Cello & Piano Recital: Alexander Chauhian & Alessio Bax at the Shoe Factory on May 24

𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢 & 𝗣𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟
𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡 & 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢 𝗕𝗔𝗫

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟰 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗮 / 𝟴.𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺

𝑭𝑶𝑳𝑳𝑶𝑾 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑪𝑬𝑹𝑻𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑨𝑳:

The 21st International Pharos Chamber Music Festival will open on Tuesday 24 May 2022 at the Pharos Arts Foundation’s recital venue, The Shoe Factory, in Nicosia with a cello and piano recital by the fascinating cellist and artistic director of the Festival Alexander Chaushian, and Alessio Bax, described by the international press as “one of the most remarkable pianists before the public”. With their insightful interpretations and dazzling virtuosity, the duo will undoubtedly offer the audience a ravishing listening experience in works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Chopin and Crumb, and carve the way for a magnificent, highly-anticipated week of Festival music-making in Kouklia’s Royal Manor House.

𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗠𝗘:

Felix Mendelssohn: Sonata for Cello & Piano, No.2 in D major, Op.58 (1842)
Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52 (1842)

Interval

George Crumb: Sonata for Solo Cello (1955)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Cello & Piano No.3 in A major, Op.69 (1808)

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𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡 cello

Regarded as one of the finest cellists of his generation, Alexander Chaushian has performed extensively throughout the world as a soloist with orchestras such as the Vienna Chamber Orchestra at Vienna’s Konzerthaus and at the Bruchnerhaus in Linz, the London Mozart Players and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Royal National Orchestra of Belgium, Les Solistes Européens de Luxembourg in a gala concert conducted by Yehudi Menuhin, the Boston Pops Orchestra at Boston Symphony Hall, and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He has given highly acclaimed performances in such venues as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Sala Verdi Milan, and Suntory Hall Japan.

Chaushian has won the Third Prize in the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Third and Special prizes given by the Munich Chamber Orchestra at the ARD Competition in Germany in 2005. Amongst the many distinguished musicians whom he has collaborated with are Yehudi Menuhin, Julia Fischer, Levon Chilingirian, Yuri Bashmet, François-Frédéric Guy, Emmanuel Pahud. His regular chamber music partner is Yevgeny Sudbin.

Alexander’s recordings include several highly acclaimed CDs for the BIS label in which he is partnered by Yevgeny Sudbin, and his recently released concerto CD with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, also on BIS, received rave reviews and was selected ‘Album of the Week’ by the Independent.

𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢 𝗕𝗔𝗫 piano

Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable pianists before the public” (Gramophone). First Prize winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition (2000) and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 1997, at age 19, he has appeared as a soloist with over 150 orchestras, including, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, NHK Symphony in Japan, as well as Symphony Orchestras of New York, Boston, Dallas, Cincinnati, Sydney, and City of Birmingham, and he has collaborated with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden.

Bax constantly explores many facets of his career. Recent and forthcoming highlights include a trio tour of Spain with violinist Joshua Bell and cellist Steven Isserlis, recitals at New York’s Lincoln Center with his regular piano duo partner, Lucille Chung, his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony performing Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto, debuts with the Boston and Melbourne Symphonies under Sir Andrew Davis, a Japan tour with the Tokyo Symphony, a US tour with flutist Emmanuel Pahud and a tour in Asia with violinist Daishin Kashimoto, recitals in Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, London’s Wigmore Hall, L.A.’s Disney Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, and New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Alessio Bax boasts an impressive discography for Signum Classics, with many albums having been selected as Editor’s and Critics choices for Gramophone and American Record Guide. He was born in Bari, Italy, and moved to the US in 1994. In 2009, he was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and four years later he received both the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. In 2019, he was invited to join the piano faculty of Boston’s New England Conservatory.

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Event by Pharos Arts Foundation

𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 & 𝗕𝗢𝗫-𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗘:
www.pharosartsfoundation.org

Tel. 22-663871 (Monday – Friday 10:00am-2:00pm)
Tickets: €20 / €15 (Concessions, Members of the Pharos Arts Foundation)