The Vancouver
Chopin
Society
2015-2016
Jorge Luis Prats
Dénes Várjon
Dina Yoffe
Nelson Freire
2015-2016 18th Season
We have established an extraordinary history of an annual fourconcert series that includes established artists as well as rising
talents.
The Society aims to promote cultural interaction among the
people of Greater Vancouver, who come from a rich variety of
ethnic backgrounds, and to emphasize the importance of music
in our lives.
This season we have a fantastic line up of four great pianists:
Jorge Luis Prats, a Cuban marvel, hailed as a long-lost virtuoso
in the grand tradition; the Latvian-born Israeli pianist Dina
Yoffe, known for her Chopin recordings and interpretations;
Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon, known for highly expressive
and imaginative interpretations; and Nelson Freire, one of the
world’s greatest pianists.
We continue to maintain the lowest possible price for
subscriptions, particularly for seniors and students. We added
a new type of subscription with seats on the right side of
the venue. The price is as low as $20 per ticket. We always
strive to offer discounted subscriptions and tickets for seniors
and students to ensure accessibility to our concerts. We are
able to do this because our society is entirely run by wonderful
and dedicated volunteers.
Lee Kum-Sing - Artistic Director
Iko Bylicki - President
SPECIAL EVENT – Sept 1st, 2015, 7:30 pm
Tom Lee Music Hall, 929 Granville Street, 3rd Floor
Seventeen-year-old Eric Lu has received top
prizes at a number of international competitions.
Most recently, he was just awarded the first prize
and concerto prize at the 9th National Chopin
Competition in Miami. He received $75,000
and automatic acceptance to the Chopin
Competition in Warsaw in October 2015.
SPONSORS
Daniel Chocolate
Concert 1 Jorge Luis Prats
Friday, October 30, 2015 at 7:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse
”Prats is a rare talent, not only because of
his extraordinary life story, but because of
his extraordinary gifts. The piano, he said,
is merely the tool he uses to create music.
The music he creates is stunning — it
enthralls and amazes, while simultaneously
stimulating the mind. Here is a prodigious
talent whose experiences in Cuba and
abroad are conveyed in each note he
plays. He is now achieving the recognition
that should have been his all along.
Adam Parker
Hailed as a long-lost virtuoso in the grand tradition, Cuban pianist
Jorge Luis Prats’ 2007 concert at the Broward Center for the
Performing Arts under the auspices of the Miami International
Piano Festival was recorded on the VAI label. It was the release
of this live performance that reawakened great interest in his
career and resulted in invitations to perform at the Verbier
Festival, in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw for four consecutive
years to overwhelming response.
At the age of 21 Prats won the Grand Prix at the prestigious
“Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud” piano competition in Paris
(1977), also receiving special prizes for the best interpretation
of Maurice Ravel and André Jolivet. He began performing
widely, and even made a recital LP for Deutsche Grammophon.
However, visa restrictions meant that big opportunities in the
West were limited and the young Cuban chose to stay with his
family over a career abroad. For more than 30 years, Jorge
Luis Prats effectively disappeared from the international piano
scene. His recent relocation to the U.S. has allowed that career
to once again flourish.
Born in Cuba, Prats studied at the National School of Arts with
Margot Rojas and later he was awarded a scholarship to study
under Rudolf Kerer in Moscow. He continued his higher piano
education in Paris in Vienna with Magda Tagliaferro and Paul
Badura Skoda.
He has recorded for a number of major labels: Pathé Marconi
(EMI France), Deutsche Grammophon, ASV, IMP, and Musical
Heritage.
Programme:
Chopin
Albeniz
Cervantes
A reception for all will follow the concert
Concert 2 Dénes Várjon
Friday, February 12, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse
“Várjon here attempts to uncover
connections between composers, with
specific reference to the influence Liszt
had upon Berg and Janáček...Negotiating
dynamic shifts of emphasis, Várjon
displays that most valuable of gifts: the
ability to play in a way which makes you
listen anew to the familiar.”
The Independent
Dénes Várjon studied at the Ferenc
Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest
with, amongst others, composer György
Kurtág. He is a regular guest at festivals including the Salzburger
Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Marlboro
Music Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and Edinburgh Festival.
He is invited annually to András Schiff’s and Heinz Holliger’s
Ittinger Konzerttage in Switzerland every year and enjoys
a longstanding relationship with the Open Chamber MusicPrussia Cove (UK).
He has performed with major orchestras such as The Camerata
Salzburg, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Wiener
Kammerorchester, and many others.
Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon has received much attention for
his chamber music prowess, notably in collaboration with cellist
Steven Isserlis and his solo recordings and performances in the
last decade have received international critical acclaim.
He has recorded for the Naxos, Capriccio, and Hungaroton
Classics record labels. His recording of Schumann pieces
together with the cellist Steven Isserlis was issued in 2009
on the Hyperion label. His first solo CD with pieces of Berg,
Janáček and Liszt was released by ECM in January 2012
Programme:
HAYDN
Sonata in E minor, Hob.XVI:34
SCHUMANN
Fantasy in C major, Op. 17
Intermission
Janáček
CHOPIN
On an overgrown path (cycle of six pieces)
Ballade No 2 in F major, Op. 38
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 67, No. 4
Mazurka in C major, Op. 24, No. 2
Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1
Scherzo No 2, in B-flat minor, Op. 31
A reception for all will follow the concert
Concert 3 Dina Yoffe
Friday, April 8, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse
”Her playing flowed beautifully, and
avoided even the slightest hint of
sentimentality. Hers was a strongly felt
authentic Chopin. Maestro Zubin Mehta
collaborated marvellously as a perfect
accompanist. ”
B. Bar-Ami, Jerusalem Post
Dina Yoffe came
to international
recognition by winning top prizes in two
international competitions: the Robert
Schumann in Zwickau (1974) and the
prestigious Fryderyk Chopin in Warsaw
(1975). At that time the political climate in the Soviet Union
did not allow for creating a career abroad so Dina Yoffe had
to wait several years to launch her career. Today her concert
performances are renowned throughout Europe, Israel, Japan,
and the United States. She has performed with the Israel
Philharmonic, the Japanese Radio Orchestra NHK, the Moscow
Philharmonic, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra.
Beyond her successful solo and orchestral career, Ms. Yoffe
is also an active participant in international chamber music
festivals, playing with many famous musicians, such as Gidon
Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Michael Vaiman and Mario
Brunello.
Dina Yoffe is also an esteemed teacher. She gives masterclasses
in France, Germany, Spain, London (Royal Academy of Music)
and Salzburg (Mozarteum Summer Academy). She is a guest
professor at the Yamaha Masterclasses in Paris, New York,
Hamburg and Tokyo, She has also been a jury member of many
international piano competitions including in Cleveland (USA),
Hamamatsu (Japan), Fryderyk Chopin (Warsaw), Maria Canals
(Barcelona) and Ferenc Liszt (Weimar).
Programme:
SCRIABIN 24 Preludes, Op. 11
Intermission
CHOPIN
24 Preludes, Op. 28
A reception for all will follow the concert
Concert 4 Nelson Freire
Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse
”Few pianists alive convey the sheer joy
and exhilaration of being masters of their
craft more vividly and uncomplicatedly
than Nelson Freire. Perhaps only his old
friend and regular duo partner Martha
Argerich is Freire’s equal today as a
player for whom dazzling technique is
just a means to a musical end, never
something to be flaunted for its own
sake.”
(The Guardian, May 2014)
Nelson Freire is now a universally acclaimed artist. He has
received honours and decorations in numerous countries, and
regularly collaborates with top class orchestras, conductors,
and recital halls worldwide. He has signed an exclusive contract
with DECCA and his regular recordings have led him to explore
the works with a deeper insight and unique creative power.
At the age of twenty-three for his London début, he made a
sensation when The Times called him “The young lion of the
keyboard”.
Nelson Freire has performed in over seventy countries and
become a star in the international music world. His recordings
have been rewarded with the Diapason d’Or, Grand Prix du
Disque, Victoire d’Honneur, Edison Award, Gramophone Award
and a Latin Grammy for the album “Nelson Freire Brasileiro” in
2013.
He has been the recipient of the most prestigious decorations:
Citizen of Rio, Knight of the Order of Rio Branco, Chevalier de la
Légion d’Honneur, Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Medal
Pedro Ernesto, Medal of the City of Paris, Medal of the City of
Buenos Aires and doctor honoris causa from the Music School
of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Programme:
BACH
Partita No. 4 in D major
SCHUMANN
Symphonic Études, Op. 13
Intermission
CHOPIN
3 Mazurkas, Op. 59
in A minor, No. 1
in A-flat major, No. 2
in F-sharp minor, No. 3
Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
A reception for all will follow the concert
SUBSCRIPTIONS ( Save 25% over single tickets)
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All concerts Section A
140
110
All concerts Section B
110
80
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SINGLE TICKETS on sale Sept 8, 2015
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VENUE
Vancouver Playhouse, Hamilton at Dunsmuir, downtown
Vancouver.
Section A – middle and left side (orchestra & balcony)
Section B – right side (orchestra & balcony)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Address: The Vancouver Chopin Society,
#400–601 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C, V5Z 4C2
Tel: 604.871.4450
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.chopinsociety.org
Membership: all subscribers are members of the Society.
Membership for non-subscribers: $35 per person, $50 per family.
ALL SALES ARE FINAL
Artists and programmes are subject to change without notice.
Refunds are only available when an event is cancelled with no
replacement artist.
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$30
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Eric Lu (special concert, Sept 1)
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