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Joel Smirnoff.  He plays on the 1723 “Ex-Kiesewetter” Stradivari violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society.

Every era has had a few performers whose unimaginable virtuosity places them in a category unto themselves. Described as a “super virtuoso” by Harold Schonberg in The New York Times, Marc-André Hamelin is such a performer. His incredible mastery, infused with an impression of spontaneity, makes Hamelin one of the stand-out pianists of the present day.

“Hamelin’s performance was unassumingly formidable, profound, superbly paced, the melodic line not just effectively distinct from the eddies of accompaniment, but seeming to well up from within… Hamelin’s pianism is deep enough to let the strongest currents course under the surface.”   The Boston Globe

Program

Alban Berg: Piano Sonata, Op.1
Gabriel Fauré: Impromptu No. 2 in F minor and Barcarolle No. 3 in G-flat major, Op. 42
Claude Debussy: Images, Book I and L’Isle joyeuse
Marc-André Hamelin: Variations on a theme by Paganini (2011)
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 (1931 version)

Links

Hear Marc-André Hamelin on VRS’s YouTube Channel.
Visit Marc-André Hamelin’s website.

 Biography

Pianist Marc-André Hamelin’s unique blend of musicianship and virtuosity brings forth interpretations remarkable for their freedom, originality, and prodigious mastery of the piano’s resources.  A musician of broad musical interests and curiosity, Hamelin is renowned in equal measure for his fresh readings of the established repertoire and for his exploration of lesser known works of the 19th and 20th century, both in the recording studio and in the concert hall.

This season Mr. Hamelin performs Haydn piano concerti with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie in a performance that will be recorded for release on Hyperion. He also performs Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and David Zinman, with the Atlanta Symphony and Hugh Wolff, and with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Ainars Rubikis. He joins the National Philharmonic of Russia and Vladimir Spivakov for concerti by Rubinstein and Medtner and appears with the San Francisco Symphony with David Robertson in the Ravel Left Hand Piano Concerto and Gershwin’s  Rhapsody in Blue, as was well as the Columbus Symphony and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Hamelin tours the Shostakovich Piano Quintet with the Takacs String Quartet to Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Royal Conservatory of Music – Toronto, the Library of Congress, Celebrity Series of Boston, San Francisco Performances, the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Chamber Music Societies, and the University of Florida.

He will appear in recital at the 92nd Street Y for the New York premiere of his Variations on a Theme by Paganini, and is presented in recital by the Chicago Symphony. Other recital engagements include Baltimore’s Shriver Hall, Detroit Chamber Music Society, Music Toronto, Vancouver Recital Society, Edmonton Chamber Music Society, Portland Ovations (Maine) and Portland Piano (Oregon), Wigmore Hall, Berlin Piano Festival, and in Libson, Munich, Stuttgart, Moscow, and Antwerp.

During the summer of 2012 Mr. Hamelin appeared at the Ojai Music Festival, opened the Aspen Music Festival season with Robert Spano leading the orchestra in Gershwin’s Rhapsody and Blue and returned in recital.  He joined the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the International Keyboard Festival, a recital and Mozart concerto the the Sao Paolo Symphony, recitals for the Montreal Symphony as part of their day long music marathon, Festival International de Piano La Roque d’Athéron in Aix-en-Provence, and  the Helsingborg Piano Festival. In coordination with serving on the jury of the Edvard Grieg Piano Competition, he performed a recital at Grieg’s home, Troldhaugen.

In 2011/2012, Hamelin opened the season at the BBC Proms with a late night recital of Liszt works and with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paginini.  He debuted with Berliner Philharmoniker in performances of Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 4, and appeared with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Danish Radio Orchestra and the Helsingborg Symphony.  In North America, he performed with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Montreal, Quebec and Seattle; he also performs the epic Busoni Piano Concerto throughout the season, in dates with the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, the Orchestra Symphonique de Trois-Rivieres, and the New Jersey Symphony and Jacques Lacombe at Carnegie Hall for the Spring for Music Festival.

He also performed in recital throughout North America and internationally at London’s Wigmore Hall and at the Lucerne Piano Festival, and in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia and Sweden. Hamelin returned to Asia for appearances with the Singapore Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic, and recitals in Hong Kong and Seoul.

In recent seasons, Hamelin has performed with orchestra and in solo recital at New York City’s Lincoln Center; in recital and in chamber music on the various stages of Carnegie Hall; and on an international tour of the Schumann Piano Quintet with the Takács Quartet. The Pro Musica Society of Montreal paid tribute to Hamelin with a six-concert series, “The Art of Marc-André Hamelin.”

Marc-André Hamelin records exclusively for Hyperion Records. His most recent releases include Reger and Strauss concerti with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and a solo disc of works by Liszt that was selected by Bryce Morrison for Gramophone’s 2011 “Critic’s Choice” feature.  An album of his own compositions, Hamelin: Ètudes, received a 2010 Grammy nomination (his ninth) and a first prize from the German Record Critic’s Association; the works are published by Edition Peters. His complete Hyperion discography includes concertos and works for solo piano by composers such as Alkan, Busoni, Godowsky, and Medtner, as well as brilliantly received performances of Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Liszt and Schumann.

A resident of Boston, Marc-André Hamelin is the recipient of a lifetime achievement prize by the German Record Critic’s Association, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.

It’s been a few years since Steven Osborne dazzled our audience with his performance of Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards”.

“I thought the roof would come off yesterday at the eruption of applause from the capacity audience after the first half of Stephen Osborne’s recital. What a concert…” —The Herald

Program

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata

Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit

Prokofiev: Visions Fugitives

Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 2