PROGRAM

RIGOLETTO: Rigoletto
Figlia!… Mio padre!… (Gilda) 

LA TRAVIATA: (Violetta)
È strano!… Ah fors’ è lui… Sempre libera… 

Di Provenza il mar, il suol… (Giorgio Germont)
Pura siccome un angelo
…Dite alla giovine… (Violetta – Giorgio Germont) 

IL CORSARO: Non so le tetre immagini… (Medora) 

DON CARLO: Per me giunto … Io morrò … (Rodrigo) 

RIGOLETTO: (Rigoletto)
Mio padre! … Si, vendetta …(Gilda)

BIOGRAPHY

Irina Iordachescu
Soprano Irina Iordachescu was born in Bucharest, in a family of musicians.
She graduated the Academy of Music in Bucharest in 2000 at the singing class of professor Maria Slatinaru Nistor and the lieder-oratorio class of professor Dan Iordachescu. She has received numerous prizes in International competitions such as “G.B. Viotti” (Italy – Prize “Cesare Bardelli”); “Silvia Geszty” (Spain – 3rd Prize); “Maria Callas” (Greece – 3rd Prize); “Vincenzo Bellini” (Italy – 2nd Prize); “IVC s’Hertogenbosch” (Holland – 3rd Prize and the Prize of the Public). In 2009 she received the VIP AWARD for “Best Opera Singer of the Year in Romania”.

Her Opera debut was in 2000 at the stage of the Bucharest National Opera with Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote”, and in 2001 Ms. Iordachescu had her international debut at the “Dante Alighieri” Theatre in Ravenna in the role of Giulietta from “I Capuleti e I Montecchi” by Vincenzo Bellini in the Ravenna Musical Festival. In 2001 she was also invited to sing in two vocal-symphonic concerts on the stage of the “Teatro alla Scala” in Milan under the musical direction of Maestro RICCARDO MUTI with the Orchestra and the Choir of “La Scala”. Her “La Scala” debut was in 2007 as Zeyno Kari in “Teneke”, an opera by Fabio Vacchi commissioned by the famous opera house.

Since 2005 soprano Irina Iordachescu has been a soloist of the Bucharest National Opera, on whose stage she has rendered high class interpretations of the roles Lucia from Lucia di Lammermoor by G. Donizetti, Gilda from Rigoletto by G. Verdi, Norina from Don Pasquale by G. Donizetti, Domizia from Decebalo by L. Leo, Fiordiligi from Cosi fan tutte, Pamina from Die Zauberflote, Susanna from Le nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart, Musetta from La Boheme by G. Puccini, Valencienne from Die Lustige Witwe by F. Lehar, Violetta Valery from La Traviata by G. Verdi and others.

Ms. Iordachescu also has a rich vocal-symphonic repertoire having sung Mozart’s “Exultate, jubilate”, “Requiem” and the “c-minor messe”, Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” and “The Ninth Symphony”, Haydn’s “Nelson Messe”, Brahms’s “German Requiem”, Dvorak’s “Requiem”, Rossini’s “Stabat Mater”, together with the prestigious “George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra” and the “National Radio Orchestra” in Bucharest as well as internationally, with the Symphonic Orchestra from Mulhouse (France), “L’Estro Armonico” from Luxembourg, Orchestra Clasica “Ciudad de Murcia” (Spain), the State Philharmonic Orchestra from Thessaloniki (Greece), the “Veneta” Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra Filarmonica di Teatro “V. Bellini” di Catania from Italy and the “Brabants Orchestra” from Holland. She has performed on the same stage with great artists such as Giacomini, Kaludov, Giordani, Tumagian, Pantea and others.

Ms. Iordachescu is singing more and more outside Romania these days. In the past 12 months she has performed in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sofia, Almaty and in July 2012 she was Musetta in Puccini’s La Boheme at Glyndebourne.

Dimitris Tiliakos
Dimitris Tiliakos was born in Rodos and first studied viola at the Athens conservatory, before he took up his singing lessons with Kostas Paskalis.
In 1996 he was the first prize winner of the Maria Callas foundation and finalized his studies at the Hochschule für Theater und Musik in Munich. Shortly thereafter he made his debut at the Prinzregententheater in Munich in the role of Conte Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and was awarded the W.D. Fassbaender-prize for young opera singers.

Between 1997 and 2003 Dimitris was a member of the Nuremberg state opera where he performed the major parts of the baritone repertory.

Since 2004 he has been freelancing and quickly made a name for himself through a series of guest performances, including the most important opera houses and concert halls:
Opera National de Paris (Don Carlo, Macbeth), London Royal Opera House (Don Carlos), Opera de Monte Carlo (La Boheme), Sala Sao Paulo, Teatro La Fenice (Manon Lescaut), Polish National Opera (Otello, Carmen), Athens Megaron (Simone Boccanegra), Tokyo Opera City, Greek National Opera (Don Giovanni, Carmen, Trovatore), Tcaikovsky Bolshoi Hall, Theater Bern (Carmen), Metropolitan Opera (La Boheme), Teatro Real-Madrid (Les Huquenots), Don Giovanni at the Bolshoi Opera, Trovatore at the Opera de Nice and the Theatre de la Monnaie.

Dimitris’s future projects include the main roles in: Macbeth at the Teatro Real in Madrid, La Forza del destino at the Cologne Opera, Simon Boccanegra at the Opera de Nice, Nabucco at the Vlaamse Opera and La Traviata at the Nederlandse Opera.

Dimitris Yakas
Dimitris Yakas was born in Athens in 1957. He studied the piano at the National Conservatory in Athens, from where he graduated in 1977. He continued his education at the ECOLE NORMALE DE MUSIQUE DE PARIS (piano, chamber music and piano coaching [formation de chef de chant]) and had lessons in vocal accompaniment with Dalton Baldwin.

In 1982, as a result of winning a competition, he took up a position as coach at the Paris Opera, where he remained until 1991. During this period he worked with many major conductors and singers, with whom he gave concerts in Paris as well as other French cities and at Festivals (Tours, Pau, Strasbourg, Festival de Marmande, de Sully, du Comminges etc.).

He worked many times as coach at the Opera de Lyon at the invitation of Kent Nagano. In 1990 he played at two concerts in Paris, at which the complete works of Berlioz for voice and piano were performed (with M. Olmeda, B. Uria-Monzon etc.).

In 1991 he settled in Athens and became one of the principal collaborators of the Greek National Opera and the Megaron: The Athens Concert Hall, working with conductors as M. Viotti, R. Bonynge, D. Renzetti, J. Arnel, A. Allemandi, etc. He has coached the singers for the world premieres of many operas written by Greek composers [Mikis Theodorakis: MEDEA, Bilbao 1991; Thanos Mikroutsikos THE RETURN OF HELENA, Athens 1993; Arghyris Kounadis: BACCHAE, Athens 1996 etc.] and has played for Master classes of J. Pilou, Ch. Ludwig, D. Evangelatos, Anna Tomowa – Sintow, Alison Pearce etc. He regularly gives concerts as an accompanist in Greece and abroad (M. Krilovic, J. Pilou, A. Baltsa, D. Evangelatos, D. Kavrakos, El. Vidal, A. Cognet, D. Theodossiou etc.).

Το άρθρο Verdi Anniversary with Irina Iordachescu & Dimitris Tiliakos εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

PROGRAM

to be announced

Το άρθρο Canto Masterclass Concert εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

PROGRAM

PAVLOS CARRER : Una notte sul Pireo
SPYROS SAMARAS : Serenade
In teatro Εξομολόγησις
(I. Polemi poem)
LEONIDAS ALVANAS : Κοιμάται η αγάπη μου
CAMILIERE LORENZO : Άνθη του γκρεμνού (G. Drosini poem)
GIUSEPPE VERDI : Perduta ho la pace …
(Goethe poem, Italian transtion by Luigi Balestri)
Stornello
SPYROS SAMARAS : Vierge aux doux yeux …
(Aria by Naïr from the opera MEDGÉ)
GAËTANO DONIZETTI : Ah ! mio bene… Fia vero? Lasciarti!…
(Duet Leonora-Fernando from the opera LA FAVORITA)
Una furtiva lagrima …
(Aria by Nemorino from the opera ΤΟ ΕΛΙΞΗΡΙΟ ΤΟΥ ΕΡΩΤΑ)
Oh mio Fernando !…
(Aria by Leonora from the opera LA FAVORITA)
DIONYSIS LAURAGKAS : Αγάπη περισσή
(from the operetta Η ΑΣΠΡΗ ΤΡΙΧΑ)
STATHIS MASTORAS : Ριρή , Ριρή , Ριρίκα …
(Duet Ririkas – Evarestou from the operetta Η ΡΙΡΙΚΑ ΜΑΣ)

BIOGRAPHY

Irini Karagianni
Greek mezzo soprano Irini Karagianni has followed a very diverse career that brought her in major opera houses including the Teatro alla Scala, Opera di Roma, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Oper Frankfurt and the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv. An important part of her activity is dedicated to the music of the 18th century and has participated in award winning recordings of works by Haendel receiving praise from the international press as one of today’s foremost interpreters of his music.

Yiannis Christopoulos
An Athens-born tenor, he completed his musical studies in Cremona, Italy, with an Alexandra Trianti Scholarship in 1998. He has performed leading roles in the classical and contemporary repertories at the Athens Concert Hall, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall and the Greek National Opera, and worked with every major Greek orchestra. He has appeared at international festivals and stages (at Carnegie Hall, the Madrid National Music Auditorium, Florentine Musical May and the Cairo Opera). His recordings include Thanos Mikroutsikos’ Return of Helen and In My Home, a Perfect Stranger, Tasos Ioannidis’ Revelation of John, and Giorgos Hadzinasios’ Chronicle of the Fall of Asia Minor. From 2008 to November 2012 he served as the president of the GNO Protagonists’ Society.

Dimitris Yakas
Dimitris Yakas was born in Athens in 1957. He studied the piano at the National Conservatory in Athens, from where he graduated in 1977. He continued his education at the ECOLE NORMALE DE MUSIQUE DE PARIS (piano, chamber music and piano coaching [formation de chef de chant]) and had lessons in vocal accompaniment with Dalton Baldwin.

In 1882, as a result of winning a competition, he took up a position as coach at the Paris Opera, where he remained until 1991. During this period he worked with many major conductors and singers, with whom he gave concerts in Paris as well as other French cities and at Festivals (Tours, Pau, Strasbourg, Festival de Marmande, de Sully, du Comminges etc). He worked many times as coach at the Opera de Lyon at the invitation of Kent Nagano. In 1990 he played at two concerts in Paris, at which the complete works of Berlioz for voice and piano were performed (with M.Olmeda, B. Uria-Monzon etc).

In 1991 he settled in Athens and became one of the principal collaborators of the Greek National Opera and the Megaron: The Athens Concert Hall, working with conductors as M.Viotti, R.Bonynge, D.Renzetti, J.Arnel, A.Allemandi, etc. He has coached the singers for the world Premieres of many operas written by Greek composers [Mikis Theodorakis: MEDEA, Bilbao 1991, Thanos Mikroutsikos THE RETURN OF HELENA, Athens 1993, Arghyris Kounadis: BACCHAE, Athens 1996 etc.] and has played for Master classes of J. Pilou, Ch.Ludwig, D.Evangelatos, Anna Tomowa – Sintow, Alison Pearce etc. He regularly gives concerts as an accompanist in Greece and abroad (M.Krilovic, J.Pilou, A.Baltsa, D.Evangelatos, D.Kavrakos, El.Vidal, A.Cognet, D.Theodossiou etc.)

Το άρθρο An evening of Eptanisiaka Opera with Irini Karagianni & Yiannis Christopoulos εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

PROGRAM

Αγάπη μου αστρογέννητη …..
(Duet Toni-Marina from the comic melodrama ΚΟΝΤΕ ΣΠΟΥΡΓΙΤΗΣ) 

Το φεγγάρι
(poem A. Manousou) 

Το ορφανό
(poem Αχιλ. Παράσχου) 

Chieggo perdono…Io ti sprezzo…
(Duet Fedimis-Murtis from the opera ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ-ΣΑΛΑΜΙΣ) 

Ο Γερο-Δήμος
(poem Ar. Balaoritou) 

Ανθός και Αυγούλα
(poem D. Solomou) 

Μα , ωιμέ , εάν έμελλε … Στων αρμάτων την ανάσα …
(Aria by Mouxtar from the opera ΦΡΟΣΥΝΗ) 

Έτσι η μοίρα μ’έφερε… Έλα βάρβαρε , δεν τρομάζω…
(Aria by Sofia from the opera ΜΑΡΚΟΣ ΜΠΟΤΣΑΡΗΣ) 

Bello è del ciel dell’Attica…
(Aria by Murtis from the opera ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ-ΣΑΛΑΜΙΣ) 

Soli siam , da me che brami ?….Questa donna …
(Duet by Fedimis-Alexandrou & finale of the second part of the opera ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ-ΣΑΛΑΜΙΣ)

BIOGRAPHY

Sofia Kyanidou
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Sofia studied at the Vienna Music Academy, singing with Prof. Helene Karusso, Lied und Oratorium with Ksg. Prof. Kurt Equiluz, and Opernclass with Prof. Curt Malm, and graduated with Diplom in Lied-Oratorium and Opera. She sings regularly in the Athens State Opera (Michaela, Antonia, Gertrude, Echo, Fatima e.t.c.), Thessaloniki State Opera (D.Anna), the Athens Chamber Opera and Megaron Productions. She has sung the leading Part in many Greek Operas. Sofia was the soloist in Vienna Konzerthaus in the 2nd from G.Mahler and Musikverein. Among other roles in Austria, she has sung Donna Anna, Marzellina, Rosalinde, 1ste Dame in the Magic Flute, Euridice from J. Fux. She took Part in modern Productions with Wiener Opern Theater (the 2nd Mrs. Kong from H. Birthwistle and La Grand Macaber from Ligeti). She has sung among others the 2nd, 4th and the 8th from G. Mahler the Creation and Jahreszeiten. From Haydn, Missa Solemnis and the 9th from Beethoven Elias and Paulus from Mendelshon Requiem from Mozart Faure and Bhrams and many other Sacred Works. Sofia’s repertoire has a brightness that includes works from Baroque until Contemporary Composers. She took part in Masterclasses with: Daphne Evangelatos, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Costas Paschalis and Inge Borgh. Between 2005-2007 she taught Singing at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki. In April 2010 she made her debut in Germany (Wuppertal) where she sang the leading role in Samaras Opera “La Martyre”, and in May she appeared in Konzerthaus in Berlin.

Irini Karagianni
Greek mezzo soprano Irini Karagianni has followed a very diverse career that brought her in major opera houses including the Teatro alla Scala, Opera di Roma, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Oper Frankfurt and the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv. An important part of her activity is dedicated to the music of the 18th century and has participated in award winning recordings of works by Haendel receiving praise from the international press as one of today’s foremost interpreters of his music.

Yiannis Christopoulos
An Athens-born tenor, he completed his musical studies in Cremona, Italy, with an Alexandra Trianti Scholarship in 1998. He has performed leading roles in the classical and contemporary repertories at the Athens Concert Hall, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall and the Greek National Opera, and worked with every major Greek orchestra. He has appeared at international festivals and stages (at Carnegie Hall, the Madrid National Music Auditorium, Florentine Musical May and the Cairo Opera). His recordings include Thanos Mikroutsikos’ Return of Helen and In My Home, a Perfect Stranger, Tasos Ioannidis’ Revelation of John, and Giorgos Hadzinasios’ Chronicle of the Fall of Asia Minor. From 2008 to November 2012 he served as the president of the GNO Protagonists’ Society.

Dimitris Υakas
Dimitris Yakas was born in Athens in 1957. He studied the piano at the National Conservatory in Athens, from where he graduated in 1977. He continued his education at the ECOLE NORMALE DE MUSIQUE DE PARIS (piano, chamber music and piano coaching [formation de chef de chant]) and had lessons in vocal accompaniment with Dalton Baldwin.

In 1882, as a result of winning a competition, he took up a position as coach at the Paris Opera, where he remained until 1991. During this period he worked with many major conductors and singers, with whom he gave concerts in Paris as well as other French cities and at Festivals (Tours, Pau, Strasbourg, Festival de Marmande, de Sully, du Comminges etc). He worked many times as coach at the Opera de Lyon at the invitation of Kent Nagano. In 1990 he played at two concerts in Paris, at which the complete works of Berlioz for voice and piano were performed (with M.Olmeda, B. Uria-Monzon etc).

In 1991 he settled in Athens and became one of the principal collaborators of the Greek National Opera and the Megaron: The Athens Concert Hall, working with conductors as M.Viotti, R.Bonynge, D.Renzetti, J.Arnel, A.Allemandi, etc. He has coached the singers for the world Premieres of many operas written by Greek composers [Mikis Theodorakis: MEDEA, Bilbao 1991, Thanos Mikroutsicos THE RETURN OF HELENA, Athens 1993, Arghyris Kounadis: BACCHAE, Athens 1996 etc.] and has played for Master classes of J. Pilou, Ch.Ludwig, D.Evangelatos, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Alison Pearce etc. He regularly gives concerts as an accompanist in Greece and abroad (M.Krilovic, J.Pilou, A.Baltsa, D.Evangelatos, D.Kavrakos, El.Vidal, A.Cognet, D.Theodossiou etc.)

Το άρθρο Paolo Carrer (1829–1896) – Zakynthos: Songs & Arias from his Operas…. εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

Seven young musicians, all international prize winners, members of prestigious orchestras (London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra) and/or internationally renowned chamber music ensembles

PROGRAM

Debussy “Syrinx” for solo flute
Haydn major, op.64 n5
”Lark” String Quartet in D
Mozart String Quintet in C major, K515 

Jointly organized with the Focas-Cosmetatos Foundation

BIOGRAPHY

Emmanuella Reiter
Born into a family of musicians in Jerusalem, Emmanuella Reiter began her musical studies with her father at an early age.
After lessons in violin and piano at the Conservatoire National de Région de Nice, France, Emmanuella switched to viola and entered in 2001 the class of Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA.
There, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, and served for three years as teaching assistant to Kim Kashkashian.
Emmanuella has participated in many festivals worldwide, has performed in a chamber music setting with artists such as Ida Haendel, Peter Frankl and has performed with world class orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mrs Reiter frequently performs solo and chamber music around the globe.
Her passion for teaching has led her to writing: “Karen Tuttle’s Heritage: The Theory and Practice of Co-ordination”, a technique to help coordinate physical and musical gestures. Emmanuella held the post of Visiting Professor at the Birmingham Conservatory in 2009-2010, has been regularly invited to give classes at the Royal Academy of Music Junior and Senior divisions.
Emmanuella is the founding Director of the Jigsaw Players Chamber Music Series in Wimbledon. She has been a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008.

Mark Derudder
Mark Derudder was born in Fukuoka (Japan) but moved to Belgium at the age of two and started playing the violin at the age of six. In 2002 he won first prize in the National Competition “Axion Classics”. In 2004 he won the Gold Medal at the Marlow Music Festival. At the Guildhall, he received the MBF Ian Fleming Charitable Trust Award and the Martin Musical Fund Award. Mark has performed as soloist and chamber musician in venues across the UK, Europe and the USA. He also held a Fellowship for two years at the Guildhall as member of the Idomeneo String Quartet with which he performs regularly around the world. In 2012 he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in London as a member of the first violin section.

Nicholas Bootiman
Nicholas Bootiman was born near Munich, Germany, where he started his first music lessons. Later he attended the Purcell School, Royal College of Music, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA. His primary teachers were Kim Kashkashian, Milan Skampa, Ian Jewel and Andriy Viytovych.
Nicholas is frequently invited to guest lead viola sections throughout the country, and has appeared as such with Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and City of London Sinfonia.
Concerto performances include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay and Philharmonia Orchestra, and Penderecki’s Viola Concerto with Boston Modern Orchestra Project. As a chamber musician Nicholas often takes time out to play with friends at festivals around UK and Europe and has performed at the major London chamber venues. He composes as a hobby, and as conductor co-directs the Reuleaux Ensemble.

Thomas Hancox
Thomas Hancox has worked as guest principal flute of the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras, performed as a soloist alongside Trevor Pinnock, collaborated with ensembles including the Allegri and Sacconi string quartets, and also played with English National Opera, the Dunedin Consort, the London Handel Orchestra, the Saraband Consort, the Locrian Ensemble, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra. He is an artist on the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, and also for Live Music Now.
A committed teacher, he works with students at King’s College (London), the Dragon School (Oxford), and on several summer courses (the Flute Kitchen, Harrogate; the London Flute Academy). He was previously the Junior Editor of Pan, the journal of the British Flute Society, and now acts as an animateur for CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust.
He first read music at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, from where he graduated with a double first, before pursuing further studies in Paris with Patrick Gallois, and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Paul Edmund-Davies and Samuel Coles, finishing with a distinction and the honorary DipRAM. He was generously supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and the Craxton Memorial Trust.

Bartholomew Lafollette
Hailed by the Irish Times for being “as free in touching the heartstrings as he was in dashing off dazzling runs”, Bartholomew Lafollette’s highlights with orchestra include performances of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Walton and Elgar Cello Concertos in the Barbican Hall as well as appearing as soloist with the City of London Sinfonia. He has also performed The Brahms Double Concerto with Daniel Stabrawa and the Poznan Philharmonic in Poland and Elgar’s Cello Concerto at the Sibelius International Music Festival in Helsinki. He was the first recipient of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s honorable Ardan Award which led to appearances throughout the British Isles.
Bartholomew engages in a rich variety of musical collaborations and has recently performed, amongst others, with Anthony Marwood, Christian Tetzlaff and Andras Keller. He frequently appears with the award winning Doric String Quartet with whom he recorded Eric Wolfgang Korngold’s string sextet for Chandos. He participates regularly in international festivals such as Ravinia and Spannungen and has a special relationship with IMS Prussia Cove, performing both in Cornwall and on their annual tour.
Born in Philadelphia, Bartholomew was drawn to the cello at an early age, entering the Yehudi Menuhin school at the age of thirteen. Continuing his studies with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he received a First Honours Masters degree and was a post-graduate Fellow.
His career was launched by the prestigious Young Concert Artist’s Trust (YCAT) in 2007, after which he made successful debuts across the UK, including numerous performances at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. His performances both as soloist in recital and with orchestra are critically lauded for their intensity and commitment.
In 2011 at the age of twenty-six, Bartholomew LaFollette was appointed Principal Cello Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School. He is especially grateful for the indefinite loan of a Benjamin Banks Jr. cello made in 1785.

Kaija
Kaija was born in Rapla, a small town in Estonia. She comes from a musical family: her mother and older sister are both piano teachers and her grandfather was a violinist. When she was two years old she held hands and sang in the continuous human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius to protest the Russian occupation.
Kaija began her musical education at the Rapla Music School and Tallinn Music High School. She went on to complete her undergraduate and masters degrees at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with additional diplomas from Temple University in Philadelphia and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She has won several prizes at national and international competitions including at ‘Remember Enescu’ in Romania and at the National competitions of Estonia.
Currently Kaija is working with several professional ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Jigsaw Players, BBC Wales and is on the casual list for groups including the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Kaija loves to travel and is regularly invited to festivals across the world in countries including Estonia, France, Greece and the USA. She has performed at such venues as The Royal Festival Hall, The Walt Disney Hall (LA), The Philharmonie (Berlin), and The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) with artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Anthony Marwood and Colin Davis.
As adept on viola as she is on violin, Kaija frequently performs solo recitals on both instruments, most recently at St Martin in the Fields with Sholto Kynoch. Kaija’s future engagements include recitals at Regent’s Hall and St John Smith Square. As a soloist Kaija is highly sought after, recently having performed the Brahms violin concerto with de Havilland Philharmonic as well as various concertos with groups including Philharmonia Britannica, Exeter University Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Parnu City Orchestra (Estonia) to critical success.

Το άρθρο Jigsaw Players – Limni εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

Seven young musicians, all international prize winners, members of prestigious orchestras (London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra) and/or internationally renowned chamber music ensembles

PROGRAM

Bach and cello
Selection of Inventions for violin
Vivaldi D major, RV428
Flute Concerto ”Il Gardellino”
Dvorak Piano Quintet in A major, op.81
Jointly organized with the Focas-Cosmetatos Foundation

BIOGRAPHY

Emmanuella Reiter
Born into a family of musicians in Jerusalem, Emmanuella Reiter began her musical studies with her father at an early age.
After lessons in violin and piano at the Conservatoire National de Région de Nice, France, Emmanuella switched to viola and entered in 2001 the class of Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA.
There, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, and served for three years as teaching assistant to Kim Kashkashian.
Emmanuella has participated in many festivals worldwide, has performed in a chamber music setting with artists such as Ida Haendel, Peter Frankl and has performed with world class orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mrs Reiter frequently performs solo and chamber music around the globe.
Her passion for teaching has led her to writing: “Karen Tuttle’s Heritage: The Theory and Practice of Co-ordination”, a technique to help coordinate physical and musical gestures. Emmanuella held the post of Visiting Professor at the Birmingham Conservatory in 2009-2010, has been regularly invited to give classes at the Royal Academy of Music Junior and Senior divisions.
Emmanuella is the founding Director of the Jigsaw Players Chamber Music Series in Wimbledon. She has been a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008.

Mark Derudder
Mark Derudder was born in Fukuoka (Japan) but moved to Belgium at the age of two and started playing the violin at the age of six. In 2002 he won first prize in the National Competition “Axion Classics”. In 2004 he won the Gold Medal at the Marlow Music Festival. At the Guildhall, he received the MBF Ian Fleming Charitable Trust Award and the Martin Musical Fund Award. Mark has performed as soloist and chamber musician in venues across the UK, Europe and the USA. He also held a Fellowship for two years at the Guildhall as member of the Idomeneo String Quartet with which he performs regularly around the world. In 2012 he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in London as a member of the first violin section.

Nicholas Bootiman
Nicholas Bootiman was born near Munich, Germany, where he started his first music lessons. Later he attended the Purcell School, Royal College of Music, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA. His primary teachers were Kim Kashkashian, Milan Skampa, Ian Jewel and Andriy Viytovych.
Nicholas is frequently invited to guest lead viola sections throughout the country, and has appeared as such with Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and City of London Sinfonia.
Concerto performances include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay and Philharmonia Orchestra, and Penderecki’s Viola Concerto with Boston Modern Orchestra Project. As a chamber musician Nicholas often takes time out to play with friends at festivals around UK and Europe and has performed at the major London chamber venues. He composes as a hobby, and as conductor co-directs the Reuleaux Ensemble.

Thomas Hancox
Thomas Hancox has worked as guest principal flute of the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras, performed as a soloist alongside Trevor Pinnock, collaborated with ensembles including the Allegri and Sacconi string quartets, and also played with English National Opera, the Dunedin Consort, the London Handel Orchestra, the Saraband Consort, the Locrian Ensemble, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra. He is an artist on the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, and also for Live Music Now.
A committed teacher, he works with students at King’s College (London), the Dragon School (Oxford), and on several summer courses (the Flute Kitchen, Harrogate; the London Flute Academy). He was previously the Junior Editor of Pan, the journal of the British Flute Society, and now acts as an animateur for CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust.
He first read music at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, from where he graduated with a double first, before pursuing further studies in Paris with Patrick Gallois, and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Paul Edmund-Davies and Samuel Coles, finishing with a distinction and the honorary DipRAM. He was generously supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and the Craxton Memorial Trust.

Bartholomew Lafollette
Hailed by the Irish Times for being “as free in touching the heartstrings as he was in dashing off dazzling runs”, Bartholomew Lafollette’s highlights with orchestra include performances of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Walton and Elgar Cello Concertos in the Barbican Hall as well as appearing as soloist with the City of London Sinfonia. He has also performed The Brahms Double Concerto with Daniel Stabrawa and the Poznan Philharmonic in Poland and Elgar’s Cello Concerto at the Sibelius International Music Festival in Helsinki. He was the first recipient of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s honorable Ardan Award which led to appearances throughout the British Isles.
Bartholomew engages in a rich variety of musical collaborations and has recently performed, amongst others, with Anthony Marwood, Christian Tetzlaff and Andras Keller. He frequently appears with the award winning Doric String Quartet with whom he recorded Eric Wolfgang Korngold’s string sextet for Chandos. He participates regularly in international festivals such as Ravinia and Spannungen and has a special relationship with IMS Prussia Cove, performing both in Cornwall and on their annual tour.
Born in Philadelphia, Bartholomew was drawn to the cello at an early age, entering the Yehudi Menuhin school at the age of thirteen. Continuing his studies with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he received a First Honours Masters degree and was a post-graduate Fellow. His career was launched by the prestigious Young Concert Artist’s Trust (YCAT) in 2007, after which he made successful debuts across the UK, including numerous performances at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. His performances both as soloist in recital and with orchestra are critically lauded for their intensity and commitment.
In 2011 at the age of twenty-six, Bartholomew LaFollette was appointed Principal Cello Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School. He is especially grateful for the indefinite loan of a Benjamin Banks Jr. cello made in 1785.

Kaija
Kaija was born in Rapla, a small town in Estonia. She comes from a musical family: her mother and older sister are both piano teachers and her grandfather was a violinist. When she was two years old she held hands and sang in the continuous human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius to protest the Russian occupation.
Kaija began her musical education at the Rapla Music School and Tallinn Music High School. She went on to complete her undergraduate and masters degrees at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with additional diplomas from Temple University in Philadelphia and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She has won several prizes at national and international competitions including at ‘Remember Enescu’ in Romania and at the National competitions of Estonia.
Currently Kaija is working with several professional ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Jigsaw Players, BBC Wales and is on the casual list for groups including the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Kaija loves to travel and is regularly invited to festivals across the world in countries including Estonia, France, Greece and the USA. She has performed at such venues as The Royal Festival Hall, The Walt Disney Hall (LA), The Philharmonie (Berlin), and The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) with artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Anthony Marwood and Colin Davis.
As adept on viola as she is on violin, Kaija frequently performs solo recitals on both instruments, most recently at St Martin in the Fields with Sholto Kynoch. Kaija’s future engagements include recitals at Regent’s Hall and St John Smith Square. As a soloist Kaija is highly sought after, recently having performed the Brahms violin concerto with de Havilland Philharmonic as well as various concertos with groups including Philharmonia Britannica, Exeter University Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Parnu City Orchestra (Estonia) to critical success.

Vassilis Varvaresos
“Varvaresos not only has a natural yet finely honed technique, it springs as one with the wide scope of profound musicianship. Varvaresos engaged his audience with a performance that sizzled from start to finish.”

• New York Concert Review
  March 2012 marked Mr. Varvaresos’ Carnegie Hall recital debut, to both audience and critical acclaim. Immediately following his debut, he was asked to play at the White House for President Barrack Obama.
  Being re-invited to the Athens Festival of 2012, Mr. Varvaresos will be making his inaugural appearance at the Herodeion theater in Athens, performing Prokofiev’s Concerto no. 2 with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.
  In December 2010 Mr. Varvaresos was named Most Promising Young Greek Artist from the Critics’ Association of Greece. The dynamic young Greek pianist is also the 1st Prize winner of the Maria Chairogiorgou-Sigara 3rd International Piano Competition, held in Athens in May 2010.
  Winner of the coveted First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 14, his recital debuts in New York and Washington were acclaimed. The New York Concert Review ended thus: “Following this great program greatly played, Vassilis Varvaresos played a spicy Greek dance with all the exuberance and heartiness of a soul in love with life.” The Washington Post’s headline called him a “Young Master on the Rise.”
  Mr. Varvaresos made his sensational New York orchestra debut in 2007 at Lincoln Center performing Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Andreas Delfs. In October 2010, as a special guest of the Archbishop of the Greek-Orthodox Church of America, Mr. Varvaresos appeared with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra in Chopin’s Piano Concerto in e minor at Alice Tully Hall, while in the winter of 2008 he was asked to be the soloist with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, representing Greece on a two-week tour of China, on the occasion of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Mr. Varvaresos, on this occasion, performed in front of a total of 6000 people.
  Mr. Varvaresos’ made his recital debut in Athens, Greece appearing at the 2010 Athens Festival. During the same summer he has appeared in recital and chamber music concerts in Mykonos, Greece and in Constantinople and Cyprus.
  Mr. Varvaresos previous seasons included concerts in Vienna’s legendary Musikverein, performances of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in Leukosia and Lemesos under the baton of Spiros Pisinos, recitals in Mykonos, Greece and a featured concert at the International Piano Festival of Gijón, Spain.
  Since then, he has performed in numerous occasions both in the U.S. and abroad. Highlight performances include an appearance with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, where Mr. Varvaresos performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a double-bill special event as well as concerto and recital appearances in the U.S. and his native Greece.
  As a soloist with orchestra in the United States, Mr. Varvaresos has performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Victoria Symphony in Texas, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Westmoreland Symphony (PA), Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 with the Dearborn (MI) Orchestra Society, Haydn’s Concerto in D Major with the Hartford Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 with the Modesto (CA) Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto no. 20 with the Altoona (PA) Symphony, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 1 with the JCC of Greater Washington, and Beethoven’s Concerto no. 3 with the Sacramento Youth Symphony.
  Mr. Varvaresos’ performances in his native Greece include the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto at the Megaron Hall with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, Solon Michailides’s Piano Concerto and the Grieg Piano Concerto in the Megaron Hall of Athens, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 2, Mozart’s Concerto no. 20 and Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3, with the Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He has performed numerous times on Greek State Television, as well as on television in Italy, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Mr. Varvaresos has represented Greece in a special “EuroConcert” at the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki, at the Greek Embassy in Milan, and for the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. He has also performed as a recitalist in Austria, Germany, France, Italy, The Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.
  Mr. Varvaresos is a founding member of Fourtissimo!, a group of four award-winning pianists whose goal is to reinvent the concert going experience through tasteful and uncompromising experimentation: unorthodox choice of repertoire, questions and choices concerning the form of the piano recital, and original compositions/transcriptions that test the limitations of the instrument and point the way towards a new type of instrumental virtuosity and inventiveness. The group’s debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in October 2010 received immediate audience and critical acclaim.
  Mr. Varvaresos is also active as a composer. His dance composition Three Etudes was chosen to represent the Juilliard School in a Dance Forum hosted by the Pallucca Schüle in Dresden, Germany in October of 2007. He has written ten film scores, including “Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments” and “Sir John Soane: An English Architect, an American Legacy” produced by the Checkerboard Film Foundation. He has also composed the score for the short film “Hardwood”.
  Born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1983, Mr. Varvaresos started studying music at the age of five, and received a scholarship to the Conservatory of Northern Greece. He continued his studies at the Conservatory with Milena Mollova. He won First Prize in the 1995 Petar Konjovic International Competition in Belgrade, the 1996 Pan-Hellenic Young Artist Competition in Athens, and was chosen as one of eleven young musicians from around the world to perform in Monte Carlo in a special “little Mozarts” concert organized by Italy’s RAI TV. Mr. Varvaresos holds a bachelor of music degree and a master of music degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. His paper on Claude Debussy, which won the Scholastic Distinction Award from The Juilliard School, was published in Greece by Kodikas Publications. In May 2011 Mr. Varvaresos received his Doctorate in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School. He was a student of Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Robert MacDonald.
  Mr. Varvaresos is currently pursuing the prestigious Diplôme d’ Artiste-Interprète degree at the Conservatoire Nationale et Superieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, France. He studies with Michel Dalberto.
  He has been recipient of Musical Studies Grants from the Bagby Foundation and George & Marie Vergottis Scholarships at The Juilliard School. Since 2008, he has also been the recipient of the Gina Bachauer Foundation Grant for Outstanding Talent in Music and Onassis Foundation Grant.

Το άρθρο Jigsaw Players – Vergottis Cultural Centre εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

PROGRAM

Mendelsohnn: Cello Sonata nr. 2 in D Major
Britten: Cello suite Nr. 1
Bach: 5) Prelude in C minor (from Suite nr.
Brahms: Cello Sonata nr. 2 in F Major

BIOGRAPHY

Ben Capps
Exciting young American cellist Ben Capps enjoys a versatile performing career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral principal. His artistry has been praised as “most appealing” by the New York Times, “virtuosic and impassioned” by the Barre Montpelier Times, the Holland Times hailed Capps as a “young cello phenomenon from New York” with “dazzling technique and a fearsomely meaty tone”, and the Epoch Times proclaimed that “Capps has it all . . . cello playing of the very highest standard.” He has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Mann Hall in Tel Aviv, Meyerson Hall in Dallas, and the Auditorio Nacional, the Palace of Fine Arts and Sala Nezahualcoytl in Mexico City. He has appeared as soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Manchester Music Festival Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, and the Manhattan School of Music Composer’s Orchestra. Recent performance highlights include a recital tour of China (Xiamin, Fouzhou and Gulangyu), and recital appearances in New York, Greece and Spain. Highlights of the 2013 season include solo performances of the Schumann Concerto with the Danbury Symphony & The Liora Chamber Orchestra and Shostakovich Concerto no. 1 with the Orchestra nica de Jalisco. as well as a performance of The Complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas in a single concert.
At age 21, Capps was appointed principal cellist of Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, a dynamic New York based symphony orchestra founded by conductor Alondra de la Parra, whose highly regarded premier Sony Classics recording Mi Alma Mexicana attained platinum status. An avid chamber musician, he has participated in the Bowdoin, Schlern Int’l (Italy), Burgos Int’l (Spain) and Summit Summer Festivals, the Perlman Music Program, and the ChamberFest and FOCUS! Festivals in Lincoln Center. Mr. Capps has made numerous appearances on Manhattan’s Tactus Series, and has performed on Trinity Church’s Music at One series, numerous appearances at Bargemusic, and has appeared as guest artist with Manchester Music Festival, Summit Int’l Festival, the Burlington Ensemble, and the International Chamber Soloists, Lyrica and Lumina Chamber Music. He is the founder of the Capanglia Trio, the Sonar Players, the New York Chamber Collective, and most recently, the Olympus Piano Trio which offers an evening of piano trios at the Athens Megaron Concert Hall in January 2013. He has been heard on American radio on the McGraw Hill Young Artists’ Showcase, and was recently the subject of an hour-long special on VPR which documented his 2012 solo (unaccompanied) cello tour of Vermont. Additionally, Capps will be heard performing The Complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with interviews and commentary on Vermont Public Radio in 2013.
An ardent performer of new music, he is committed to presenting music of today’s composers and has given numerous performances of new cello works, including Daniel Vezza Pulsations for Cello and Chamber Orchestra (composed for Mr. Capps), Marcus Paus Cello Sonnets, Anna Klein Fits and Starts, Daniel Vezza Circles, Reiko Futing Kaddish: The Art of Losing, and Robert Karpay’s Cello Concerto. His world premiere recording of Andrew Violette’s 72 minute Songs and Dances for unaccompanied cello (Innova Records) was released in June 2010, Violette’s 48 minute Cello Sonata (Innova Records) and his recording of Anna Klein’s Fits and Starts (Tzaddik) was selected as WQXR’s free download from the Album of the Week earlier this year.
A native of New York City, Ben Capps began playing the cello at age four with Nellis DeLay at New York’s School for Strings. At 10 he was admitted to Juilliard Pre-College, where he studied for seven years with Anne Alton, Andre Emelianoff, and modern cello guru Fred Sherry. He received a Bachelor’s degree at Manhattan School of Music, and a Master of Music Degree from Juilliard in May 2010, both under the guidance of the great David Soyer of the Guarneri String Quartet.
He is currently in the Graduate Diploma program at New England Conservatory in Boston, where he is a student of Laurence Lesser. He is the recipient of many awards, including the New York State Association of Music Teachers Scholarship Competition 1999; Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, Concerto Competition, 2001, the Lillian Fuchs Award, 2004, the Francis Goelet Scholarship (Juilliard 2008-2009), the Irving Mulde Scholarship (Juilliard, 2009-10), and the Piatigorsky Scholarship (New England Conservatory 2012-13). He has coached with numerous cellists, including Bernard Greenhouse, Ko Iwasaki, Paul Katz, and Nathanial Rosen, has performed in master class for Steven Isserlis, Alexander Rudin, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Peter Wylie, Timothy Eddy, Matt Haimowitz and Jonathan Biss, and has coached chamber music with Joseph Kalichstein, Sylvia Rosenberg, Isidore Cohen, Seymour Lipkin, Alexander Slobodyanik, Andre Michel Schub, and Vivian Weilerstein.

Konstantine Valianatos
Pianist Konstantine Valianatos has attracted attention as an exciting young musician of great talent in both the United States and in Europe. The recipient of numerous awards, he has won eleven first prizes, six of them at International Competitions, including the International Seiler Piano Competition, International Ibiza Piano Competition, the Senigallia International Piano Competition, and the San Gemini International Piano Competition, and the Aspen Music Festival Competition, and is the recipient of scholarships as winner of the Gina Bachauer, Yamaha, Onassis and I.K.Y. Foundation Competitions. In 2004, Valianatos’ artistry and integrity were officially acknowledged when the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos presented him with the highest accolade from the Athens Academy.
Born in 1989, Valianatos already enjoys an international performing career. He has appeared as a featured soloist in concerto performances with the Greek National Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, and the Montevideo National Orchestra. He has been heard both in recital and as chamber musician in numerous prestigious venues, including the Salle Cortot in Paris, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, and the Athens Megaron, and has been featured on WQXR’s McGraw-Hill Young Artist’s Showcase. During the upcoming 2012-2013 season, Valianatos will appear as soloist with the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Carter Austin.
A dedicated chamber partner, with violinist Regi Papa and pianist Benjamin Capps he is a founding member of the Olympus Piano Trio, a group dedicated to celebrating chamber music and the Hellenic spirit. A participant in numerous summer festivals both as soloist and chamber pianist, including the Aspen International Music Festival, the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, and the Poros Academy in Poros, Greece, Valianatos will be featured at the Kefalonia Dionisios Lavragas Festival in summer 2012. Committed to sharing his gifts with the New York City community, and in particular with young people, Valianatos travels often to the Bronx to teach piano to schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds. He maintains ties with New York City’s Greek American community by accompanying the Greek Archdiocesan Metropolitan Youth Choir. In 2012, Valianatos will be teaching a piano class at the Juilliard School as a piano minor fellow.
A native of Athens, Greece, Valianatos began his piano studies at age seven at the National Conservatory of Greece. At age fourteen, he was awarded the “Diploma of Soloist” with highest distinction. He continued his studies at the Ecole Normale in Paris with Germaine Mounier and Agathe Leimoni, receiving the “Diplome Superieur d’Execution” and the “Diplome de Concertist”. Currently a student at the Juilliard School and recipient of the George and Marie Vergottis scholarship, he was awarded a Bachelor of Music Degree in May 2012 as a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. He will continue his studies at Juilliard as a Master’s Student in the fall of 2012 under the guidance of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin.
Valianatos has attended numerous master classes with renowned pianists, including Paul Badura-Skoda, Choong-Mo Kang, Ivo Pogorelich, Julian Martin, Veda Kaplinsky, Joseph Kalichstein, Alain Lefèvre, Jean-Claude Pennetier, France Clidat, Cyprien Katsaris, Martino Tirimo, duo Ganev, Raquel Boldorini, Aaron Shorr, Oxana Yablonskaya, Bernard Ringeissen and Luigi Mostacci, and has coached chamber music with Julian Martin, Joseph Kalichstein, Jerome Lowenthal, Bonnie Hampton, and Darrett Adkins.

Το άρθρο Concert with Konstantine Valianatos & Ben Capps εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

Seven young musicians, all international prize winners, members of prestigious orchestras (London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra) and/or internationally renowned chamber music ensembles

PROGRAM

Mozart Flute Quartet in D major, K285
Beethoven Serenade for Strings in D major, op.8
Mendelssohn String Quintet in B flat major, op.87

Jointly organized with the Focas-Cosmetatos Foundation

BIOGRAPHY

Emmanuella Reiter
Born into a family of musicians in Jerusalem, Emmanuella Reiter began her musical studies with her father at an early age.
After lessons in violin and piano at the Conservatoire National de Région de Nice, France, Emmanuella switched to viola and entered in 2001 the class of Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA.
There, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, and served for three years as teaching assistant to Kim Kashkashian.
Emmanuella has participated in many festivals worldwide, has performed in a chamber music setting with artists such as Ida Haendel, Peter Frankl and has performed with world class orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mrs Reiter frequently performs solo and chamber music around the globe.
Her passion for teaching has led her to writing: “Karen Tuttle’s Heritage: The Theory and Practice of Co-ordination”, a technique to help coordinate physical and musical gestures. Emmanuella held the post of Visiting Professor at the Birmingham Conservatory in 2009-2010, has been regularly invited to give classes at the Royal Academy of Music Junior and Senior divisions.
Emmanuella is the founding Director of the Jigsaw Players Chamber Music Series in Wimbledon. She has been a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008.

Mark Derudder
Mark Derudder was born in Fukuoka (Japan) but moved to Belgium at the age of two and started playing the violin at the age of six. In 2002 he won first prize in the National Competition “Axion Classics”. In 2004 he won the Gold Medal at the Marlow Music Festival. At the Guildhall, he received the MBF Ian Fleming Charitable Trust Award and the Martin Musical Fund Award. Mark has performed as soloist and chamber musician in venues across the UK, Europe and the USA. He also held a Fellowship for two years at the Guildhall as member of the Idomeneo String Quartet with which he performs regularly around the world. In 2012 he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in London as a member of the first violin section.

Nicholas Bootiman
Nicholas Bootiman was born near Munich, Germany, where he started his first music lessons. Later he attended the Purcell School, Royal College of Music, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA. His primary teachers were Kim Kashkashian, Milan Skampa, Ian Jewel and Andriy Viytovych.
Nicholas is frequently invited to guest lead viola sections throughout the country, and has appeared as such with Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and City of London Sinfonia.
Concerto performances include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay and Philharmonia Orchestra, and Penderecki’s Viola Concerto with Boston Modern Orchestra Project. As a chamber musician Nicholas often takes time out to play with friends at festivals around UK and Europe and has performed at the major London chamber venues. He composes as a hobby, and as conductor co-directs the Reuleaux Ensemble.

Thomas Hancox
Thomas Hancox has worked as guest principal flute of the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras, performed as a soloist alongside Trevor Pinnock, collaborated with ensembles including the Allegri and Sacconi string quartets, and also played with English National Opera, the Dunedin Consort, the London Handel Orchestra, the Saraband Consort, the Locrian Ensemble, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra. He is an artist on the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, and also for Live MusicNow.
A committed teacher, he works with students at King’s College (London), the Dragon School (Oxford), and on several summer courses (the Flute Kitchen, Harrogate; the London Flute Academy). He was previously the Junior Editor of Pan, the journal of the British Flute Society, and now acts as an animateur for CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust.
He first read music at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, from where he graduated with a double first, before pursuing further studies in Paris with Patrick Gallois, and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Paul Edmund-Davies and Samuel Coles, finishing with a distinction and the honorary DipRAM. He was generously supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and the Craxton Memorial Trust.

Bartholomew Lafollette
Hailed by the Irish Times for being “as free in touching the heartstrings as he was in dashing off dazzling runs”, Bartholomew Lafollette’s highlights with orchestra include performances of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Walton and Elgar Cello Concertos in the Barbican Hall as well as appearing as soloist with the City of London Sinfonia. He has also performed The Brahms Double Concerto with Daniel Stabrawa and the Poznan Philharmonic in Poland and Elgar’s Cello Concerto at the Sibelius International Music Festival in Helsinki. He was the first recipient of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s honorable Ardan Award which led to appearances throughout the British Isles.
Bartholomew engages in a rich variety of musical collaborations and has recently performed, amongst others, with Anthony Marwood, Christian Tetzlaff and Andras Keller. He frequently appears with the award winning Doric String Quartet with whom he recorded Eric Wolfgang Korngold’s string sextet for Chandos. He participates regularly in international festivals such as Ravinia and Spannungen and has a special relationship with IMS Prussia Cove, performing both in Cornwall and on their annual tour.
Born in Philadelphia, Bartholomew was drawn to the cello at an early age, entering the Yehudi Menuhin school at the age of thirteen. Continuing his studies with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he received a First Honours Masters degree and was a post-graduate Fellow.
His career was launched by the prestigious Young Concert Artist’s Trust (YCAT) in 2007, after which he made successful debuts across the UK, including numerous performances at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. His performances both as soloist in recital and with orchestra are critically lauded for their intensity and commitment.
In 2011 at the age of twenty-six, Bartholomew LaFollette was appointed Principal Cello Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School. He is especially grateful for the indefinite loan of a Benjamin Banks Jr. cello made in 1785.

Kaija
Kaija was born in Rapla, a small town in Estonia. She comes from a musical family: her mother and older sister are both piano teachers and her grandfather was a violinist. When she was two years old she held hands and sang in the continuous human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius to protest the Russian occupation.
Kaija began her musical education at the Rapla Music School and Tallinn Music High School. She went on to complete her undergraduate and masters degrees at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with additional diplomas from Temple University in Philadelphia and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She has won several prizes at national and international competitions including at ‘Remember Enescu’ in Romania and at the National competitions of Estonia.
Currently Kaija is working with several professional ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Jigsaw Players, BBC Wales and is on the casual list for groups including the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Kaija loves to travel and is regularly invited to festivals across the world in countries including Estonia, France, Greece and the USA. She has performed at such venues as The Royal Festival Hall, The Walt Disney Hall (LA), The Philharmonie (Berlin), and The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) with artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Anthony Marwood and Colin Davis.
As adept on viola as she is on violin, Kaija frequently performs solo recitals on both instruments, most recently at St Martin in the Fields with Sholto Kynoch. Kaija’s future engagements include recitals at Regent’s Hall and St John Smith Square. As a soloist Kaija is highly sought after, recently having performed the Brahms violin concerto with de Havilland Philharmonic as well as various concertos with groups including Philharmonia Britannica, Exeter University Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Parnu City Orchestra (Estonia) to critical success.

Το άρθρο Jigsaw Players – Theatro εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

PROGRAM

Shostakovich op. 67
Piano Trio no. 2 in E minor,

1. Andante
2. Allegro con brio
3. Largo
4. Allagretto

Christos Hatzis entitled “Constantinople”
Odd World (from a larger work) 

—Intermission— 

Beethoven op. 97 “Archduke”
Piano Trio in B-flat major,

Allegro moderato – Presto

Allegro Moderato

Scherzo

Andante – Piu Adagio

BIOGRAPHY

Ben Capps
Exciting young American cellist Ben Capps enjoys a versatile performing career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral principal. His artistry has been praised as “most appealing” by the New York Times, “virtuosic and impassioned” by the Barre Montpelier Times, the Holland Times hailed Capps as a “young cello phenomenon from New York” with “dazzling technique and a fearsomely meaty tone”, and the Epoch Times proclaimed that “Capps has it all . . . cello playing of the very highest standard.” He has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Mann Hall in Tel Aviv, Meyerson Hall in Dallas, and the Auditorio Nacional, the Palace of Fine Arts and Sala Nezahualcoytl in Mexico City. He has appeared as soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Manchester Music Festival Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, and the Manhattan School of Music Composer’s Orchestra. Recent performance highlights include a recital tour of China (Xiamin, Fouzhou and Gulangyu), and recital appearances in New York, Greece and Spain. Highlights of the 2013 season include solo performances of the Schumann Concerto with the Danbury Symphony & The Liora Chamber Orchestra and Shostakovich Concerto no. 1 with the Orchestra nica de Jalisco, as well as a performance of The Complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas in a single concert.

At age 21, Capps was appointed principal cellist of Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, a dynamic New York based symphony orchestra founded by conductor Alondra de la Parra, whose highly regarded premier Sony Classics recording Mi Alma Mexicana attained platinum status. An avid chamber musician, he has participated in the Bowdoin, Schlern Int’l (Italy), Burgos Int’l (Spain) and Summit Summer Festivals, the Perlman Music Program, and the ChamberFest and FOCUS! Festivals in Lincoln Center. Mr. Capps has made numerous appearances on Manhattan’s Tactus Series, and has performed on Trinity Church’s Music at One series, numerous appearances at Bargemusic, and has appeared as guest artist with Manchester Music Festival, Summit Int’l Festival, the Burlington Ensemble, and the International Chamber Soloists, Lyrica and Lumina Chamber Music. He is the founder of the Capanglia Trio, the Sonar Players, the New York Chamber Collective, and most recently, the Olympus Piano Trio which offers an evening of piano trios at the Athens Megaron Concert Hall in January 2013. He has been heard on American radio on the McGraw Hill Young Artists’ Showcase, and was recently the subject of an hour-long special on VPR which documented his 2012 solo (unaccompanied) cello tour of Vermont. Additionally, Capps will be heard performing The Complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with interviews and commentary on Vermont Public Radio in 2013.

An ardent performer of new music, he is committed to presenting music of today’s composers and has given numerous performances of new cello works, including Daniel Vezza Pulsations for Cello and Chamber Orchestra (composed for Mr. Capps), Marcus Paus Cello Sonnets, Anna Klein Fits and Starts, Daniel Vezza Circles, Reiko Futing Kaddish: The Art of Losing, and Robert Karpay’s Cello Concerto. His world premiere recording of Andrew Violette’s 72 minute Songs and Dances for unaccompanied cello (Innova Records) was released in June 2010, Violette’s 48 minute Cello Sonata (Innova Records) and his recording of Anna Klein’s Fits and Starts (Tzaddik) was selected as WQXR’s free download from the Album of the Week earlier this year.

A native of New York City, Ben Capps began playing the cello at age four with Nellis DeLay at New York’s School for Strings. At 10 he was admitted to Juilliard Pre-College, where he studied for seven years with Anne Alton, Andre Emelianoff, and modern cello guru Fred Sherry. He received a Bachelor’s degree at Manhattan School of Music, and a Master of Music Degree from Juilliard in May 2010, both under the guidance of the great David Soyer of the Guarneri String Quartet.

He is currently in the Graduate Diploma program at New England Conservatory in Boston, where he is a student of Laurence Lesser. He is the recipient of many awards, including the New York State Association of Music Teachers Scholarship Competition 1999; Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, Concerto Competition, 2001, the Lillian Fuchs Award, 2004, the Francis Goelet Scholarship (Juilliard 2008-2009), the Irving Mulde Scholarship (Juilliard, 2009-10), and the Piatigorsky Scholarship (New England Conservatory 2012-13). He has coached with numerous cellists, including Bernard Greenhouse, Ko Iwasaki, Paul Katz, and Nathanial Rosen, has performed in master class for Steven Isserlis, Alexander Rudin, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Peter Wylie, Timothy Eddy, Matt Haimowitz and Jonathan Biss, and has coached chamber music with Joseph Kalichstein, Sylvia Rosenberg, Isidore Cohen, Seymour Lipkin, Alexander Slobodyanik, Andre Michel Schub, and Vivian Weilerstein.

Regi Alexandros Papa
Hailed as “an exciting young violinist with brilliant technique and an excellent sense of style” (The Strad Magazine), violinist Regi Álexandros Papa has dazzled audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. In his native Greece, Mr. Papa has been heard in concert in numerous prestigious venues, including numerous appearances in the Athens Concert Hall, the Pallas Hall, the Parnassos Hall, and the Athenaeum Hall. He has been a featured soloist with many orchestras throughout Greece, among them the Soloists of Patras Orchestra (under Saulious Sondeckis), the Volos Symphony Orchestra (under Simeon Kogan) and the National Orchestra of Contemporary Music (under Andreas Pilarinos), the Kamerata Orchestra (under C. Warren-Green), the Greek National Radio Orchestra (under Nikos Tsouchlos), and the National State Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2006, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the New York Senior Concert Orchestra under the baton of David Gilbert, and has also appeared as featured soloist with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, the Manhattan School of Music Philharmonia. Mr. Papa has given numerous recitals in Greece, the United States, Italy and Spain, and also appeared as soloist with Feminarte Orchestra in Albania.

An avid chamber musician, he has performed extensively in various chamber ensembles throughout the United States and Europe. In May 2010 Mr. Papa was chosen to participate in the prestigious Carnegie Hall Chamber Workshop, and worked intensively with Leon Fleischer, Pamela Frank and Yo Yo Ma.

The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, Mr. Papa was awarded 1st prize in the 2002 Eurovision Contest (Greece), the Greek Ministry of Education’s Pan-Hellenic Contest, and the Wieniawski Competition (Kosciusko Foundation, New York City), and also received prizes in the Young Soloists Competition (Volos), the International “Jeunesses Musicales” Violin Competition (Romania), the Artur Balsam Competition for Duos (New York City), the Hudson Valley Competition for Strings, the Waldo Mayo Competition, and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Concerto Competition. He was awarded scholarships from the Mundo en Armonia Foundation, the Onassis Foundation, and was the recipient of the Marie and George Vergottis Memorial Scholarship at Juilliard.

A native of Athens, Mr. Papa was born into a family of violinists. He began playing the violin at age 5, and studied at the Doukas School in Athens. When he was 15, as winner of the Greek Eurovision Competition, he received an Onassis Foundation scholarship and moved to New York City where he began his studies with Isaac Malkin at Manhattan School of Music while continuing his formal education at the Professional Children’s School. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music with Isaac Malkin in 2008. He received the Marie and George Vergottis Memorial Scholarship to attend the Juilliard School as a student of Kyung Wha Chung, and was awarded a Master’s Degree from Juilliard in 2010. Papa is currently in the Doctoral program at Stony Brook University. Papa has participated in master classes of Lydia Mortkovitch, Zakhar Bron, Boris Belkin, Emmanuel Borok, Griegori Zhislin, Robert Mann, Lambert Orkis, and Mikhail Kopelman, and studied with Ana Chumachenko as a participant in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Mr. Papa currently makes his home in New York City.

Konstantine Valianatos
Pianist Konstantine Valianatos has attracted attention as an exciting young musician of great talent in both the United States and in Europe. The recipient of numerous awards, he has won eleven first prizes, six of them at International Competitions, including the International Seiler Piano Competition, International Ibiza Piano Competition, the Senigallia International Piano Competition, and the San Gemini International Piano Competition, and the Aspen Music Festival Competition, and is the recipient of scholarships as winner of the Gina Bachauer, Yamaha, Onassis and I.K.Y. Foundation Competitions. In 2004, Valianatos’ artistry and integrity were officially acknowledged when the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos presented him with the highest accolade from the Athens Academy.

Born in 1989, Valianatos already enjoys an international performing career. He has appeared as a featured soloist in concerto performances with the Greek National Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, and the Montevideo National Orchestra. He has been heard both in recital and as chamber musician in numerous prestigious venues, including the Salle Cortot in Paris, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, and the Athens Megaron, and has been featured on WQXR’s McGraw-Hill Young Artist’s Showcase. During the upcoming 2012-2013 season, Valianatos will appear as soloist with the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Carter Austin.

A dedicated chamber partner, with violinist Regi Papa and pianist Benjamin Capps he is a founding member of the Olympus Piano Trio, a group dedicated to celebrating chamber music and the Hellenic spirit. A participant in numerous summer festivals both as soloist and chamber pianist, including the Aspen International Music Festival, the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, and the Poros Academy in Poros, Greece, Valianatos will be featured at the Kefalonia Dionisios Lavragas Festival in summer 2012.

Committed to sharing his gifts with the New York City community, and in particular with young people, Valianatos travels often to the Bronx to teach piano to schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds. He maintains ties with New York City’s Greek American community by accompanying the Greek Archdiocesan Metropolitan Youth Choir. In 2012, Valianatos will be teaching a piano class at the Juilliard School as a piano minor fellow.

A native of Athens, Greece, Valianatos began his piano studies at age seven at the National Conservatory of Greece. At age fourteen, he was awarded the “Diploma of Soloist” with highest distinction. He continued his studies at the Ecole Normale in Paris with Germaine Mounier and Agathe Leimoni, receiving the “Diplome Superieur d’Execution” and the “Diplome de Concertist”. Currently a student at the Juilliard School and recipient of the George and Marie Vergottis scholarship, he was awarded a Bachelor of Music Degree in May 2012 as a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. He will continue his studies at Juilliard as a Master’s Student in the fall of 2012 under the guidance of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin.

Valianatos has attended numerous master classes with renowned pianists, including Paul Badura-Skoda, Choong-Mo Kang, Ivo Pogorelich, Julian Martin, Veda Kaplinsky, Joseph Kalichstein, Alain Lefèvre, Jean-Claude Pennetier, France Clidat, Cyprien Katsaris, Martino Tirimo, duo Ganev, Raquel Boldorini, Aaron Shorr, Oxana Yablonskaya, Bernard Ringeissen and Luigi Mostacci, and has coached chamber music with Julian Martin, Joseph Kalichstein, Jerome Lowenthal, Bonnie Hampton, and Darrett Adkins.

Το άρθρο Olympus Trio Concert & National Entrance Exam Awards εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.

PROGRAM

SURPRISE!!

BIOGRAPHY

Soyeon Kate Lee
First prize winner of the prestigious 2010 Naumburg International Piano Competition, Korean-American pianist Soyeon Kate Lee has already been hailed by The New York Times as a pianist with “a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style,” while The Washington Post has lauded her for her “stunning command of the keyboard.” Ms. Lee’s 2012/13 season highlights include performances at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Rose Studio, and the Kaplan Penthouse, as well as Boston’s Gardner Museum as a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two. She collaborates this season with Daedalus and Brentano String Quartets, violinist Ani Kavafian, cellist Timothy Eddy, and members of the Chiara String Quartet, among others, and appears in recital at the Rhode Island College Performing Arts Series, Elon University, Pittsburg State University, Portland Ovation Series, Ridotto Music Festival, Music Mountain, and Sheldon Friends of Chamber Music. In celebration of Benjamin Britten’s centennial, Ms. Lee performs the less traversed Britten Piano Concerto with the Adelphi University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Lyndon-Gee. An active Naxos recording artist, her third CD featuring Liszt opera transcriptions will be released this season and she will return to the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto for a two-CD recording of Scriabin’s piano works in April.

Ms. Lee has been rapturously received as guest soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, symphony orchestras of Columbus, Bangor, Bozeman, Boca Raton, Wyoming, Bozeman, Cheyenne, Napa Valley, Scottsdale, Abilene, Naples, Santa Fe, and Shreveport in the United States; the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea), Ulsan Symphony Orchestra (South Korea), Orquesta de Valencia (Spain), and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Dominican Republic), including performances under the batons of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jahja Ling, Jorge Mester, and Otto-Werner Mueller.

Recent recital appearances include New York City programs at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Alice Tully Hall, Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, the Ravinia Festival’s “Rising Stars” series, Auditorio de Música Nacional in Madrid – part of a 13-city tour of Spain, tour of the Hawaiian Islands, Krannert Center, and Finland’s Maanta Music Festival.

Soyeon Kate Lee was featured on the January 2006 cover of SYMPHONY magazine’s annual “Emerging Artists” issue and in the 2008 edition of Musical America’s “More Thrills of Discovery.” Her debut CD on the Naxos label, featuring sonatas of Scarlatti, was released in February 2007 to critical acclaim. KOCH International Classics (E1) released her second album in April 2009, for which she was awarded the 2009 Young Artist Award from the Classical Recording Foundation.

Ms. Lee earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, she won every award granted to a pianist including the Rachmaninoff Concerto Competition, two consecutive Gina Bachauer Scholarship Competitions, Arthur Rubinstein Prize, Susan Rose Career Grant, and the William Petschek Piano Debut Award.

Winner of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, as well as the Second and Mozart prizes of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Bronze Medal of the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, she has worked extensively with Robert McDonald and Jerome Lowenthal at Juilliard, and is currently pursuing her Doctoral studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York with Ursula Oppens and Richard Goode. Ms. Lee is a Steinway Artist.

Ran Dank
Pianist Ran Dank deploys his brilliant technique with astonishing energy, intellect and intensity, captivating audiences and critics alike. In the past season of New York concerts alone, he has performed Beethoven sonatas at Merkin Hall, Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 in his debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall, and gained critical acclaim for his “vivacious playing” (The New York Times) of the Tobias Picker Concerto at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre and for his performance of Ravel’s piano trio at the Chelsea Music Festival for “the sweep and fire of his playing” (The New York Times).

Current season highlights include a recital debut at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and appearances at Portland Ovations, Merrick-Bellmore Community Concert Association, Missouri State University, Tannery Pond Concerts, the University at Buffalo, and Pro Arte Musical in Puerto Rico. Dank also performs in the inaugural season of the Young Concert Artists ensemble miXt, with performances at New York City’s Merkin Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, and elsewhere in the U.S.

Mr. Dank has appeared as soloist with the Phoenix, Ann Arbor, Hilton Head, and Pensacola symphonies, the Cleveland Orchestra as a laureate of the Cleveland International Competition, as well as the Orquesta de Valencia in Spain, among others; he has been presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society’s prestigious Hayes Piano Series at the Kennedy Center, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Finland’s Mänttä Festival where his all-Liszt recital was broadcast on Finnish National Radio; and performed as a chamber musician at YCA’s Tokyo Festival and the Seattle and Montreal chamber music festivals. Recipient of the Sander Buchman Memorial First Prize of the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Dank made his New York debut in the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Concert. At the Auditions, he was also honored with the John Browning Memorial Prize, the Slomovic Orchestra Soloist Prize, the Albany Symphony Prize, the Embassy Series Prize for a concert in Washington DC, and the Saint Vincent College Bronder Prize for Piano.

In his native Israel, Mr. Dank has been invited as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Jerusalem, Rishon Lezion, Haifa and Raanana, as well as the Israel Festival in Jerusalem, and most recently, at the Israel Conservatory of Music in a recital celebrating Debussy’s 150th anniversary.

In addition to First Prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Mr. Dank is a laureate of the Naumburg Piano Competition and the Sydney International Piano Competition. Mr. Dank is the recipient of grants from the Arthur Foundation and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

Mr. Dank earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, where he studied with Emanuel Krasovsky, and received his Master’s degree from the Juilliard School where he worked with Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein and Juilliard’s Artist Diploma, under Robert McDonald. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts with Ursula Oppens and Richard Goode at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York as a chancellor’s fellow.

Vassilis Varvaresos
“Varvaresos not only has a natural yet finely honed technique, it springs as one with the wide scope of profound musicianship. Varvaresos engaged his audience with a performance that sizzled from start to finish.”

• New York Concert Review

March 2012 marked Mr. Varvaresos’ Carnegie Hall recital debut, to both audience and critical acclaim. Immediately following his debut, he was asked to play at the White House for President Barrack Obama.

Being re-invited to the Athens Festival of 2012, Mr. Varvaresos will be making his inaugural appearance at the Herodeion theater in Athens, performing Prokofiev’s Concerto no. 2 with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.

In December 2010 Mr. Varvaresos was named Most Promising Young Greek Artist from the Critics’ Association of Greece. The dynamic young Greek pianist is also the 1st Prize winner of the Maria Chairogiorgou-Sigara 3rd International Piano Competition, held in Athens in May 2010.

Winner of the coveted First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 14, his recital debuts in New York and Washington were acclaimed. The New York Concert Review ended thus: “Following this great program greatly played, Vassilis Varvaresos played a spicy Greek dance with all the exuberance and heartiness of a soul in love with life.” The Washington Post’s headline called him a “Young Master on the Rise.”

Mr. Varvaresos made his sensational New York orchestra debut in 2007 at Lincoln Center performing Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Andreas Delfs. In October 2010, as a special guest of the Archbishop of the Greek-Orthodox Church of America, Mr. Varvaresos appeared with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra in Chopin’s Piano Concerto in e minor at Alice Tully Hall, while in the winter of 2008 he was asked to be the soloist with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, representing Greece on a two-week tour of China, on the occasion of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Mr. Varvaresos, on this occasion, performed in front of a total of 6,000 people.

Mr. Varvaresos’ made his recital debut in Athens, Greece appearing at the 2010 Athens Festival. During the same summer he has appeared in recital and chamber music concerts in Mykonos, Greece and in Constantinople and Cyprus.

Mr. Varvaresos’ previous seasons included concerts in Vienna’s legendary Musikverein, performances of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in Leukosia and Lemesos under the baton of Spiros Pisinos, recitals in Mykonos, Greece and a featured concert at the International Piano Festival of Gijón, Spain.

Since then, he has performed on numerous occasions both in the U.S. and abroad. Highlight performances include an appearance with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, where Mr. Varvaresos performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a double-bill special event as well as concerto and recital appearances in the U.S. and his native Greece.

As a soloist with orchestra in the United States, Mr. Varvaresos has performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Victoria Symphony in Texas, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Westmoreland Symphony (PA), Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 with the Dearborn (MI) Orchestra Society, Haydn’s Concerto in D Major with the Hartford Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 with the Modesto (CA) Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto no. 20 with the Altoona (PA) Symphony, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 1 with the JCC of Greater Washington, and Beethoven’s Concerto no. 3 with the Sacramento Youth Symphony.

Mr. Varvaresos’ performances in his native Greece include the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto at the Megaron Hall with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, Solon Michailides’s Piano Concerto and the Grieg Piano Concerto in the Megaron Hall of Athens, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 2, Mozart’s Concerto no. 20 and Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3, with the Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He has performed numerous times on Greek State Television, as well as on television in Italy, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Mr. Varvaresos has represented Greece in a special “EuroConcert” at the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki, at the Greek Embassy in Milan, and for the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. He has also performed as a recitalist in Austria, Germany, France, Italy, The Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.

Mr. Varvaresos is a founding member of Fourtissimo!, a group of four award-winning pianists whose goal is to reinvent the concert-going experience through tasteful and uncompromising experimentation: unorthodox choice of repertoire, questions and choices concerning the form of the piano recital, and original compositions/transcriptions that test the limitations of the instrument and point the way towards a new type of instrumental virtuosity and inventiveness. The group’s debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in October 2010 received immediate audience and critical acclaim.

Mr. Varvaresos is also active as a composer. His dance composition Three Etudes was chosen to represent the Juilliard School in a Dance Forum hosted by the Pallucca Schule in Dresden, Germany in October of 2007. He has written ten film scores, including Ellsworth Kelly: Fragmentsand Sir John Soane: An English Architect, an American Legacy produced by the Checkerboard Film Foundation. He has also composed the score for the short film Hardwood.

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1983, Mr. Varvaresos started studying music at the age of five, and received a scholarship to the Conservatory of Northern Greece. He continued his studies at the Conservatory with Milena Mollova. He won First Prize in the 1995 Petar Konjovic International Competition in Belgrade, the 1996 Pan-Hellenic Young Artist Competition in Athens, and was chosen as one of eleven young musicians from around the world to perform in Monte Carlo in a special “little Mozarts” concert organized by Italy’s RAI TV. Mr. Varvaresos holds a bachelor of music degree and a master of music degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. His paper on Claude Debussy, which won the Scholastic Distinction Award from The Juilliard School, was published in Greece by Kodikas Publications. In May 2011 Mr. Varvaresos received his Doctorate in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School. He was a student of Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Robert MacDonald.

Mr. Varvaresos is currently pursuing the prestigious Diplôme d’Artiste-Interprète degree at the Conservatoire National et Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, France. He studies with Michel Dalberto.

He has been recipient of Musical Studies Grants from the Bagby Foundation and George & Marie Vergottis Scholarships at The Juilliard School. Since 2008, he has also been the recipient of the Gina Bachauer Foundation Grant for Outstanding Talent in Music and Onassis Foundation Grant.

Το άρθρο Surprise Concert εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Vergottis Foundation.