Piano Duo Clemens Leske and Daniel Herscovitch Launch 'Evenings at Elder Hall' Series Tonight

The Festival of Arts and Fringe may be over for another year but the music is just getting started at the University of Adelaide's Elder Hall.

The opening concert of the University of Adelaide's Evenings@Elder Hall 6.30pm tonight 12 April is an evening of piano wizardry delivered by two exceptional exponents of the keyboard, Clemens Leske and Daniel Herscovitch.

Clemens Leske (well-known and loved by Adelaide audiences) and Daniel Herscovitch have been performing together as a duo for several years.

Their repertoire ranges from Mozart to Ligeti, and they are particularly interested in unjustly neglected works such as the Frank Martin Etudes and the seldom heard two-piano music of Benjamin Britten.

For Danses Exotique they have devised a program based on the wealth of music inspired by the rhythmic diversity of dance music, ranging from folkloristic South American rhythms of Françaix, via the sombre war-influenced tone poems of Britten and Ravel, to the rock-inspired exuberance of John Adams.

The 2014 Series Opening Concert for "Evenings at Elder Hall" will be held at 6.30pm Saturday 12 April at Elder Hall, North Terrace, Adelaide, featuring a piano duo - Clemens Leske and Daniel Herscovitch, playing "Danses Exotique, Rachmaninoff, Britten, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Françaix and Adams.

Tickets: Adult $28 Concession $22 Student $18. Subscribers can save up to 20% by subscribing for three or more concerts and 25 percent saving on six or more concerts. More information www.elderhall.adelaide.edu.au or call (08) 8313 5925.

Biographies:

DANIEL HERSCOVITCH. Piano - Melbourne-born pianist, Daniel studied with Alexander Sverjensky at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, then continued his studies under Rosi Schmid in Munich. During his twelve years in Germany he performed extensively on the continent and in England. He appeared at several international festivals such as Berlin Festival, the Zagreb Biennale and the Saabrucken Tage der Neuen Musik, and his performances were broadcast by major European networks such as the BBC, RIAS Berlin and Bavarian Radio. Since returning to Australia he has been active in both solo and chamber music and has appeared at many Festivals throughout the country. Daniel has been guest artist with Synergy, Flederman, the Song Company and the Australia Ensemble, and has toured with The Seymour Group. He has also made regular appearances at Roger Woodward's Sydney Spring Festival of New Music. At the 2003 Sydney Symphony Contemporary Music Festival he was soloist with Natalia Ricci in the first Sydney performance of the Bartok Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra and in 2004 was one of the Sydney Symphony's featured concerto soloists, performing the Mozart Double Concerto with Josephine Allan. Daniel regularly tours world-wide both performing and lecturing. His repertoire ranges from Bach to Carter and includes contemporary Australian, Asian, European and American works, several of which he commissioned and premiered.

CLEMENS LESKE Piano - Clemens Leske has been concerto soloist with all of Australia?s symphony orchestras - working with such conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nicholas Braithwaite, Tommy Tycho and Vladimir Spivakov. He has appeared in Spain, the United Kingdom, China Singapore, Thailand and New Zealand and has performed regularly with the Australian String Quartet, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi and at such festivals as the Barossa International, Huntington, Musica Viva, Spring, Adelaide and Adelaide Fringe. He has released eight discs of solo piano and chamber music and has recorded extensively for Australian radio, both live and studio. He was invited to perform with the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing Rachmaninoff?s 1st concerto, and later invited back for a performance of Tchaikovsky?s 1st concerto at the Eastbourne Festival. Other recent appearances have included performances of Mozart?s K413 piano concerto, Strauss? Burlesque and Beethoven?s Triple Concerto, all with the Sydney Symphony at Angel Place and the Sydney Opera House with Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mozart?s K467 and Rachmaninoff?s 3rd piano concerti with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a national tour in partnership with world-renowned flautist Sir James Galway. He also continues to perform in Guangzhou and Beijing, China, and will play Beethoven?s 4th concerto with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra with renowned conductor Nicholas Milton in May. He is currently Lecturer in Piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.