Tuesday, 26 March 2013 

Odeion

19:30

Lukas Vondracek won the 12th UNISA International Piano Competition held in February 2012. 

Born in Opava (Czech Republic) in 1986, his musical ability was spotted at the age of two by his parents, both professional pianists.  He gave his first concert at the age of four and now, at the age of 24, he has visited 27 different countries giving in excess of 1000 concerts.  His first international tour was at the age of ten (1997), when he performed at various festivals in the UK and the USA.  In the intervening years he gave many recital and concerto performances throughout his home country as well as abroad.  He studied at the Vienna Hochschule with Prof. Peter Barcaba, at the Academy of Music in Katowice (Poland) with Prof. Andrzej Jasinsky, and at Ostrava University with Prof. Rudolf Bernatik. 

He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory (Boston).  He performed debut recitals at La Cite (Paris), the Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), the Auditorio Nacional (Madrid), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and the Tonhalle (Zurich).  Vladimir Ashkenazy was the conductor when Lukas made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2002 with concerts in Prague and Italy. 

Since then he has appeared frequently with orchestras, including a major US tour and concerts in Cologne, Lucerne, Vienna, Bad Kissingen, and Birmingham's Symphony Hall.  During the 2008/2009 season he made his recital debut in Istanbul. Performances in Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Nigeria, Venezuela and Great Britain were among the highlights of the 2010/2011 season. 2011/2012 engagements included concerts with the Orchestre National de Belgique, Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Washington's National Symphony Orchestra.  In 2001 he was awarded the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Award for the most exceptional young artist in Europe.  During the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2009) he was awarded The Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award.  In 2010 he won 1st prize at the 10th Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Programme:

J. Brahms – Piano Pieces Op. 118

A. Scriabin – Piano Sonata No. 4, Op. 30

S. Rachmaninov – Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42

F. Chopin – Two Nocturnes (tba)

B. Martinu – Three Czech Dances

Admission:

R130 (adults), R90 (pensioners), R50 (students and learners)

Tickets available at Computicket.

Enquiries:   

Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)