Alexandra Świgut
The Friends of Chopin Australia present
the first annual
Australian Chopin Festival '23
28 SEP - 2 OCT
The exciting program of events includes concerts, masterclasses, and a very special interactive live-stream tour of the Chopin Museum in Warsaw, finishing with a recital of Chopin’s music direct from the Museum’s concert space.
Australia’s involvement with Chopin’s music began as early as 1843 and he has been one of Australia’s favourite composers ever since. Join us as we add to this rich history of Chopin in Australia!
Festival Prelude
Kotaro Nagano in Recital
Wesley Music Centre, Canberra
Join us as we welcome Kotaro Nagano back to Canberra for his first recital with the Friends since COVID. Kotaro Nagano was the First Prize Winner and the People’s Choice prizewinner of the 2nd Australian International Chopin Piano Competition 2014, and he has returned to Canberra many times since to give engaging and diverse concerts for the Friends. For this recital Kotaro has created a program of Chopin’s most beautiful and most recognisable works, which is sure to delight and engage young and old alike.
Gala Opening Concert
Ewa Pobłocka in Recital
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Canberra
Hear Chopin as you’ve never heard him played before, by one of the world’s great Chopinists, Ewa Pobłocka, in the salon of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, a true cultural experience – Chopin from the heart of Poland.
NOTE: NO TICKET SALES AT THE DOOR AT THE EMBASSY
Masterclasses
At the ANU School of Music
Bringing the best of Chopin tuition in the world to Australia to connect pianists and music lovers directly to this magnificent tradition.
While in Canberra Ewa Pobłocka, one of the foremost Chopin specialists and teachers in the world, will share her knowledge with Australian pianists and teachers in a series of Masterclasses over three days. Children, teachers, and elite young performers are encouraged to nominate to attend. Places are limited so please contact the Friends as soon as you are able if you’d like to participate. The Masterclasses will be open to public viewing also, if youd like to gain some insights into how Chopin is taught, and what is behind the music.
There will be four 1 hr Masterclasses per session.
SPECIAL EVENT
Interactive Live Tour of the Chopin Museum in Warsaw & Concert
Recital by Aleksandra Świgut
James Fairfax Theatre in the National Gallery of Australia
A very unique and special event for our audience. Join us in the beautiful James Fairfax Theatre in the National Gallery of Australia, as we connect live with the Chopin Museum in Warsaw, and ask questions of the guide as they show us around the wonderful exhibits and curiosities of the Chopin Museum in Warsaw. The tour will conclude in the Chopin Museum’s performance space where we will meet pianist Aleksandra Świgut who will give a performance on both modern and period pianos. Aleksandra will introduce her program and will also talk with the audience and answer questions after the concert. A very special experience not to be missed.
Grand Finale Concert
An Afternoon with Ewa Pobłocka and David Pereira in Concert
Hume Conservatorium, Goulburn
A beautiful Sunday afternoon concert in Historic Goulburn at the Hume Conservatory with two world class musicians, Ewa Pobłocka and Canberra’s own, cellist David Pereira.
A beautiful program of solo and chamber works of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Kats-Chernin.
FESTIVAL PASS
Festival Package (all events) $250pp
OR select an individual event
FESTIVAL EVENTS
Festival Prelude
Wesley Music Centre, Canberra
27 Aug, 3pm-5pm $50pp
Gala Opening Concert
Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Canberra
28 Sep, 7pm-9pm $100pp
Masterclasses
ANU School of Music, Canberra
29 Sep, 10am-2pm
30 Sep, 10am-2pm
2 Oct, 10am-2pm
$10pp per session (observe)
Interactive Live Tour of the Chopin Museum in Warsaw
& Concert
James Fairfax Theatre
National Gallery of Australia
30 Sep, 7pm - 9pm $80pp
Grand Finale Concert
Hume Conservatorium, Goulburn
1 Oct, 3pm-4:30pm $40pp
Programs
Festival Prelude Program
Mazurka in A minor, op.17 no.4
Etude in A flat major, op.25 no.1
Prelude in E minor, op.28 no.4
Waltz in F major, op.34 no.3
Waltz in A minor, op.34 no.2
Fantasie Impromptu, op.66
Etude in G sharp minor, op.25 no.6
Scherzo in E major, op.54
-Interval-
Nocturne in E flat major, op.9 no.2
Berceuse in D flat major, op.57
Sonata in B minor, op.58
Gala Opening Concert
Program
Polonaises, Op.40
Nocturnes, Op.27
Impromptu in A-flat major, Op.29
Ballade in A-flat major, Op.47
Mazurkas, Op.17
Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op.44
Chopin Museum Recital Program
Fryderyk Chopin
Nocturnes op. 27 nos 1 and 2
Franz Liszt
Liebestraum no 3 in A-flat major
Liszt/Schubert
Gretchen am Spinnrade
Aus dem Wasser zu singen
Ständchen
Fryderyk Chopin
Sonata in B minor Op.35
Prelude: B minor Op.28 no 16
Prelude: D flat major Op.28 no 15
-Interval-
Edvard Grieg
Arietta op.12 no 1
The Heart of the Poet Op.52 no 3
Notturno Op.54 no 4
Hommage á Chopin Op.73 no 5
Karol Szymanowski
Masques Op.34: Schéhérazade
Fryderyk Chopin
Varations la ci darem la mano Op.2
Franz Liszt
Tarantella in G minor (from Années de pèlerinage II: Venezia e Napoli)
Grand Finale Program
J.S. Bach
Viola Da Gamba Sonata in D Major, BWV 1028
Beethoven
Cello sonata No.4 in C major, op.102 no.1
Manuel De Falla
Suite Populaire Espagnol
Elena Kats-Chernin
Blue Silence
Fryderyk Chopin
Introduction and Polonaise for piano and cello
Elena Kats-Chernin
Remember Bialystok
Festival Artists
Ewa Pobłocka
Ewa Pobłocka is a prize-winner of the 10th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1980), the International Viotti Music Competition in Vercelli (1977) and the International Festival of Young Laureates in Bordeaux (1979). She studied at Academy of Music in Gdańsk, graduating with honours (1981). She completed post-graduate studies with Conrad Hansen in Hamburg (1982), and benefited from consultation with Rudolf Kerer, Tatiana Nikolaieva and Martha Argerich. Ewa Pobłocka has performed throughout Europe and the Americas, as well as in China, Indonesia, the RSA, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, not only as a soloist, but also as an accomplished chamber musician. She has given numerous first performances and made world premiere recordings of works by Polish contemporary composers. She has worked with European radio stations and recorded more than 50 discs for Deutsche Grammophon, Polskie Nagrania, CD Accord and Bearton, among others. Many of her recordings have won prizes and critical acclaim. She is the first Polish pianist in history to record both volumes of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier by Bach. Recently she has performed both the volumes during the recitali series in many venues in Europe. She is a distinguished pedagogue, teaching at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. Pobłocka has given numerous master classes all around the world. She has been a jury member of many international piano competitions, such as the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Artur Rubinstein Competition in Tel-Aviv and Competition in Hamamatsu, among many others. Ewa Pobłocka also willingly devotes herself to literary activities – her first book, ‘Forte-piano’, was released in 2021. Since 2020, she has been running the broadcasts ‘Start with Bach’ and ‘Bach’s Cases” in Polish Radio.
Aleksandra Świgut
Aleksandra Świgut, pianist, a graduate and teacher of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, a triple prize-winner of the 17. Edward Grieg’s International Piano Competition in Bergen: she received second prize, audience prize and orchestra prize.
Runner up of the 1st International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in Warsaw (2018). She is represented by the Ludvig van Beethoven Association under the patronage of Elżbieta Penderecka.
Her wide experience with historical and modern instruments and different performance practices makes her interpretations unique.
Unmatched energy and exceptional understanding of the epoch it originates from – these features make Aleksandra Świgut an outstanding musician who plays on both modern and early instruments with the same ease.
She studied at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Katowice Music Academy and Guildhall School of Music in London. She holds a doctorate from Gdańsk Music Academy on “Historical Piano Performance contra Twentieth-century Performance Practice”. She gained experience on historical piano and harpsichord.
Semi-finalist of the International Artur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and the participant of the XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. She has won many prizes in piano competitions for young pianists, including in Ettlingen, Enschede and New Orleans and at the Polish Chopin Competition in Warsaw. She has appeared at festivals in Nohant, Paris and Duszniki-Zdrój, as well as the Beethoven Easter Festival and ‘Chopin and his Europe’.
David Pereira
Australian born in 1953 David lived in rural NSW until moving to Sydney in 1969 to pursue specialised musical studies. He graduated from Sydney Conservatorium in 1974 and spent 1976-79 at Indiana University, USA. Invited back (1980) to play principal cello in the Australian Chamber Orchestra and to join the Australia Ensemble he again was based in Sydney. From 1987 to 1989 he was contracted by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to play Principal Cello. In the nineties and until 2007 he was Senior Lecturer (cello) at the Canberra School of Music (later called the ANU School of Music). Since then he has been part-time employed at that institution.
David is well established as one of Australia’s most significant practicing musicians and has an increasingly rare depth and breadth of experience and knowledge - not only as a cellist and cello teacher, but also as a writer on these areas of expertise, and as a composer. Once again a freelance musician, he enjoys the interaction of these branches of music and lately has made an important personal connection with Yoga practice, thereby adding an unexpectedly welcome new dimension to his cello technique. He continues to prefer the rigor of daily cello practice and celebrates his good fortune in still having a mind, body, and heart, well suited to this exacting and rewarding activity.
Kotaro Nagano
Born on 29 October 1988 in Tokyo, Kotaro trained under Dang Thai Son and is now a student of Claudio Soares. He has won prizes in numerous competitions including the J-city Tokyo Cembalo Pleasure 2014 (First Prize, Harpsichord), the Osaka International Music Competition (Third Prize, Harpsichord), the Taipei Chopin Competition (First Prize, Piano), the Australian International Chopin Piano Competition (First
Prize, and People’s Choice Prize, Piano), the Halina Czerny-Stefanska Competition in Poznań (Second Prize, and prize for the best performance of a Nocturne by Chopin, Piano), and the Tokyo Piano Competition (First Prize, Piano).
Kotaro has worked with symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Kaohsiung and Poznań and with the Łomża Chamber Orchestra. He has performed in cities across Japan as well as in Warsaw, Krakow, Łomża, Montreal, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Sydney and Aix-en-Provence. With the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Kotaro performed at the Antonin Chopin Festival. Since winning First Prize and People’s Choice award at the second edition of the Australian International Chopin Piano Competition in 2014, Kotaro has returned to Australia numerous times to perform at events including the Canberra International Music Festival, the Polish
Festival in Melbourne and a number of recitals at the Australian National University organised by Friends of Chopin Australia. In Japan, Kotaro was appointed as a member of the “Hachioji City Special Cheering Squad” to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of their municipal government in 2017. Hachioji is Kotaro’s home town and he appeared in many festivals throughout the year. He was also appointed to be a special envoy for tourism to Hachioji City in 2019.
Kotaro was invited to perform at the Polish Embassy in Canberra to celebrate the bicentenary of Polish composer Moniuszko’s birth in March 2019. Kotaro accompanied the Japanese violinist, Jin Matsuno in his latest CD which was released in May 2019 and received a good review. Kotaro is also an accomplished harpsichord player and makes and sells various types of harpsichords.
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