Shamray plays Rachmaninov

"Shamray enters the stage bashfully... he concentrates without trace of eccentricity or unnecessary movements and unlike some young pianists, he concentrates solely on the music." Michael-Georg Muller, Neuer Ruhr Zeitung

Who better than celebrated international Russian virtuoso pianist Konstantin Shamray to perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Shamray, 29, won the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition, the only person in its history to take both the First Prize and the People’s Prize. Born in Novosibirsk, he studied in Moscow at the Russian Gnessin Academy of Music with Tatiana Zelikman. He now performs extensively throughout the world, last year alone his concert schedule taking him from Australia to the Ruhr Festival in Düsseldorf, to Belgrade, and throughout Russia.

Johannes Brahms’ most complex and longes symphony was also his last. Lushly romantic and lyrical, it finishes with a passacaglia, the Baroque canon-like form, which sets it apart in the repertoire. Many consider it to be his magnum opus, along with Ein Deutsches Requiem.

We also welcome Italian Maestro, Marco Zuccarini. Zuccarini founded the Orchestra de Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza and in 1992 was appointed resident conductor of the OrchestraSinfonica Abruzzese. He has directed such acclaimed artists as José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli and Astor Piazzolla.

Commissioned whilst he was composer in residence at Southern Sinfonia, From the Lonely Margins of the Sea by young New Zealand composer Michael Norris is rich and packed with illusions and allusions, impressions and expressions signature to Norris’s work.