Piano - my/maSCENA

Lebrecht Weekly – András Schiff: Encores after Beethoven (ECM)

By Norman Lebrecht on 25 November 2016 Classical, Lebrecht Weekly, Piano

In a reflective programme note, the ex-Hungarian pianist Sir András Schiff remembers being rebuked as a young Vienna debutant for playing “a prematurely given encore.” The caution, he says, was “golden advice.” The encore, if given, must be timed and attuned to how audience has responded to the concert. It should be neither hasty nor frivolous, not too soon and not too much. This album gathers together the encores that Schiff gave over the course of a Zurich cycle of the 32 Beethoven sonatas in 2004–5. The seriousness level is set high and there are no obvious crowd-pleasers. This is…

La Scena Musicale 20th Anniversary – Gala LA RELÈVE / RISING STARS

By La Scena Events on 18 November 2016 Arts Industry, Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Classical, Classical Music, La Scena Online, Piano, Quebec Music, Scena Jazz, Violin, Vocal

La Scena Musicale celebrates its 20th anniversary with the first edition of Gala LA RELÈVE/RISING STARS, a benefit concert on Thursday, November 24, 2016 at 7:30 PM at Salle Pierre-Mercure of the Centre Pierre-Péladeau featuring some of Canada’s future star musicians, many of whom have won recent national competitions. Soprano Chelsea Rus, baritone Hugo Laporte, clarinetist David Dias da Silva, violinist Joshua Peters, pianist Emily Oulousian and Piano Caméléons will perform; pianist Michael McMahon will accompany the singers. “I’m very excited with our line-up of six young musicians and duo,” said Wah Keung Chan, founder of La Scena Musicale. “Each…

Daily News Roundup: 16 November 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 16 November 2016 Arts Industry, Daily News Roundup, Piano, Scena Jazz

Blues musician Bob Walsh died yesterday in Montreal’s Notre Dame hospital at the age of 68. He was hospitalized on November 5 after suffering a heart attack. Montreal Gazette touches on his career and words from Quebec Prime Minister and Montreal Mayor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQeA_OsGIA Deborah L. Spar, president of Barnard College, will lead the Lincoln Center in New York in March 2017. She will succeed Jed Bernstein who left after failing to disclose a relationship with a woman he promoted. The New York Times describes her career and projects. Mose Allison, influential jazz and blues musician, died yesterday aged…

Schwarz-Bournaki Duo Snags First Prize in Top Chamber Music Competition

By Newswire on 9 November 2016 Newswire, Piano, Strings

New York, NY, November 8, 2016 – American cellist Julian Schwarz, together with Canadian pianist Marika Bournaki won the grand prize last week in a unanimous decision at the Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “Art of the Duo.” The annual competition received 156 applications from 25 countries with 22 duos performing at the competition. It culminated in a final round on Saturday, November 5th featuring nine duos. The winning duo receives a $7,000 cash prize, a 2017-18 Boulder Bach Festival recital, and additional, soon-to-be announced engagements. About the Performers Cellist Julian Schwarz made his orchestral debut at the age of…

2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Receives 290 Applications

By Newswire on 2 November 2016 Newswire, Piano

Candidates are from 43 nations; approximately 140 will be chosen to perform live at Screening Auditions around the globe FORT WORTH, Texas, November 1, 2016—Two-hundred and ninety applications representing 43 nations have been received from pianists for the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, taking place May 25–June 10, 2017, in Fort Worth, Texas USA. Approximately 140 prospective competitors will be chosen to move on to the Screening Auditions, where they will each play a 40-minute recital. The Screening Auditions schedule will be announced on December 13; they will take place in January and February, and will begin in London.…

Jean-Michel Dubé on André Mathieu

By Camilo Lanfranco on 1 November 2016 Canadian Music, Discovery CDs, Interviews, Piano, Quebec Music

Jean-Michel Dubé is the youngest in a family of five children, four of whom are pianists. At the age of three, he started studying piano at home with his mother who was herself a pianist. At age seven, he entered the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. In 2015, he was awarded the grand prize at the Concours Hélène-Roberge, which allowed him to record, with the help of Espace XXI and Aramusique, the works of André Mathieu. Mathieu’s complete piano works have never been recorded before, making this disc a world premiere. How did you arrive to André Mathieu’s work? The idea…

20th Anniversary: Gala La Relève Artists

By Nicole Yeba on 1 November 2016 Classical Music, Interviews, La Scena Spotlight, Piano, Violin, Vocal

In honour of our 20th anniversary, we are proud to introduce the seven artists who will perform at our gala on Thursday, November 24. Each artist talked with La Scena Musicale about his or her favourite works, the pieces they will be performing at the gala, the challenges of performing them, the high points of each piece, and which artist they dream of meeting. For more information about the gala click here. David Dias Da Silva – Clarinettist Joly Braga Santos : Aria I Bella Kovacs : Hommage a Manuel de Falla Debussy: First Rhapsody I chose Debussy’s First Rhapsody…

Daily News Roundup: 20 October 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 20 October 2016 Daily News Roundup, Orchestral, Piano, Popular Music

The New York Philharmonic creates the Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize. British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor is the first recipient of the $30,000 cash prize, performances with the New York Philharmonic and education initiatives around New York as a classical music ambassador. Phil Chess, co-founder of Chess Records, died Tuesday at his home in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 95. His Chicago label released many blues records from artists such Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and Etta James. The music records influenced many artists such as the Rolling Stones and lead to the emergence of rock’n’roll.…

Lebrecht Weekly – J S Bach: The French Suites (DG)

By Norman Lebrecht on 14 October 2016 Baroque and Early, Lebrecht Weekly, Piano

What a difference a label can make. All his adult life, ever since he won the 1972 Leeds Piano Competition, Murray Perahia has recorded exclusively for Columbia Masterworks, known now as Sony Classical after a Japanese takeover. In a fragmenting record industry, Perahia’s was among the last label loyalists. CBS/Sony engineering was the sound by which he was known. It began as a natural fit – New York pianist with New York label, joined at the hip by Vladimir Horowitz who admired Perahia above all young pianists. But Perahia moved to London and, over time, developed a sound that was…

Scott MacIsaac

Rising Stars – Scott MacIsaac: OSM Manulife Competition

By An-Laurence Higgins on 1 October 2016 La Scena Spotlight, Piano

The winner of the 2015 edition of the OSM Manulife competition was the young Scott MacIsaac. Born in 1992 in Alberta, MacIsaac is a promising pianist whose musicality and technique have been praised both nationally and internationally. He started playing piano at 6 years old and has studied with fellow Albertan Marilyn Engle since 2007. MacIsaac got his Certificate in performance from Yale University in 2014, where he studied with Boris Berman and Peter Frankl. He is currently completing his Bachelor in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Ronan O’Hora. MacIsaac is no stranger to the…

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