Soloists:
Sunwoo
Benciolini
Conductor:
Guzman
Programme
Alexey Shor
"Carpe Diem" for Violin and Symphony Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Yekwon Sunwoo
Piano
Gold medallist of the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yekwon Sunwoo has been hailed for his “unfailingly consistent excellence” (International Piano) and celebrated as “a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat” (Chicago Tribune). A powerful and virtuosic performer, he also, in his own words, “strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music”.
The first Korean to win Cliburn Gold, Yekwon’s 19/20 season includes appearances with Fort Worth and Tuscon Symphonies and the Bucheon Philharmonic and debuts with Washington Chamber Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra and Danish Radio Orchestra amongst others as well as a debut appearance at the Vail Festival with Dallas Symphony. Recital highlights include Four Season Arts, San Antonio Arts and the Stadttheater Aschaffenburg. 20/21 will see Yekwon make his debut with Orchestra Chambre de Paris and Tugan Sokhiev and return to KBS Symphony with Jaap Van Zweeden.
In previous seasons, he has performed as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, Houston Symphony, National Orchestra of Belgium, Sendai Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestra amongst others. Recital appearances include Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Salle Cortot and Kumho Art Hall.
An avid chamber musician, Yekwon’s collaborators include Benjamin Beilman, Linus Roth, Andrei Ioniță, Sebastian Bohren, Isang Enders, Tobias Feldmann, Gary Hoffman, Anne-Marie McDermott and the Jerusalem and Brentano Quartets. He has also toured Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama with the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, performed at Chamber Music of Lincoln Center’s Inside Chamber Music Lectures and been invited to the Summit Music, Bowdoin International and Toronto Summer Music Festivals.
In addition to the Cliburn Gold Medal, Yekwon won first prizes at the 2015 International German Piano Award, the 2014 Vendome Prize held at the Verbier Festival, the 2013 Sendai International Music Competition and the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competiton.
Born in Anyang, South Korea, Yekwon began learning the piano at the age of 8 and made his recital and orchestral debuts in Seoul at 15. His teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode and Bernd Goetzke.
In 2017, Decca Gold released Cliburn Gold 2017 two weeks after Yekwon was awarded the Gold Medal and includes his award-winning performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata.
A self-proclaimed foodie, Yekwon enjoys finding Pho in each city he vists and takes pride in his own homemade Korean soups.
Tommaso Benciolini
Flute
Winner of the 2017 New York Respighi Prize, he made his debut on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York in 2018 and is now the protagonist of an intense and passionate career.
His concert activity has led him to perform as a soloist in many of the most prestigious venues including the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice and many others. He has performed as a guest soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Berliner Symphoniker, Nürnberg Symphoniker, Munchener Kammerphilharmonie, OSI Orchestra Svizzera Italiana, North Czech Philarmonic, State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Thueringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach, La Habana Chamber Orchestra, Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony and many others.
Tommaso is also the dedicatee of many contemporary works including the flute concerto "The Garden of Delights. A Flute Concerto after Bosch" by Andrea Battistoni, which he premiered in 2020 on the occasion of his debut at the Großer Saal of the Philharmonie of Berlin.
In 2021 his debut CD was released for the SONY Classical label: a world premiere monograph dedicated to Antonio Vivaldi together with the chamber orchestra L'Appassionata which he founded and which was unanimously acclaimed by journalists, critics and radio . His recordings have been broadcast by RAI, Swiss National Radio, Japanese National Radio NHK, Radio Classica, Venice Classic Radio and many others.
In 2012 he became the youngest teacher of the Music Conservatory “E. F. Dall'Abaco ”of Verona, and he is currently a position as full professor for flute at the Conservatory of Music "F. A. Bonporti “ in Trento. He has also been invited to hold masterclasses as a guest professore in USA (University of Central Florida), in Cuba (International Festival of Contemporary Music and Instituto de Bellas Artes), Finland (Tampere Music Academy and Suomitaly Music Festival), Estonia (Tartu Eller Music Academy), Malta (Malta Music University), Dubai (Middle-East Music Academy).
Also very active as a researcher, Tommaso is the author of the first absolute recording of Mendelssohn's Trio in D minor Op. 49 in the version for flute, cello and piano by the composer himself; and he also rediscovered a trio for flute, cello and piano by Nino Rota giving its first performance in modern times at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 2015. He also brought to light some pages by Antonio Vivaldi for flute, recording them for the first time time, and he also edited some world premieres by the same author on modern instruments.
In 2026 Tommaso will tour in USA, Portugal, Switzerland, Cuba, Spain, Germany, Finland, Hungary, France.