32 of the conservatoire’s piano students will perform one sonata each
Birmingham Conservatoire will host their own Beethoven marathon to celebrate the composer’s 250th anniversary, with 32 of their piano students set to perform all 32 piano sonatas between them.
The event will take place on Tuesday 18 February (The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire), Friday 27 March (Ulverston Festival, Lake District), and Monday 4 May (Chipping Campden Festival).
The event is scheduled to take 12 hours, beginning at 10am before concluding at 10pm.
Because audiences are able to stay for one sonata, or ten, or for all 32, they are being invited to ‘pay what you like’ on the door.
The 32 pianists, who are all students at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, illustrate the wealth of international talent currently studying in Birmingham, with performers from Taiwan, China and Japan to Russia, Georgia and Israel and right across Europe, alongside those from the UK.
Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire said, “‘Royal Birmingham Conservatoire wanted to celebrate the Beethoven anniversary in a unique and special way. Having 32 different student pianists play all 32 of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas certainly fits the bill while at the same time demonstrating the remarkable strength in depth of RBC’s Keyboard Department.”
Following the final UK performance, twelve of the pianists, together with Professors John Thwaites and Pascal Nemirovski, will fly to Bolzano, Italy to give the cycle collaboratively, sharing the sonatas between themselves and students in Italy at the Bolzano Concert Hall (home of the Busoni Competition).
Performers
No.1 in F minor Op.2 No.1 - Tse Fu (James Allen, Ulverston only)
No. 2 in A Op.2 No.2 - Naemi Pomarede
No. 3 in C Op.2 No.3 - Carlos Alfonso
No.4 in E flat Op.7 - Killian Schola
No.5 in C minor Op.10 No.1 - Bai Yang
No.6 in F Op.10 No.2 - Tian Shun Lin
No.7 in D Op.10 No.3 - Ginevra Paniati
No.8 in C minor Op.13 (Pathetique) - Tanya Avchinnikova
No.9 in E Op.14 No.1 - Ella Lee
No.10 in G Op.14 No.2 - Zijing Chen
No.11 in B flat Op.22 - Yiyang Chen
No.12 in A flat Op.26 - Olivia Chew
No.13 in E flat Op.27 No.1 - Daisuke Yoshida
No.14 in C sharp minor Op.27 No.2 (Moonlight) - Dobromir Tsenov
No.15 in D Op.28 (Pastoral) - Pan Yicheng
No.16 in G Op.31 No.1 - Yen Lee
No.17 in D minor Op.31 No.2 (Tempest) - Beth Haughan
No.18 in E flat Op.31 No.3 - Roman Kosyakov
No.19 in G minor Op.49 No.1 - Angela Moreno Belmar
No.20 in G Op.49 No.2 - Zoe Tan
No.21 in C Op.53 (Waldstein) - Dominika Mak (Haitian Zhou, Birmingham only)
No.22 in F Op.54 - Maria Linares
No.23 in F minor Op.57 (Appassionata) - Connor Wilcox
No.24 in F sharp Op.78 - Petrina Phua
No.25 in G Op.79 - Yung-Li Chen
No.26 in E flat Op.81a (Das Lebewohl) - Mika Inukai
No.27 in E minor Op.90 - Brigitta Sveda
No.28 in A Op.101 - Domonkos Csabay
No.29 in B flat Op.106 (Hammerklavier) - Salome Chitaia
No.30 in E Op.109 - Natanel Grinshtein
No.31 in A flat Op.110 - Irina Chagunava
No.32 in C minor Op.111 - Orestis Magou
For more information, visit www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/events-calendar/beethovens-32-sonatas
Main image: © Hufton & Crow