Rachmaninoff Tribute Concerts – April 6-7, 2024 LiveEvents March 30, 2024 450 Bourgie Hall presents Tribute to Rachmaninoff #1 Illia Ovcharenko, piano Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 4:30pm First Prize winner of the prestigious Honens Competition in 2022, pianist Illia Ovcharenko has taken the international music scene by storm with his flawless technique and profound emotional and intellectual understanding of the works he performs. When he was 6-years-old and living in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Illia Ovcharenko’s mother took him to hear a performance of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto. After the concert, Illia told his mother he wanted to be a pianist when he grew up. Today, just a dozen years later, Illia Ovcharenko is one of the world’s most celebrated young pianists, playing concerts all over the world. Program RACHMANINOFF Variations on a Theme by Corelli, Op. 42 Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36 Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3 Tribute to Rachmaninoff #2 Alexander Kashpurin, piano Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 7:30pm A rising star of the young generation of pianists, Alexander Kashpurin has a brilliant career ahead of him. He combines outstanding gifts, an authentic musical personality and phenomenal technique to offer the public a recital featuring two key works by Rachmaninoff. When Alexander Kashpurin received a piano at the age of 8 he became immediately passionate about this instrument and music took an all-embracing central role in his life. When he was 12 years old, Alexander was admitted to the St. Petersburg Music Lyceum and joined the piano class of Irina Lobikova. He continued his studies at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory in 2014. In 2019 he graduated ‘summa cum laude’ for his mater degree and continued this graduation by the “Post Graduate Performance Course” which he also completed summa cum laude in 2021. Program RACHMANINOFF Études-tableaux, Op. 39 Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 Tribute to Rachmaninoff #3 Illia Ovcharenko & Alexander Kashpurin Sunday, April 7, 2024 at 2:30pm 2023 marks the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birth, and in tribute to him two virtuoso pianists renowned for their refined playing and skill as chamber musicians will perform several of his piano works, each in duo with their mentor, Louis Lortie. Louis Lortie has earned an international reputation as a versatile musician critically acclaimed for the fresh perspective and individuality he brings to the grand masters of the piano repertoire. In demand on five continents for more than thirty years, Louis Lortie performs with the most prestigious orchestras and in major concert halls around the world. A prolific artist, he has produced more than 45 recordings for Chandos Records featuring the pillars of piano literature. He is followed by more than 300,000 listeners monthly on streaming platforms and generated more than 6 million streams in 2022. Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at the age of thirteen, and in 1984 won the first prize of the Busoni competition and the fourth prize of the Leeds Competition. He studied with Yvonne Hubert (herself a student of the legendary Alfred Cortot ) and with Dieter Weber in Vienna, and then with Leon Fleisher. He was honoured with the title of “Officer of the Order of Canada” in 1992, and “Chevalier Ordre national du Québec” in 1997, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Laval the same year. Program RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44 (transcr. for two pianos by Vyacheslav Gryaznov) Suite No. 1 for two pianos, Op. 5 « Fantaisie-tableaux » To purchase your tickets to any of these concerts visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/