provided to The Santiva Chronicle
Sanibel Music Festival welcomes Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medalist Haochen Zhang on March 19. “We are delighted to add a second Cliburn Gold Medalist to our 2022 season,” said Nina Orrell, Sanibel Music Festival Vice President. “Haochen Zhang was able to adjust his schedule to join us after we received a last-minute cancellation from Van Cliburn Silver Medalist Ken Broberg, due to unavoidable circumstances.”
Haochen Zhang, Piano
Gold Medalist at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Haochen Zhang has built a reputation across the United States, Europe, and Asia for a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity and fearless imagination. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and now studies periodically in Vienna. He was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of 11.
Tickets are on sale now at the Sanibel Music Festival website; in-person in Sanibel at Bank of the Islands, 1699 Periwinkle Way (check and cash only); by mail to Sanibel Music Festival, PO Box 1623, Sanibel, FL 33957; or by phone at 239-344-7025. The concert is at 7:30pm at Sanibel Congregational U.C.C., 2050 Periwinkle Way.
“The program is highly demanding, and we anticipate a stunning performance,” continued Orrell. “The program begins with Images for Piano, Book II by Claude Debussy. The three pieces that comprise the work are cited by many sources as musical impressionism, characterized by complex layers and textures. The program continues with the challenging Twelve Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt, which will showcase Hoachen Zhang’s impressive technical and interpretive capabilities.”
The Sanibel Music Festival season continues March 22 with Opera Theater of Connecticut “Singing Andrew Lloyd Webber- Superstar of Song and Stage.” Performances at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. will include hits from Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Evita, and the Phantom of the Opera, punctuated by commentary from Artistic Director Alan Mann, noted speaker and opera historian.
Member of the Classical Music Hall of Fame, the Emerson String Quartet, performs on March 26. Their unparalleled list of achievements spanning four decades includes more than thirty renowned recordings, nine Grammys (including two for the Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year.” In 2015, the Emerson received The Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, the highest award in classical chamber music.
The season concludes with the two Emerging Artist Series concerts featuring the Bower School of Music String Ensembles. On March 29, violin soloists Glen Basham, concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic and Dr. Kyle Szabo, head of strings studies ad Orchestra Director at FGCU are featured. On April 5, the entire Bower School of Music Symphony Orchestra performs. Both concerts are at 11 a.m. and are performed for free will donations. Register for seating at the music festival website.
Leave a Comment