Years
2019 2018
Antonio Pompa-Baldi
2018-05-24

24 May 2018

Odeion

19:30

Born and raised in Foggia (Italy), Antonio Pompa-Baldi won the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1999 and embarked on a career that continues to extend across five continents. A top prizewinner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris (France), Antonio Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Antonio appears regularly at the world's major concert venues including New York's Carnegie Hall, Paris' Salle Pleyel, Milan's Sala Verdi, Shanghai's Grand Theatre, and Boston's Symphony Hall. He performed in London, Tokyo, Seoul, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Kiev, Auckland, Hong Kong, and Beijing, and conducted masterclasses at the China National Conservatory. Pompa-Baldi has played with the Houston Symphony, Berliner Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Boston Pops, and Colorado Symphony, among many others. He has collaborated with great musicians and conductors such as Hans Graf, James Conlon, Louis Lane, Keith Lockhart and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

His extensive recording catalogue features 20 CDs and is constantly growing. They include the entire piano repertoire of Grieg in twelve CDs, a live recital of his award-winning Cliburn Competition performances and “The Rascal and the Sparrow - Poulenc meets Piaf” piano arrangements of songs by Francis Poulenc and Edith Piaf. His CD, “After a reading of Liszt”, is a tribute to Liszt, and other recordings include an all-Schumann disc, an all-Rachmaninoff CD, as well as the Rheinberger Piano Sonatas. Pompa-Baldi is now recording the complete Hummel Piano Sonatas.

In May 2014 Pompa-Baldi completed live performances of all the Rachmaninoff Concertos and Paganini Rhapsody with the CPO. In January 2015, he performed a recital at the First Lang Lang International Piano Festival in Shenzhen (China). In March 2015, he performed all the Beethoven Concertos in Fresno (CA). Other recent notable engagements include the Cheyenne Symphony (Respighi Piano Concerto), Nova Scotia Symphony (Rachmaninoff Second and Third Piano Concertos), and recitals in Wenzhou and Xiamen (China), San Jose (CA), Ravello Festival, Todi International Music Masters festival and the island of Sardinia (Italy).

A Steinway artist, Pompa-Baldi is on the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is the founder and faculty member of Todi International Music Masters (Italy), and sits on the juries of the most prestigious piano competitions of the world, including the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Hilton Head Piano Competition, the International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition in Bergen (Norway) and the San Jose International Piano Competition.

www.pompa-baldi.com

PROGRAMME

  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Sonata Op.13 in E flat
  • Five French songs of Poulenc and Edith Piaf
  • Francis Poulenc: Napoli Suite
  • Giuseppe Martucci: Fantasia Op. 51
  • Nikolai Medtner: Sonata Tragica
  • Roberto Piana: Improvisations on Neapolitan Songs

ADMISSION

  • R140 (adults)
  • *R100 (pensioners)
  • *R80 (UFS staff)
  • *R60 (students, learners and block bookings of 10+)

Tickets available at Computicket or online at http://online.computicket.com/web/

*Please note that tickets for pensioners, students, learners and UFS staff can only be purchased at a Computicket outlet (Shoprite Checkers) or at the doors since a valid card or ID has to be presented to qualify for the above mentioned discount.

ENQUIRIES
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)


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Stefan Velkov Guitar Recital

19 April 2018

Odeion

19:30

Bulgarian-born Stefan Velkov was introduced to music since earliest childhood. His official training in music theory, piano and guitar started at the age of seven.

Stefan received his first music degree as a guitar and light music performer from the Bulgarian State Conservatoire (later renamed to Bulgarian Academy of Music). At this stage (the late seventies of the 20th century) the guitar in Bulgaria was still regarded mostly as a light-music instrument. That is why it was included as a study subject only within the Light Music Department of the Conservatoire. The interest and the knowledge of the classical guitar was still at its infancy, but its popularity was growing fast. This made it necessary for the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture to make a historic decision: for the first time in Bulgarian music history, a decision was made to send a young Bulgarian guitarist to Germany to receive a proper music degree in classical guitar and to return to Bulgaria and introduce classical guitar as a subject at the Bulgarian Academy of Music.

After competing with all the most talented guitarists of the country, Stefan won the competition which enabled him to receive a master's degree in classical guitar from the Berliner Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler. He completed his studies in guitar, piano and composition with a special reward of the Hochshule as one of the five best students. During his studies he also won the competition for the best guitar composition.

During his studies abroad (1981 - 1988) Stefan met and had masterclasses with most of the best guitar professors and guitar maestros of our time: Maria-Livia Sao Marcos (Switzerland/ Brazil), Costas Cotsiolis (Greece), Dieter Kreidler (Germany) and Leo Brouwer (Cuba).

In 1986 he was appointed as the first classical guitar lecturer at the Bulgarian Academy of Music and chairperson of the guitar festivals and competitions. This was the time when his own active concert career began. Stefan's repertoire includes most of the great masterpieces ever written for this instrument, but he became more and more known for his own compositions for guitar which, according to critics, outshine the best known masterpieces created for classical guitar.

Stefan’s arrival in SA (1991), coincided with the search of the Free State Musicon for a qualified guitar lecturer in order to introduce the subject classical guitar as part of its music training programme. He was offered the position of senior guitar lecturer at the Musicon which he holds until present day. During this time he also taught at the University of the Free State (1992 - 1999).

Stefan has given concerts in Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, England and South Africa.

PROGRAMME

  • Velkov: Summer Dream
    From the golden heritage of the classical guitar:
    • Villa-Lobos: Prelude
  • Two Magnificent Arpeggios
    • Giuliani
    • Brower
  • Two Romantic Pieces:
    • Velkov: Serenade
    • Velkov: Adagio (The Magic Of Love)
  • Velkov: Bulgarian Suite for Guitar
    • I Bulgarian folk dance
    • II Bulgarian folk-singing
    • III Bulgarian folk dance in 7/8
    • IV Bulgarian folk-song
    • V Bulgarian folk dance in 9/8
  • Velkov: Tango
  • Velkov: Two Modern Dances
  • Velkov: The Wild Horse

ADMISSION

  • R120 (adults)
  • *R80 (pensioners)
  • *R70 (UFS staff)
  • *R50 (students, learners and block bookings of 10+)

Tickets available at Computicket or online at http://online.computicket.com/web/

*Please note that tickets for pensioners, students, learners and UFS staff can only be purchased at a Computicket outlet (Shoprite Checkers) or at the doors since a valid card or ID has to be presented to qualify for the above mentioned discount.

ENQUIRIES
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)

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