2017/2018 Recital Season

Maria Pomianowska
Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 3:00 PM
Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 7:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse
“I think the crux of the matter lies in the extraordinary ability of Fryderyk Chopin to record and transform in his own way the specific features of the music from the Polish countryside, despised by his contemporaries. The irregularities in the rhythm and intonation, barely noticeable, the peculiarities of the musical scale, the obsessive repetition of the motifs, all of them were eliminated in artistic adaptations because they were considered too simplistic, lacking of good taste and difficult to write down on the score. Nevertheless, those features were the most important for Chopin. And he was right! He was ahead almost one hundred years of his time in understanding the rural music. (…) We can feel privileged because we listen the music from Mazovia, Kujawy, Kurpie and Podlasie the way Chopin loved.”– Grzegorz Michalski

Seong-Jin Cho
Sunday, November 12, 2017
3 PM Chan Centre
“it is not so much his effortless clarity and articulation or lightly pedalled fioritura that capture the attention as much as his ability to let the music breathe. Every time the first movement’s ineffably lovely second subject returns, it becomes more poignant in Cho’s hands.”– Gramophone, Jan 2017

Janusz Olejniczak
Friday, February 2, 2018
Saturday, February 3, 2018
7:30PM Christ Church Cathedral
“Chopin’s music fascinates Janusz Olejniczak with what he describes as its ethereal, elusive character: ‘It’s like a bird of paradise, which keeps slipping through your hands. Only occasionally do you succeed in grasping its essence, in getting close to it. In Chopin’s music, there is something that makes you want to play the same passage differently every time, …My humility with regard to Chopin prevents me from adopting a single version, from stating that a particular passage is absolutely the best in that very form. So I continually have to try again”– Stanislaw Dybowski

Rafal Blechacz
Sunday, April 22, 2018
3 PM Vancouver Playhouse

“…One of the most finely honed pianists of his generation, his playing is full of flair and charm and sparkles with wit and character. He conveys both serious intent and huge enjoyment, giving the music shape and driving momentum. Do hear him.”– BBC Music Magazine

Alexander Gavrylyuk
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
7:30 PM Vancouver Playhouse

“Alexander Gavrylyuk is one of the greatest discoveries of the past decade. Every time, he enchants the public with his incredible virtuosity and thought-provoking playing.”– BBC Music Magazine