Saturday, September 24, 8pm
Gala Fall Opening • RADIANT SOUND
Borealis String Quartet
Patricia Shih & Yuel Yawney, violins; Nikita Pogrebnoy, viola & Shih-Lin Chen, cello
Playing that is “sheer and refined” —Montreal Gazette. Performing string quartets by Beethoven, Shostakovich and Grieg. • $33/15
Saturday, October 15, 8pm
THE PIANO SINGS
Anton Nel, piano
South African virtuoso Anton Nel has been thrilling audiences around the world since his 1987 Gold Medal win at the Naumberg Competition. He is “a pianist of exceptional sensitivity… elegance and vibrancy” —Los Angeles Times; New York Times. Performing Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Debussy and Granados. • $43/25
Saturday, October 29, 8pm
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Boris Andrianov & Alex Kobrin, cello/piano
“Andrianov plays like a god, with masterly noblesse” —Berliner Tagesspiegel “…and profound musicality” —Zubin Mehta. The Van Cliburn winner Alex Kobrin will be remembered by our Virtuosi audience as a “blazing talent” —London Times, following his stunning recital last season. They will each perform solo works (TBA) and duos by Beethoven and Schumann. • $33/15
Saturday, November 12, 8pm
FROM MOZART TO MAHLER
Ensemble Made In Canada
Elissa Lee violin; Sharon Wei, viola; Rachel Mercer, cello & Angela Park, piano
Canada’s pre-eminent piano quartet gave our 2007 audience “a dazzling performance” —Winnipeg Free Press. “The Ensemble’s energy and depth is breathtaking” —Anton Kuerti, pianist. They return by popular demand with quartets by Mozart and Brahms, and Virtuosi’s first performance ever of Mahler. • $33/15
Saturday, December 3, 8pm
LISZT BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Adam Aleksander, Pianist
This is a change from the original brochure
Critics have hailed Adam Aleksander’s playing as having “rare finesse…gorgeous sonority and nimble fingers…generous of feeling, mood and tonal resources” (Cleveland Plain Dealer); Born in Edmonton, Canada, Adam Aleksander has been performing to the acclaim of audiences worldwide since his debut with orchestra at the age of fourteen with the Chopin Piano Concerto in E Minor. His teachers include Sergei Babayan and Regina Smendzianka at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw. • $33/15
Saturday, December 10, 8pm • Sunday, December 11, 3pm
WSO Baroque & Beyond I: MOZART AND HIS MENTORS
Peter Vinograde, piano
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players
The genius of Mozart shines in his magnificent Piano Concerto No.9 —Jeunehomme, “the first unequivocal masterpiece of the classical style” according to the eminent pianist and prolific writer Charles Rosen. Peter Vinograde’s 2008 all-Bach concert with the WSO Players was “the best live performance this reviewer has heard to date. It was captivating” —Gwenda Nemerofsky, Winnipeg Free Press. Mozart’s mentors are represented by Haydn, J.C. Bach, Salieri and Leopold Mozart. • $33/15
Saturday, January 21, 8pm
FROM BEETHOVEN TO BRAZIL
Trio Micheletti
Véronique Mathieu, violin, André Micheletti, cello & Jasmin Arakawa, piano
The artists of this new international piano trio are from Canada, Brazil and Japan, and all three are completing their doctorates at Indiana University. They bring an international program of Latin composers – Piazzolla/Argentina, Fernandes/Brazil, Moleiro/Venezuela, Arbos/Spain – and Beethoven too. • $33/15
Saturday, February 4, 8pm
VIOLIN VIRTUOSO FROM GERMANY
Rolf Schulte, violin, & James Winn, piano
“Rolf Schulte is one of the most distinguished violinists of our day” —Andrew Porter, New Yorker. He returns to Winnipeg to perform a special program of works by Janáček, Ravel, Stravinsky, Schubert, and Beethoven’s Sonata in G. • $33/15
Saturday, February 25, 8pm
The Attacca Quartet replaces the Cyprien Katsaris recital
“PROJECT 68”
Attacca Quartet
Amy Schroeder & Keiko Tokunaga, violins; Luke Fleming, viola & Andrew Yee, cello
The Attacca Quartet is the hottest classical ensemble in New York – now performing all 68 Haydn string quartets on a special series they created in that city. They fly in to make their Winnipeg debut on our stage following their stunning capture of the top prize in the 2011 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. They also give Winnipeg a rare performance of Samuel Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings in its original string quartet version! “The Attacca plays…with precision and passion…and with fierce dedication. A sensational concert” (The New York Times)
Programme. From “Project 68”, a recently performed Haydn quartet; Janacek no. 2 (“Intimate Letters”); Attacca’s recently recorded Mendelssohn (op 44, no. 2 in e minor); and Barber’s Adagio for Strings from his String Quartet no.1. • $43/25
Saturday, March 10, 8pm
LAUREATES OF BANFF AND HONENS
Georgy Tchaidze, piano
Cecilia String Quartet
Min-Jeong Koh & Sarah Nematallah, violins; Caitlin Boyle, viola & Rachel Desoer, cello
The Canadian and Russian Gold Medallists of the world’s foremost international music competitions, on their winners’ tour. Program TBA. • $33/15
Saturday, March 31, 8pm
DRAMATIC INTENSITY
Amelia Piano Trio
Anthea Kreston, violin; Jason Duckles, cello & Andrew Armstrong, piano
In their early years, these artists were mentored by Isaac Stern. As an ensemble, they make music that is “daring, lively and completely engrossing” —Seattle Times “You just don’t hear better chamber music playing than this” —San Diego Reader. They perform piano trios by Haydn, Beethoven and Shostakovich. • $33/15
Season Finale • Saturday, April 14, 8pm
TRANSCENDENCE
Ying String Quartet
Ayano Ninomiya & Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola & David Ying, cello
We are proud to conclude the Virtuosi season with one of the world’s great ensembles – the Ying String Quartet – now making their Winnipeg debut, performing quartets of Arensky, Shostakovich and Beethoven. “An astonishing performance of exaltation and exhilaration” —Los Angeles Times. • $43/25
Friday/Saturday, May 11/12, 8pm; Sunday, May 13, 3pm
president’s concert ‘12
WSO BAROQUE & BEYOND II: FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO MANITOBA
Camerata Nova – Ross Brownlee, Conductor
Maria Luz Alvarez, soprano
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players
A rich program of chamber music, with arias featuring renowned soprano Maria Luz Alvarez, a cappella choral pieces and works for choir and strings – a wide range of repertoire by the early music “greats” such as Victoria, Gabrieli, Byrd and Jasquin des Préz, to works for choir and string quartet by Manitoba composers Andrew Balfour and Ken Nichols.
All three performances in Convocation Hall, University of Winnipeg. Seating is limited. $30/15; subscribers to Virtuosi Concerts $25/10. • Rush seats
