New Generation Piano Recital – Kevin Chen
©Fabrice Umiglia
- Date
- 8 February 2024 – 8:30pm
- Place
- Auditorium
- Hours
- 8:30 pm
Pianist Kevin Chen gives a recital on 8 February 2024 in the Fondation's Auditorium, as part of the Piano Nouvelle Génération programme.
This concert will be broadcast offline on medici.tv, FLV Play, and Radio Classique.
Canadian Kevin Chen continues to garner a dazzling array of international awards: in 2021, at age 16, first prize at the Franz Liszt Competition in Budapest, the same at the 2022 Concours de Genève, as well as the most recent Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv.
For this concert, he presents an entirely Romantic programme, opening with Beethoven’s impressionistic Sonata No. 28 in A Major (Op. 101), composed in 1817. He continues with the Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat Major and the Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, two 1840s works in which Chopin’s piano reaches declamatory heights.
The second half of his recital is devoted to Franz Liszt, with works reflecting the diversity of Liszt’s repertoire: the Hungarian music of 2 Csárdás, two Italian pieces from Années de Pèlerinage, the famed transcription of Schubert’s masterpiece Erlkönig, and the passionate virtuosity of Réminiscences de Norma. This rising star of the piano realm is performing at the Fondation Auditorium for the first time, offering a lavish programme.
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101
- Frédéric Chopin
- Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat Major, Op. 61
- Frédéric Chopin
- Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
- Franz Liszt
- 2 Csárdás, S. 225
- Franz Liszt
- Années de Pèlerinage III, Les Jeux d’Eau à la Villa d’Este, S. 163 No. 4
- Franz Schubert / Franz Liszt
- Erlkönig, S. 558 No. 4
- Franz Liszt
- Années de Pèlerinage II, Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, S. 161 No. 5
- Franz Schubert / Franz Liszt
- Réminiscences de Norma, S. 394
Kevin Chen
Since he began studying piano at the age of five, Kevin Chen has been recognised for his successes in his first years in the world of music, winning first place in the Canadian Music Competition at just eight years of age. He was subsequently named one of the “Top 30 Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and one of the “100 Remarkable Canadians” in Maclean’s magazine when he was not yet 10 years old.
Now 18, his consecutive first place wins in prestigious international competitions have earned him worldwide recognition, including first prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel (March 2023); first prize in the Concours de Genève (November 2022); first prize in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest, Hungary (September 2021); first prize in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in Hilton Head, United States (March 2020); and first prize in the International Piano-e-Competition in Minneapolis, United States (July 2019).
As of October 2023, Mr Chen is studying at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Professor Arie Vardi. He previously studied privately in Calgary with Professor Marilyn Engle and Colleen Athparia.
Beyond his highly acclaimed performances in some of the world’s most renowned concert venues, such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s St John’s Smith Square and Taipei’s National Concert Hall, Mr Chen has also been a guest performer at many prestigious festivals, such as the Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival in France, the Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland, the Chopin and his Europe Festival in Warsaw, Poland, and England’s Oxford Piano Festival.
Mr Chen has been performing regularly with orchestras since his debut with the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra at the age of seven. These include the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Hungarian National Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra and others.
