Montreal Chamber Music Festival presents

A World Premiere Closing Concert

Program

World Premiere – Nigunim     
Avner Dorman* Arrangement by the composer of his Violin Concerto No. 2 for Sextet
*Winner 2018 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music

Beethoven Violin Sonata #9 Op. 47 “Kreutzer” (arr. for String Quintet)

Mendelssohn Octet in E flat Major Op. 20

Artists
Denis Brott, guest cellist 

Itamar Zorman, violin

Itamar Zorman is one of the most soulful, evocative artists of his generation, distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling. Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has wowed audiences all over the world with breathtaking style, causing one critic to declare him a “young badass who’s not afraid of anything.” His “youthful intensity” and “achingly beautiful” sound shine through in every performance, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions.

Alon Goldstein, piano

Alon Goldstein is one of the most original and sensitive pianists of his generation, admired for his musical intelligence, dynamic personality, artistic vision and innovative programming. He has played with the Philadelphia orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco, Baltimore, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Toronto and Vancouver symphonies as well as the Israel Philharmonic, London Philharmonic , Los Angeles and Radio France Orchestra. He played under the baton of such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Herbert Blomstedt, Vladimir Jurowski, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Peter Oundjian, Yoel Levi, Yoav Talmi, Leon Fleisher and others.

James Ehnes, violin

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors including Ashkenazy, Alsop, Sir Andrew Davis, Denève, Elder, Ivan Fischer, Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Mena, Noseda, Robertson and Runnicles. Ehnes’s long list of orchestras includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Philharmonia and DSO Berlin orchestras.

Victor Fournelle-Blain, viola

The versatile violinist and violist Victor Fournelle-Blain leads an active career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Associate Principal Viola of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, he also teaches viola at McGill University and orchestral studies at Université de Montréal. After studying violin at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal under Johanne Arel, he went on to work with Ani Kavafian at the Yale School of Music, and subsequently joined the class of André Roy as a viola student at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Winner of McGill’s 2014 Golden Violin Award, the 2012 Prix d’Europe, and Second Prize winner of the 2010 OSM Competition, Victor Fournelle-Blain has performed as a guest soloist with various orchestras including the Orchestre Métropolitain and the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil. As violinist of the Grand-Duc Trio, he regularly collaborates with renowned musicians including Charles Richard-Hamelin, Andrew Wan and Brian Manker. Victor Fournelle-Blain currently plays a viola by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, generously loaned to him by Canimex.

Barbican String Quartet
Amarins Wierdsma and Kate Maloney, violins
Christoph Slenczka, viola
Yoanna Prodanova, cello

First prize winners of the 2019 Joseph Joachim International Chamber Music Competition as well as the 2018 St Martin in the Fields Chamber Music Competition, the Barbican Quartet are quickly establishing themselves internationally. Based in London, the quartet consists of violinists Amarins Wierdsma and Kate Maloney, violist Christoph Slenczka and cellist Yoanna Prodanova. They made their Wigmore Hall début in 2017 thanks to the Maisie Lewis Award, and were 2020 St John Smith Square Young Artists and 2016 Park Lane Group artists. In 2018 the Royal Philharmonic Society awarded them the Albert and Eugenie Frost Prize. 

The Barbican Quartet has appeared in such festivals as Peasmarsh Festival, Vibre! Quatuors à Bordeaux, Zeist Muziekdagen, Montreal Chamber Music Festival, IMS Prussia Cove and Aldeburgh. Their performances have been broadcast on NPO Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

The Barbican quartet currently studies with Günter Pichler at the Reina Sofia String Quartet Academy in Madrid, as well as the Quatuor Ébène in Hochshule für Musik München. Among their mentors are the Belcea Quartet, Alasdair Tait, Andras Keller, David Waterman, Ferenc Rados and Rita Wagner.

Sunday, June 19, 2022 at 3:30pm
To purchase your tickets visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/

The 2022 Montreal Chamber Music Festival (MCMF) takes place between June 12 and 19 at Salle Bourgie, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). It features world-class artists, world premières, rising stars and some of Canada’s finest musicians in unique chamber music combinations.