ASPECT Foundation Presents WHEN TCHAIKOVSKY MET BRAHMS Feat. Duo Sitkovetsky

The ASPECT Foundation for Music & Arts continues its third New York City season of illuminating performances on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 7:30pm with When Tchaikovsky Met Brahms at the Italian Academy at Columbia University. The program features the acclaimed Duo Sitkovetsky (Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Wu Qian, piano) in Tchaikovsky's Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42; Brahms's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100; and Grieg's Sonata No. 3 in C minor.

Musicologist Nicholas Chong, a professor at Rutgers' Mason Gross School of the Arts and Columbia University, curates an illustrated talk on Tchaikovsky and Brahms's initially tumultuous relationship. While they at first disliked each other's music, the two composers finally met in person and became amicable colleagues thanks to their mutual friend, Edvard Grieg.

Future concerts of ASPECT's 2018-2019 season include Archduke Rudolph: Beethoven's Pupil and Patron on Wednesday, April 17 at Bohemian National Hall featuring pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn, violinist Korbinian Altenberger, and cellist Na-Young Baek; and Music of the 18th Century Grand Touron Thursday, May 30 at Bohemian National Hall featuring the Four Nations Ensemble with soprano Pascale Beaudin.

Program Information
When Tchaikovsky Met Brahms
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 7:30pm
Italian Academy at Columbia University | 1161 Amsterdam Avenue | New York, NY
Tickets: $45 includes wine and refreshments.
Link: https://www.aspectfoundation.net/payment-test/when-tchaikovsky-met-brahms

Performers:
Duo Sitkovetsky
Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin
Wu Qian, piano
Illustrated talk by Nicholas Chong

Program:
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C minor

About Alexander Sitkovetsky
Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow into a family with an established musical tradition. He made his concerto debut at the age of eight and in the same year started to study at the Menuhin School.

He has gone on to perform with the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin's in the Fields, St. Petersburg Symphony, Moscow Symphony, Welsh National Opera and the BBC Concert Orchestra among many others.

In recent seasons Sitkovetsky made his debut with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, as well as with the Riga Sinfonietta, Poznan Philharmonic and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bolivia. He was guest soloist in two nationwide tours of the UK with the Brussels Philharmonic and the St. Petersburg Symphony. He toured the length and breadth of Australia as guest director with the Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective. He also performed a six-date series of sold-out concerts with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at The Royal Albert Hall. Forthcoming highlights include his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra as well as the Tonkünstler Orchestra Vienna.

In 2011, Alexander was awarded first prize at the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition with pianist, Wu Qian, with whom he subsequently embarked on a twenty concert tour in Italy as well as a recital at the Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall.

His recording for CPO Records of Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto has been critically acclaimed and was winner of the 2015 International Classical Music Awards Special Achievement Award. Sitkovetsky is an alumni member of Chamber Music Society Two at Lincoln Center (2012-2015).

About Wu Qian
Winner of the 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, as well as classical music's bright young star award for 2007 by The Independent, pianist Wu Qian has maintained a busy international career for over a decade.

Qian has appeared as soloist in many international venues including Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival, and Bridgewater halls in the UK, City Hall in Hong Kong, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Konzerthaus Orchester in Berlin, the Brussels Philharmonic, the London Mozart Players, I Virtuosi Italiani, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, and the Munich Symphoniker. She won first prize in the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition and the Kommerzbank Piano Trio competition in Frankfurt, and has received numerous other awards.

Appearances this season include performances in the US, UK, Germany, Korea, Australia, Spain, and The Netherlands and collaborations with Alexander Sitkovetsky, Leticia Moreno, Cho-Liang Lin, Clive Greensmith, and Wu Han. Her debut recording of Schumann, Liszt, and Alexander Prior was met with universal critical acclaim.

Qian is a founding member of the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio with which, in addition to performing in major concert halls and series around the world, she has released two recordings on the BIS label and also a disc of Brahms and Schubert on the Wigmore Live Label. Wu Qian is a current member of Chamber Music Society Two at Lincoln Center.

About ASPECT Foundation for Music and Arts
ASPECT Foundation for Music and Arts was founded by Irina Knaster in London in 2011 and relocated to New York City in 2016. ASPECT presents a new concert format - one that transforms the traditional recital into an intimate, engaging, and thought-provoking blend of performance, speech, and image.

The Foundation's chamber-music events feature some of today's leading musicians and music experts. For each concert, they set the works on the program in context with presentations supported by visuals. These "illustrated talks" reveal fascinating details about the composer, the music, and the cultural history of the period in question.

ASPECT aims both to support and promote artists, and to welcome audiences old and new to explore new aspects of a classical repertoire of endless riches. It's more than a concert. To find out more, please visit www.aspectfoundation.net.