Pianist

Artistic Director

Four outstanding pianists come together for a programme which starts and ends with Mozart but encompasses a wide range of repertoire in between, including Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s 1977 Kitsch Music.

EPSG:4326

Alexander Melnikov piano; Alexei Lubimov piano, fortepiano; Mikhail Shilyaev piano; Olga Pashchenko piano

Wigmore Hall

Internationally recognized as a unique voice on the viola, Kim Kashkashian is an artist who combines a probing, restless intellect with enormous beauty of tone. For her first PCMS recital since 2015, the Grammy Award winner is joined by her long-standing duo partner, Robert Levin, for a performance of repertoire originally written for other instruments. The program culminates in Kashkashian’s version of Stravinsky’s neoclassical masterpiece Suite Italienne, a show-stopping addition to the repertory of modern viola music.

Kim Kashkashian, viola & Robert Levin, piano

American Philosophical Society

New friends and old favorites sit side by side in a program of masterpieces from three centuries, performed by SMF faculty and fellows. Flutist Jasmine Choi weaves a magical web of sound in Claude Debussy’s mesmerizing Syrinx, the myth of a water nymph pursued by the Greek god Pan. Hungarian composer György Ligeti’s 1953 work, Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet, is fiendishly difficult for the players and hugely enjoyable for the audience. New SMF faculty cellist Gabriel Cabezas joins pianist Robert Levin in Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 2, in which the visionary young Beethoven juxtaposes intense drama with jovial humor. SMF faculty and fellows join together for Mendelssohn’s magnificent Octet for Strings, a musical miracle written when the composer was only 16.

Traditions and Transformations

Sarasota Opera House

The final Artist Showcase of the 2023 Festival features an all-star roster of musicians. Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, is the protagonist of Janáček’s Pohádka (Fairy Tale), which tells the story of a prince who faces a series of tests put to him by the ruler of the underworld. David Halen, Concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, shares two favorites by Fritz Kreisler—one of the greatest violinists of all time. Henri Dutilleux’s sparkling Sonatine features Jasmine Choi, the “goddess of the flute” according to The Korea Times. Along with Ni, faculty artists Jennifer Frautschi, Teng Li, Timothy Cobb, and Robert Levin form a supergroup for Schubert’s joyous and supremely melodic “Trout” Quintet.

Fairy Tale

Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Both illuminating and engaging, the beloved SMF tradition continues with the intellect and humor of past Festival Music Director Robert Levin, the eminent pianist and musicologist.

Robert Levin

Pianist, Artistic Director

Events

Past events

Oct 14, 2024

Alexander Melnikov piano; Alexei Lubimov piano, fortepiano; Mikhail Shilyaev piano; Olga Pashchenko piano · Wigmore Hall

Oct 26, 2023

Kim Kashkashian, viola & Robert Levin, piano · Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

Future and recently performed repertoire

Piano in Trout Quintet by Schubert

Sarasota Orchestra

Piano in Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 by Beethoven

Sarasota Orchestra

About

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