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Violinist Midori and Pianist Robert McDonald have become one of the most acclaimed recital partnerships, winning consistent praise for their performances at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Vienna's Musikverein or Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The duo will meet local audience in a violin recital at 8pm June 9 (Sunday) at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.
The recital will feature Liszt's "Valse-caprice No. 6, S. 427"(arranged by David Oistrakh and transcribed from Schubert's "Soirees de Vienne"), Beethoven's "Sonata No. 10 in G, Op. 96", Szymanowski's "Neigh Horse" (transcribed by Pawel Kochanski from "12 Kurpian Songs, Op. 58, No. 9") and Richard Strauss' "Sonata in E-flat, Op. 18".
Hailed as one of the world's foremost violinists, Midori was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1971 and began studying the violin with her mother, Setsu Goto, at a very early age. In 1982, when Zubin Mehta first heard her play, he was so impressed that he invited her to be a surprise guest soloist for the New York Philharmonic's traditional New Year's Eve concert, on which occasion she received a standing ovation and the impetus to begin a major career. Her violin is the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesu "ex-Huberman", which is on a lifetime loan to her from the Hayashibara Foundation.
The year 2002 marks the 20th anniversary of Midori's professional debut, which took place on New Year's Eve 1982, with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. Commemorative events have been planned throughout the world: the celebrations begin in Japan in May 2002 as Midori plays a major recital tour with pianist Robert McDonald. She also plans to perform in many smaller venues throughout Japan, experimenting with unique variations on the concert experience, including thematic concepts and proactive audience participation. The 20th anniversary will continue in the 2002-03 season as Midori performs with many of the international orchestras and in the key concert halls around the world.
In the nearly two decades of her career, Midori has worked with artists such as Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Emanuel Ax, Jonathan Biss, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Nobuko Imai, Mariss Jansons, Yo-Yo Ma, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman. In past seasons, she has also appeared with such orchestras as the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, NDR Symphony Orchestra (Hamburg), Orchestre de Paris, Royal Concertgebuow Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic.
Midori added an important dimension to her life in 1992 when she founded a non-profit organization "Midori & Friends". She devotes a significant part of each season to her work by providing music education (including instrument instruction and general music instruction), workshops and concerts to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity for involvement in the arts. Midori's commitment to education extends beyond her foundation to her work with young violinists in master classes all over the world. This is in addition to lessons with students at the Manhattan School of Music, where Midori became a member of the violin faculty in 2001.
American pianist Robert McDonald has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Far East as a solo recitalist and as a recital partner to Isaac Stern and Midori, among other artists. An active chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Juilliard, American, Muir, Takacs, Brentano, Fine Arts, Orlando and Chicago quartets, as well as with Musicians from Marlboro on several of their tours. He has also appeared as soloist with the San Francisco, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Omaha and Curtis symphony orchestras, with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Costa Rica, and with the Orchestra Sinfonica Haydn di Bolzano e Trento in Italy.
Among numerous awards, prizes and grants, McDonald has won the Gold Medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy and the top prizes at both the William Kapell International Competition and the Washington International Competition. He is also the recipient of the National Federation of Music Clubs Artist Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Grant and a Career Grant from the Philadelphia Foundation Arthur Hill Fund. A magna cum laude graduate of Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where Theodore Rehl was his principal teacher, Robert McDonald continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski; at the Juilliard School with Beveridge Webster; and at the Manhattan School of Music with Gary Graffman.
One of the programmes of the "Encore Series" presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, tickets priced at $460, $360, $260 and $160 are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half price concessions will be granted to senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients (Limited student and CSSA tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis). A 10% discount is also available for Friends of LCSD performing venues.
Besides, a pre-concert talk by Tseng Yen-yih will be held at 8pm May 31 (Friday) at AC2, 4/F of the Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The free admission talk will be conducted in Cantonese.
In addition, box seats and lounge package is available for sale for the performance. Interested parties of the above packages are advised to check the details at 2268 7232.
Programme enquiries can be made on 2268 7321 or website www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservation can be made on 2734 9009; Internet booking can be made at www.urbtix.gov.hk while credit card telephone booking on 2111 5999.
End/ Monday, May 6, 2002
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