CELEBRITY RECITAL

Sat March 17th 2012 

Simon Trpčeski

This, our second celebrity concert this season, falls in the centre of the Third Claygate Festival, which provides the local population with a wonderful celebration of music and art from the different organisations in the area, and we are fortunate, (despite our name!) to be regarded as an asset and an integral part of the local area.

We have been exceptionally lucky to persuade the superb and charismatic Macedonian pianist,  SIMON TRPČESKI to return for the second time. He will give us a wonderful programme of Liszt and Schubert, commencing with Liszt’s arrangement of Bach’s organ Prelude and Fugue in A minor. This is Liszt’s anniversary year so we will also have examples of his own compositions including two of his Rhapsodies…. Schubert’s German dances and the magnificent “Wanderer” Fantasie conclude the programme.

Do you remember the tremendous publicity last time he played for us, prior to his appearance in London? We were exhorted to “beg, borrow or steal a ticket!” Well, the same will apply this time. He is one of the great young pianists of our time, and nice with it!

Do tell everyone about him. Remember that all the young student pianists, and their friends, up to 25years, can come to all our concerts FREE!

Programme

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Full Biography

With the ability to perform a diverse range of repertoire - from Haydn and Chopin to Debussy and Stravinsky - Macedonian pianist SIMON TRPČESKI has established himself as one of the most remarkable young musicians to have emerged in recent years, performing with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and captivating audiences worldwide. Mr. TRPČESKI is praised not only for his impeccable technique and delicate expression, but also for his warm personality and commitment to strengthening Macedonia’s cultural image. The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini praises TRPČESKI'S dazzling musicianship, saying "He tore through the double-octave outbursts with arm-blurring speed and no sense of strain. Yet in tenderly lyrical moments he caressed the phrases, playing with naturalness, never milking anything."

Mr. TRPČESKI has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras. In North America, he has performed with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, The Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, the Pittsburgh and San Francisco Symphony orchestras and the Chicago, Toronto and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, among others. In the United Kingdom, he is a frequent soloist with the London and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, the Philharmonia and Halle Orchestras and the London Philharmonic.  Other engagements with major European ensembles include the Royal Concertgebouw, Russian National and Bolshoi Theatre Orchestras, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Royal Stockholm, Royal Flanders and St. Petersburg Philharmonics. In Asia he has performed with the New Japan, Seoul and Hong Kong Philharmonics. In Australia he has been featured with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, and has toured with the New Zealand Symphony. Mr. TRPČESKI  has worked with a prominent list of conductors, including Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Jurowski, Lorin Maazel, Gianandrea Noseda, Antonio Pappano, Vasily Petrenko, Yan Pascal Tortelier and David Zinman.  

Mr. TRPČESKI'S 2010-2011 season features an ambitious schedule of both orchestral and recital performances. Of great prominence this year is TRPČESKI'S November 2010 Carnegie Hall debut with the Baltimore Symphony and Marin Alsop in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Other North American orchestral dates are with the Montreal, Atlanta and Boston Symphony orchestras. Worldwide orchestral appearances feature the opening of the Netherlands Radio Orchestra’s and RTE Orchestras’ seasons, two programs with the NHK Symphony, engagements with the Oslo and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras and concerts with the London Symphony, Philharmonia and Danish National and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras.  He will also perform with orchestras of Odense, Belgrade, Zagreb, Brabants, Porto and Bordeaux, and give multiple concerts in South America with the Orchestra of the National Theatre of Brazil and the Sao Paolo State Symphony Orchestra.  TRPČESKI made his Mostly Mozart Festival debut at Lincoln Center in August 2010, and subsequently performs recitals in Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Milan and Florence.  He finishes the season with the Melbourne Symphony, Adelaide Symphony Australia and a tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.  Mr. TRPČESKI'S second concerto album is released on the Avie label in 2011, in which he performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4 with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.   

Simon TRPČESKI'S 2009-2010 season saw the pianist perform dozens of orchestral and recital performances across the globe. In North America, he performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Dallas and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Houston, Seattle and San Francisco Symphonies. Internationally, Mr. TRPČESKI toured Europe with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Lorin Maazel and with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden.  He began a Rachmaninoff piano concerto cycle with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and continued the same with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Additional European orchestral appearances included the London Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic and Orchestre National de France. He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Music Festival, and participated in the festivals at Verbier, Choregies d'Orange and Aspen.  March 2010 saw Mr. TRPČESKI'S concerto recording debut on the Avie label, showcasing Rachmaninoff’s notoriously challenging Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The album was positioned in the Top 10 of both the Billboard Classical Chart and the UK's specialist classical chart, and additionally won Diaspon d’Or and Classic FM’s “Editor’s Choice” Awards.

In December 2009, the President of Macedonia H.E. Gjorge Ivanov honored Simon TRPČESKI with the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia. This decoration is given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad.  Upon awarding Mr. TRPČESKI with this honor, The President stated “By bringing his artistic talent to classical music halls around the world, Simon Trpceski is among the greatest ambassadors of the Republic of Macedonia, demonstrating to the world that Macedonia is a land of exceptional artists. Through his subtle mission he has confirmed that, although the Republic of Macedonia is geographically small, it is a spiritually and artistically great country, with inexhaustible creativity to offer the cultures of the world.” Mr. TRPČESKI is the youngest recipient of a medal of any kind in Macedonian history. 

A superb recitalist, Simon TRPČESKI and has given solo performances in such cultural capitals as New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta, Portland, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver in North America; and abroad in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Dublin and Tokyo. He has performed on the main stage of the Concertgebouw, as well as at the United Nations headquarters on the occasion of the closing of the sixty-second session of the U.N. General Assembly, at the invitation of the session’s President, H.E. Srgjan Kerim. Simon also performs chamber music as often as he can, having performed at such festivals as Aspen, Verbier and Risor. With the special support of KulturOp - Macedonia’s leading cultural and arts organization—and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. TRPČESKI works regularly with young musicians in Macedonia in order to cultivate the talent of the country’s next generation of artists.

Simon has received widespread acclaim for his recital recordings on the EMI label.  His first recording, released in 2002, featured works by Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, and received both the “Editor’s Choice” and “Debut Album” awards at the Gramophone Awards. His 2005 Rachmaninoff and 2007 Chopin discs both received extensive praise from critics. In 2008, he released an all-Debussy disc entitled Debussy: Images, which was equally applauded.  London’s Independent on Sunday described TRPČESKI'S interpretations as “subtle, clever, imaginative pianism of the very highest quality.”

Born in the Republic of Macedonia in 1979, Simon TRPČESKI has won prizes in international piano competitions in the United Kingdom, Italy and the Czech Republic.  From 2001 to 2003, he was a member of the BBC New Generation Scheme, and in May 2003, he was honored with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society.  Mr. TRPČESKI is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Professor Boris Romanov. In addition to his international engagements, he currently teaches as a faculty member at his alma mater. Simon Trpceski makes him home in Skopje with his family.

Last Edited: 06.05.2011

To visit Simon Trpceski's website please click here.

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