Georgy Tchaidze Joins The Cecilia String Quartet For A NYC Show 3/7

Georgy Tchaidze, First Laureate of the 2009 Honens International Piano Competition, and the Cecilia String Quartet, First Prizewinners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, present a joint performance at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music's Mary Flagler Cary Hall (450 W. 37th Street, between 9th and 10th Aves.), Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

The performance will feature Mr. Tchaidze performing Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 1, the Cecilia String Quartet performing Janá?ek's String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer," and Mr. Tchaidze joining the Quartet for Dvo?ák's Piano Quintet in A Major.

Tickets are $20 (Students $12), available at honens.com or by calling 1-800-249-7574.

Mr. Tchaidze will return to New York to make his Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall debut on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. His debut recording of works by Schubert on the Honens International Piano Competition Laureate Series is available at honens.com.

Complete Program (subject to change):
Beethoven:
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10, No.1
Georgy Tchaidze, piano

Janá?ek:
String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer"
Cecilia String Quartet
Min-Jeong Koh, violin; Sarah Nematallah, violin;
Caitlin Boyle, viola; Rachel Desoer, cello

Dvo?ák:
Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81
Georgy Tchaidze, piano and Cecilia String Quartet

About Georgy Tchaidze (First Laureate of the 2009 Honens International Piano Competition)
Dynamic Russian pianist Georgy Tchaidze is First Laureate of Calgary's Honens International Piano Competition (2009). In 2012, he performs recital debuts at Wigmore Hall in London, Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, and at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. His Honens win allowed him to bring his artistry beyond Russia for performances throughout Europe and North America for the first time. Tchaidze has performed at The International Holland Music Sessions and at Switzerland's Verbier Festival Academy, made a ten-city German recital tour, and played for the Governor General of Canada at the special invitation of The Glenn Gould Foundation. An avid chamber musician, he has toured across Canada and the United States with Clara-Jumi Kang, Gold Medalist of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and will tour in 2012 with the Cecilia String Quartet, 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition First Prizewinner. Also this season, he joins pianists Boris Berezovsky, Nelson Freire and Anne-Marie McDermott at the invitation of artistic director Jean-Efflam Bavouzet for the inaugural Lofoten International Piano Festival in Norway. Tchaidze's debut recording of works by Schubert was released in July 2011 on the Honens label. Aside from music, he is a film buff – directors Fassbinder, German, Sokurov, and Tarkovsky are among his favorites.

About the Cecilia String Quartet
Taking their name from St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, the Cecilia String Quartet continues to win praise after becoming 2010 First Prizewinner at the Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC). European tours have taken the four Canadian musicians to Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and venues in Italy and Belgium. In addition to its top prize at BISQC, the Quartet was a prizewinner at the Bordeaux (2010), Osaka (2008), and Rutenberg (2008) International Chamber Music Competitions.

The Cecilia String Quartet formed while its members were students at the University of Toronto. The Quartet now performs for leading presenters in both Canada and the United States and has the title of Quartet Fellows at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. The Quartet has a four-CD contract with Analekta, with its first recording of music by Dvo?ák scheduled for release in early 2012. Its concert recordings have been broadcast on more than a dozen international public radio networks, including Australia, Canada (CBC/SRC) and Germany. The Cecilia String Quartet has performed for some of the most respected chamber series internationally, such as Music Toronto, The La Jolla Music Society, ProQuartet, and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. Committed to teaching and outreach, the Quartet has taught and performed at the Austin Chamber Music Festival in Texas and at QuartetFest at Laurier University in Waterloo, and has presented educational programs for elementary and high schools across the USA, Canada, and France. Min-Jeong Koh currently plays on the ca. 1767 Joannes Baptista Guadagnini violin on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor, and Sarah Nematallah currently plays on the 1851 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume on loan from an anonymous donor.

About Honens International Piano Competition
Honens International Piano Competition is a leader in discovering and launching the careers of young concert pianists. It searches for Complete Artists – 21st century musicians for 21st century audiences – and awards its Laureates the competition world's largest cash prize and most comprehensive artistic and career development program.

The Seventh Honens International Piano Competition takes place from 17 to 26 October 2012.