J. Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) Piano Quartet Op.25
Allegro – Intermezzo. Allegro ma non troppo — Trio. Animato – Andante con moto – Rondo all Zingarese. Presto
R. Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) Piano Quartet Op.47
Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo – Scherzo: Molto vivace – Trio I – Trio II – Andante cantabile – Finale: Vivace
The next concert in our Stagione Concertistica 2024 will be filled with music by Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann!
Born in Hamberg to a Lutheran family, German composer, pianist and conductor Johannes Brahms, spent most of his professional life in Vienna. He is often grouped with with J. S. Bach and L. v. Beethoven as one of the “Three B’s” of music, a comment made by conductor Hans von Bülow. Brahms composed for various ensemble types, such as, symphony orchestra, chamber, piano, organ, voice, and chorus. As a pianist, he had premiered many of his own works.
Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist and music critic. He is widely known as one of the best composers of the Romantic period. Until the age of 30, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano, soon after, he composed many orchestral works, lieder and even an opera.
Davide Cabassi made his debut at the age of thirteen with Rai Symphony Orchestra of Milan playing the Shostakovitch’s Second Concerto conducted by Vladimir Delman, starting a career as soloist which led him to perform with the major European and American orchestras including the Munchner Philharmoniker, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Russian Chamber Orchestra, Magdeburg Philharmoniker, Fort Worth Symphony, Enid Symphony, Big Spring Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Cordoba, Orchestra Haydn Bolzano, Orchestra Verdi Milano, Orchestra Pomeriggi Musicali Milano, Orchestra of Padua and Veneto, Orchestra Romantique Paris, OSI of Lugano, OFT of Turin, Orchestra of the Arena of Verona, Tiroler Festspiele Erl Orchestra and many others, collaborating with conductors such as Gustav Kuhn, James Conlon, Daniele Gatti, Asher Fisch, Antonello Manacorda, David Coleman, Vladimir Delman, Marco Angius, Tito Ceccherini, Carlo Goldstein, Jader B ignamini, Enrique Mazzola, Daniele Callegari, Massimo Zanetti, Mikhail Tatarnikov, Philip von Steinaecker, Howard Griffiths, Johannes Wildner, Federico Maria Sardelli, Kimbo Ishi-Ito, Helmut Rilling, Gabor Takacs-Nagy and many others.
He has played for the most important Italian musical Institutions such as Società del Quartetto, Serate Musicali, Società dei Concerti, Brescia and Bergamo Piano Festival etc. and abroad, invited both in Europe and in more than 35 American states, in China and Japan in places such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow, Gasteig in Munich, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Louvre and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Forbidden City Hall and NCPA in Beijing, Roque d’Antheron and Tiroler Festspiele.
Passionate about chamber music, he played in numerous chamber ensembles, from duo to decimino (in 2018 he founded the Baggio Sinfonietta) and his large repertoire shows his particular interest in contemporary music – many are the compositions dedicated to him and performed in world premiere. A long collaboration with the Teatro alla Scala has led him to play for étoiles such as Roberto Bolle, Svetlana Zacharova, Massimo Murru and Sylvie Guillem. Along with concert activity, Cabassi has undertaken an intense recording activity. He has released his first recordings for labels such as Sony BMG (his first album Dancing with the orchestra won the Classic Voice magazine’s 2007 Critics Award for best debut of the year), Concerto Classics and Col-legno. In 2012 he has debuted for Decca, with an extraordinarily successful album (Mozart Sonatas and Variations) and he began recording Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas. He began studying piano at a very young age, graduating with honors in the class of Prof. Edda Ponti at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan and he was the first Italian admitted to the International Piano Foundation in Cadenabbia, on Lake Como, with William Grant Naborè, KU Schnabel, L. Fleisher, D. Bashkirov, R. Tureck, A. Weissemberg, and many others.
He teaches in Italian conservatories since 2003: his students are regularly prize winners in major international competitions (Honens Calgary, Schumann in Zwickau, Cliburn, Epinal, Finale Ligure, Premio delle Arti, Montichiari, Piombino, Gorizia, Prima la Musica, etc.). He is the artistic director of the Kawai concert seasons in Ledro (TN), Un piano in Ateneo (Kawai – Cattolica, Milan), Incontri Contemporanei(Milan), Kawai summer music camps in Ledro and of the Shigeru Kawai International Competition.
In 2010 he founded with his wife, the Russian pianist Tatiana Larionova, the Primavera di Baggio concert season: the aim is to enhance and relaunch the disadvantaged suburbs of his city, involving children and “invading” the association spaces, especially those redeemed by the mafia.
Cellist and composer Sujari Britt is an accomplished performer who has engaged audiences in Asia, EU, UK, and US. According to Britt, “The depth, range and sweetness of the cello seemed to me to resonate my own strong voice.” After years studying piano, guitar, and violin, Britt picked up the cello at age 4. “I immediately knew that I had encountered my musical voice in the cello, and so began my journey.”
A native New Yorker, Britt began formal study of the cello at age four, following her study on the violin, and piano; and began to compose at age five. Britt earned her Professional Diploma (Cello, Composition) at the Royal Academy of Music (London) in the studio of international soloist, chamber musician and critically acclaimed recording artist Josephine Knight, and pedagogue of composition David Gorton. Sujari earned her Master’s of Classical Cello from Sibelius Academy (Helsinki) with renowned cellist and pedagogue Martti Rousi; and her Bachelor’s of Music in Classical Cello Performance at Manhattan School of Music (NYC) in the studio of distinguished pedagogue, author and cellist Marion Feldman.
At the tender age of 7 years Britt delved into composition soon after she began her public performances. Britt describes her compositions as reflective of a “state of mind…I see and feel through music, and composition is another medium for experience, expression, and exposure”. Britt has premiered her original works, and also composes for theater, film (Opus 1, Norway) and dance. Outspoken for her interest in sharing the universality of music and supporting music education, Britt co-founded and serves as Artistic Director and Director of Media for Accademia Filarmonica del Mediterraneo (Italy); where she has taken up residence. Britt also serves in the Arts Leadership Program of From the Top (USA).
Britt has played with a wide range of artists, including Alisa Weilerstein, Sting, Kronos Quartet, and others, and has served in the NY Philharmonic (substitute) (USA), Helsinki Chamber Orchestra (EU), Orchestre de Associacao Cultural Inovarte (EU), and New York Chamber Orchestra (USA), among others. Britt has been a featured artist at Musiikkitalo, Cellofest Opening Gala, and Taidepiste events in Helisinki, Finland. Sujari was featured in the annual Beijing Super Cello Festival (Beijing, China). Britt spoke and presented at C2 Montreal for “Transformative Collisions” and was featured in Canada’s Neopolitan Connection Concert Series (Montreal and Toronto, Canada). Among her exploits in USA, Sujari performed with Alisa Weilerstein at the White House for President Obama, the First Lady, and their distinguished guests. Britt has performed as soloist with West Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra , Queens Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra , Chicago Sinfonietta, Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Symphony Orchestra , among others.
Britt is a repeat soloist at Carnegie Hall, and has been featured for recurrent performances at the UN for their international HeforShe , and for their annual World Humanitarian Day. Britt was a special guest performer at The MET (NYC), The Gracie Theatre (Maine), the Harman Arts Center (Washington, DC), at Midori and Friends Children’s Music Festival; and was a featured artist for the Shakespeare Company’s annual gala honoring Elizabeth McGovern at the Harman Arts Center; presented at Madison Square Garden during quarter time for the NY Knicks, and has made special guest solo performances for Gary Historic and Cultural Society and the Miami Bach Society, among her numerous presentations. Featured on national news stories at an early age, Britt has been spotlighted in Strings and Time magazines, Britt was featured on BBC live radio, Strings Magazine, and was StayThirsty Spotlight Artist to watch! Sujari also was featured in an on-line THKR/RadicalMedia PRODIGIES, a TIME for Kids/Time Magazine article, Ebony.com and a segment of Katie! with Katie Couric. Sujari was featured at TEDx-Redmond of TED Talks, and was featured as one of NBC TheGrio’s “100 History Makers in the Making.” Britt won the National Young Musicians Concerto Competition and is the distinguished recipient of prestigious academic scholarships and awards, and grand prize winner of numerous national and international competitions.
Britt plays a Neuner and Hornsteiner cello made in Mittenwald, Germany circa 1718, generously loaned to her by the Carlsen Cello Foundation.
Irene Yunusova, nata a Tashkent, in Uzbekistan e trasferitasi in Italia a 9 anni, ha iniziato lo studio del violino a 11 anni presso la scuola media Santa Lucia a Bergamo. Successivamente, trasferitasi di nuovo a Tashkent, si è diplomata nella scuola di musica locale e dopo due significativi anni di studio nella sua città natale, ha continuato il suo percorso musicale al Conservatorio Gaetano Donizetti di Bergamo, dove ha studiato sotto la guida del M° Gennaro Cardaropoli e, attualmente, sotto la guida di M°Stefano Montanari, con il quale si prepara a concludere ora il suo triennio.
Durante il suo percorso formativo, Irene ha ampliato le sue competenze studiando anche la viola con M°Iakov Zats. Inoltre, continua ad essere affiancata da insegnanti di musica da camera come M° Simone Gramaglia, M°Pierantonio Cazzulani e per un periodo anche da M°Alfredo Zamarra.
Durante il periodo di studio a Tashkent, Irene si è esibita come solista nella Sala Grande del Conservatorio di Tashkent, suonando la “Sinfonia Spagnola” di E. Lalo. Ha ricevuto riconoscimenti significativi, vincendo il Concorso Nazionale per Giovani Talenti a Tashkent e il 5° Concorso Musicale Internazionale “Alpi Marittime” in Italia. Negli anni di studio con il M°G. Cardaropoli, Irene ha avuto l’opportunità di registrare il “Concerto per 4 violini” di A. Vivaldi per Bergamo TV, sotto la guida e direzione del Maestro stesso. Inoltre, Irene riceve lezioni di perfezionamento da Eva Bindere, Yulia Deyneka, Olga Zakharova e Denis Shapovalov. Ha inoltre partecipato alle masterclass con il M°Marc Danel e M°Gennaro Cardaropoli.
Costantemente impegnata nell’esibizione musicale, Irene si esibisce regolarmente in diverse orchestre e formazioni cameristiche, sia come violinista che come violista, portando la sua passione e il suo talento in ogni performance.