21st Gdańsk Pianist Autumn — Bomsori Kim, Rafał Blechacz

Bomsori Kim — ViolinRafael Blechacz — piano

Hosted by: Dominika Glapiak

Programa:

Claude Debussy — Sonata for violin and piano in G minor L.140 [13'] Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Violin Sonata in A minor op. 13 [25']

Break [20']

César Franck — Sonata for violin and piano in A major [28'] Karol Szymanowski — Nocturne and Tarantela op. 28 [11']

Bomsori KimThe audience member of the 15th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań in 2016, won the second prize, the critics' prize and nine additional special prizes. Earlier, in 2010, she became the youngest winner of the 4th Sendai International Music Competition, and in 2013 she won the 62nd ARD Competition. Among her laurels are also the second prize and the Radio-Canada's People's Choice award at the Montreal International Musical Competition in 2016.As a soloist, she has appeared in such significant concert halls as Carnegie Hall in New York, Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Philharmonic in St. Hamburg, Slovak Radio Hall in Bratislava, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Herkulessaal and Prinzregententheater in Munich, Berlin Philharmonic, Bedřich Smetana Hall in Prague, Arts Center Concert Hall in Seoul. She has performed with such orchestras as: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Pittsburgh Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Walloon, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Munich Rundfunkorchester, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Kobe City Chamber Orchestra, Beijing Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra.In 2017, Warner Classics released her debut album with Henryk Wieniawski's 2nd Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 22 and 1st Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 77 by Dimitra Shostakowicki Recorded with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk. In 2021, the artist signed an exclusive contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label, for which she has been recording since. In June 2018, with a concert with Rafał Blechacz at the Poznań Philharmonic, they began their joint tour of Europe, Asia and the USA with sonatas for violin and piano by Mozart, Fauré, Debussy and Szymanowski. Shortly after the concert in Poznań, the artists recorded these works (and Fryderyk Chopin's Nocturne No. 20) on an album for the Deutsche Grammophon label, which was released in February 2019. In 2022, this South Korean violinist was the soloist of the legendary Concerts in the Parks in New York, where she performed with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Jaap van Zweden, and in 2023 she made her debut at the BBC Proms festival.

bomsorikim.com

Since winning the XV International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2005, Rafał Blechacz has gained the position of an artist with a truly global format. His outstanding talent was appreciated by the audience of Europe, America, Asia; by music critics, excellent conductors and famous symphony orchestras, record producers, managers and artistic agencies organizing concerts in the most famous halls and in the largest music centres.The last years of Rafał Blechacz's career were the time of performances with recitals concerts and joint concerts with symphony orchestras. However, above all, it is a time of hard work on the piano on an ever newer repertoire. Having won the Grand Prix, the Gold Medal and all possible regulatory awards: for the best performance of Mazurkas, Polonaise, Concerto, Sonata (the latter funded by Krystian Zimerman), also the Audience Award - in this way he was unquestionably recognized as the most outstanding performer of Chopin's works of his generation. In such a role, she wanted to hear him and get to know him more closely with an international audience, whom he never fails, gaining their sympathy and recognition. Therefore, the artist makes numerous and also distant artistic journeys.Rafał Blechacz was born in 1985 in Nakle nad Notecią. He started playing the piano at the age of five. He studied at the Artur Rubinstein State Music School in Bydgoszcz under the supervision of Prof. Jacek Polański. In 2007 he graduated in piano studies at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in the class of Prof. Katarzyna Popowej-Zydroń. While still a student he won many awards and distinctions: 1st prize and Grand Prix at the 13th Jan Sebastian Bach National Competition in Gorzów County (1996), 2nd prize at the 5th International Competition for Young Pianists Artur Rubinstein in memoriam in Bydgoszcz (2002), victory in the V International Piano Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan (2003) In July 2010, he received the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena) for his artistic activities, awarded by an international jury of music critics. In January 2014 in New York, he was announced as the winner of the Gilmore Prize 2014, highly regarded in the piano world, which is awarded every four years to the most outstanding artist, with financial support for further artistic career. On the other hand, in February 2015 in Warsaw, during a concert at the National Philharmonic, he was awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polish Rebirth.

blechacz.net

All upcoming festival concerts HERE

The project is co-financed by the City of Gdańsk.