Piatigorsky International Cello Festival Kicks Off March 13 in Los Angeles

The 2020 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, listed by The New York Times as a classical season highlight, comes to Los Angeles March 13 -22, presented by the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with support from The Strad and classical music radio KUSC.

This truly unparalleled, 10-day, 42-event Festival, brings together masters of the cello and young cellists from around the world, in a remarkable quadrennial celebration of the cello (the last iteration was in 2016). More than 30 renowned International Artists representing 15 countries and four continents will participate in dozens of concerts, workshops and master classes. The Festival and its Artistic Director, Ralph Kirshbaum, have recently announced a few changes and additions, including the appearance of 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition Winner Zlatomir Fung; an update on Julia Adolphe's newly commissioned work for Ralph Kirshbaum and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and an expansion of the Exhibition Hall, an on-site mini-expo for lovers and players of fine stringed instruments. Tickets to all 42 events of this truly unique international celebration of the cello are now on sale.

As a promising young cellist, Zlatomir Fung was invited to be a Fellow at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in 2016. Just four years later, the 20-year-old cellist returns to the Festival as the first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division in 2019. Fung steps in to take the place of Thomas Demenga (who, unfortunately, had to withdraw from the Festival for medical reasons) in a concert with the Piatigorsky Festival Orchestra. Fung and the orchestra perform Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen's Nocturnal Dances of Don Juanquixote, a piece commissioned by and first performed at the Naantali Music Festival in Finland in 1986, where it was performed by cellist Arto Noras (the dedicatee), with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the English Chamber Orchestra.

The Festival concludes on March 22 with concerts that feature two world premieres: an LA Phil commission for Ralph Kirshbaum by Julia Adolphe and the world premiere of a New Music USA Commission for SAKURA Cello Quintet, Carving an Alphabet, by Donald Crockett. The piece by Adolphe, now complete, was a true collaboration with the soloist, Ralph Kirshbaum, who said, "What a joy it has been to collaborate so closely with Julia Adolphe on her exquisite and poignant new tone poem, Chrysalis, for cello and orchestra, the last notes of which have just arrived. I am very excited to be giving its premiere, together with the LA Phil, on the closing day of the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival." Adolphe also felt a sense of collaboration, and said, "It has been a joy composing Chrysalis for Ralph Kirshbaum, Karen Kamensek, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ralph's deep lyricism and shining tone provided great inspiration for the work, which traces the cello's journey through despair and empowerment, from yearning to belong to an elusive orchestral force towards embracing its own individual voice."

Donald Crockett has known and appreciated the fine young cellists of SAKURA for quite some time, and he was delighted to create a new piece for them for the Piatigorsky Festival. "SAKURA began several years ago with a core repertory including direct transcriptions of Renaissance madrigals," Crockett said; "I decided to compose a new book of madrigals (without words and in a 21st-century vein) to celebrate the virtuosity and range of expression of these terrific musicians."

This year's festival also features an expanded Exhibition Hall filled with more than 20 of the world's finest violin dealers, appraisers and makers all in one place, on Friday and Saturday, March 20-21. Six of the exhibitors - J & A Beare; Bein & Fushi; Florian Leonhard Violins; Rare Violins of New York; Reuning & Son Violins; and Tarisio Fine Instruments and Bows - are generously supporting the festival as Major Benefactors.

Tickets to each Piatigorsky International Cello Festival event are now available for purchase by calling the USC Thornton Ticket Office at 213.740.4672 or clicking here.