Clare Juan & Nicholas Kennedy

PROGRAM

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 5, no. 2

I. Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo—Allegro molto più tosto presto

II. Rondo. Allegro

Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD Die tote Stadt, Op. 12, Act II: Tanzlied des Pierrot

Johannes BRAHMS Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Cello in F major, Op. 99

I. Allegro vivace

II. Adagio affetuoso

III. Allegro passionato

IV. Allegro molto

THE ARTISTS

Clare Juan, cello

Clare Juan is an Australian cellist, currently pursuing her Artist Diploma in Performance degree at the Royal College of Music, London, studying with Gemma Rosefield. She previously completed her postgraduate and undergraduate studies (with Raphael Wallfisch) at the Royal College of Music. Clare is The Sir Peter & Lady Walters Scholar supported by the Pauline Hartley Award and is also supported by Help Musicians UK, the Royal Philharmonic Society and the TAIT Performing Arts Association.

In 2015 Clare made her concerto debut with the Preston Symphony Orchestra after winning their competition as well as the Audience Prize and has since performed as a soloist in multiple countries throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia. As an avid chamber musician she has performed alongside the Marmen Quartet as well as Ensemble 360 at Wigmore Hall. With her own ensembles, she has performed multiple coffee concerts at the Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall. Her piano trio recently won 2nd prize and Audience prize at the Cavatina Chamber Competition at Wigmore Hall and 1st prize in the KraCamera competition. For the 2026-2027 season, Clare will be joining the Edinburgh Quartet as their apprentice, appearing in multiple performances with them throughout Scotland and England. Her orchestral experience has also led to her performing in leading venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall with conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano, Rafael Payare, Vasily Petrenko, Sakari Oramo and Ryan Bancroft.

Back in her native Australia, Clare has performed in distinguished venues such as the Hamer Hall, Arts Centre and the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Hall and was frequently broadcasted on 3MBS radio. In August 2016, the Herald Sun newspaper published on her piano trio, remarking on their “electrifying, tangoesque sound”. Also interested in the contemporary music scene, Clare has commissioned and premiered multiple new works, as well as winning the 2023 RCM Contemporary Competition.

Clare currently plays on a cello made by William Forster Junior in 1804, commissioned by George IV and previously owned by His Majesty King Charles III, loaned to her by the Royal College of Music, London.

Nicholas Kennedy, piano

Pianist-scholar Dr Nicholas Kennedy is among Australia's most exciting young musicians and musical thinkers. Nicholas completed his undergraduate studies on full scholarship at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM), graduating with First Class Honours and the University Medal. He subsequently earned a Master of Music (Distinction) as a Leverhulme Arts Scholar at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, and, as a Research Training Program stipendiary, a PhD from SCM, with a practice-led thesis on extramusical narratives in Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas.

Acclaimed for his "stirring, magnetic, and powerful" interpretations (ArtsHub), Nicholas has performed in Germany, the UK, the USA, and throughout Australia, as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and collaborative artist. Among an array of competition accolades, he was Open Instrumental Winner of the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition in 2023. His debut album, The Last Piano Sonatas, was released on the Orpheus Classical label in 2021. Recent performance projects include concerto appearances with the Great Barrier Reef, Modést, Sydney University Symphony, and East Sydney Chamber Orchestras; solo recitals for Arts Bundanoon, Sydney Schubert Society, PhiloMusica Kendall, Music @ St Paul's, and Friday Music at St Stephens; a lecture-recital with cellist Zoltán Szabó on both historical and modern instruments; the première of miniatures by Australian composer Adam Melzer; and a recital with colleague Alexander Yau of Brahms’s works for two pianos.

Beyond performance, Nicholas frequently adjudicates competitions such as Sydney Eisteddfod and the Palladian Intercollegiate Competition, and reviews concerts for Limelight. He is also an accomplished cellist. Additionally, he is active in music research, and regularly presents at music symposia internationally. An award-winning article on Chopin’s Fantasy Op. 49 was published in The Chopin Review in 2021.

Nicholas is currently Associate Lecturer in both Collaborative Piano and Musicology at SCM.