Romantic Conciousness: Schubertiade with Alexander Yau...

1 pm Pre-Concert Lecture/Discussion - Strangers and Doubles: Schubert's Romanticism.

2 pm Performance - Schubertiade: Alexander Yau (piano/ voice)

Alexander Yau visited Kendall as a supporting artists for the 21st Kendall National Violin Competition and stunned audiences with his flawless piano performance. In the intermissions between performances he captivated observers with improvised performances of opera arias and songs. Those who listened where enchanted and demanded more...

Alexander Yau, an eminent young Australian pianist, has developed himself as a versatile and serious musician incorporating his many musical talents as a chamber musician, vocalist, clarinetist, conductor, composer and music arranger. Pianist Balazs Szokolay describes him - "His artistic taste is good enough not to make any kind of "show" even in the most brilliant parts of great masterworks".

A multiple prize winner of many international competitions, he has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, performing the first three piano concertos of Rachmaninov and the mighty Brahms Concerto no.2. He has been invited to perform in the Canberra International Music Festival, Government House, Polish the Embassy of Australia, Phoenix Central Park and City Recital Hall in Sydney, as well as international unique venues such as Grieg’s home Troldhaugen in Norway, Villa Mosconi Bertani on the outskirts of Verona, Alice Tully Hall, Shanghai Expo, Google Headquarters in San Francisco, Alice Tully Hall and Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Lincoln Centre where he gave the US Premiere of Grete von Zieritz's Piano Sonata (1928) at the FOCUS festival last year. He recently founded the Ole Bohn Chamber Orchestra, in which he conducted Mozart’s Concerto no. 23 from the piano in its inaugural concert.

In this "Schubertiade" Alexander Yau will present masterworks for solo piano by Schubert and also accompany himself in performances of some of Schubert's most cherished art songs.

Program

Franz Schubert

Wanderer Fantasy in C major D. 760

Selection of Lieder

Der Zwerg | Ganymed | Aufenthalt | Der Fruhling | An die Musik

[Interval]

Sonata in C minor D. 958

The Schubertiade with Alexander Yau is part of the Kendall PhiloMusica series.

The PhiloMusica series is dedicated to exploring connections between music and philosophy. Founded by Kendall National Violin Competition artistic director, Goetz Richter, the PhiloMusica series features a pre-concert lecture and discussion (free with purchase of concert ticket) at 1 pm on the day of performance which explores a topic related to the musical performance.

On May 22 2022 we will explore the topic of doubled consciousness and strangeness as a seminal feature of romanticism, Schubert and reflective thinking.