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CELLO RECITAL BY
CHEN YIBAI
FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020, 7:30PM
(RESCHEDULED - DATE TO BE CONFIRMED)
VICTORIA CONCERT HALL
SINGAPORE
Young prize-winning cellist Yibai Chen is emerging as one of the most promising cellists of his generation. His playing has been described as “nothing short of remarkable”, “a flawless technique yet displaying sincere tenderness and sensitivity” and “a personal sound and true stage presence”. This season, Chen recorded with violinist Daniel Hope for Deutsche Grammophon and was scheduled to play at the Festspielfrühling in Rügen with him in March and the “Stars and Rising Stars” Festival in Munich in May.
Before placing fifth at the 16th Tchaikovsky International Cello competition in St Petersburg in 2019 at the age of just 17, he won third prize at the 11th Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw, and second at the 60th Enescu International Cello Competition (Festival) in Bucharest.
Chen is playing on a cello by Joseph Guadagnini ca .1780-1800 on loan of German Foundation “Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Hamburg”. He will be accompanied in this recital by Singaporean pianist Churen Li.
Tickets from SISTIC soon.
PROGRAMME
BEETHOVEN - 7 Variations on 𝘉𝘦𝘪 𝘔ä𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘯, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘦𝘣𝘦 𝘧ü𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘯 from Mozart’s 𝘋𝘪𝘦 𝘡𝘢𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭ö𝘵𝘦, Wo046
STRAVINSKY - Suite Italienne (arr. Stravinsky/Piatigorsky)
FAURÉ - Élégie, Op.24
Papillon, Op.77
LIGETI - Sonata for Solo Cello
FRANCK - Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano (arr. Delsart)
(Programme subject to change at the artist’s discretion)
THE ARTISTS
CHEN YIBAI, CELLO
Young prize-winning cellist 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐈𝐁𝐀𝐈 is emerging as one of the most promising cellists of his generation. His playing has been described as “nothing short of remarkable”, “a flawless technique yet displaying sincere tenderness and sensitivity” and “a personal sound and true stage presence”.
Before placing fifth at the 16th Tchaikovsky International Cello competition in St Petersburg in 2019 at the age of just 17, he won third prize at the 11th Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw, and second at the 60th Enescu International Cello Competition (Festival) in Bucharest.
This season, Chen recorded with violinist Daniel Hope for Deutsche Grammophon and was scheduled to play at the Festspielfrühling in Rügen with him in March and the “Stars and Rising Stars” Festival in Munich in May.
In 2016 Chen participated in a masterclass given by Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Cello Akademie Rutesheim and was chosen to perform Sarasate's ‘Zigeunerweisen’ with the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim at the closing concert of the festival. He also took part in masterclasses given by David Geringas, Jens Peter Maintz, Jian Wang, Martti Rousi, Liwei Qin, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Gabriel Schwabe, Wen-Sinn Yang, violinist Daniel Hope and pianist Jacques Ammon.
In 2018 Chen was invited to perform at a Festival in Poland, “Chopin and his Europe”. He performed Haydn’s C major Cello concerto with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Agnieszka Duczmal at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw. In 2019 he performed Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz directed by Eckart Manke. In the same year he performed at the renowned “George Enescu Festival” with the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Nicolas Piovani.
Chen has played many recitals in China and performed many concertos with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Muhai Tang. He recently played Haydn’s D major concerto at the Brooklyn Theatre in South Africa with the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gina Beukes and was immediately invited back to perform with the Cape Town Philharmonic and to play a recital in Pretoria.
Chen was born in 2001 and embarked on his cello career since he was five years old and has been trained under Professor Meijuan Liu in Music Middle School Affiliated To Shanghai Conservatory Of Music until the end of 2016. In 2017 he moved to Berlin to study with Professor Danjulo Ishizaka at the University of the Arts Berlin. Currently Chen continues his studies with Prof. Ishizaka at the University of Music Basel.
Chen is playing on a cello by Joseph Guadagnini ca .1780-1800 on loan of German Foundation “Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Hamburg”.
CHUREN LI, PIANO
Praised for her “extraordinary skill” in the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), and the “epitome of poise and polish” in The Straits Times (Singapore), as well as “a pianist who gives new spirit and breath of life to [her] bewitching performances” in the Ragusa Times (Sicily), 24-year-old Singaporean pianist Churen Li continues to impress audiences with her musicality, poetry and charm. She was listed in 2018 on Singapore Tatler's Generation-T List, a celebration of "50 of the brightest connectors, creative visionaries, influential innovators and disruptive talents in Singapore".
In 2015, she performed as soloist in a tour of Macau and Hong Kong with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Orchestra, at the invitation of Singapore’s High Consulate in Hong Kong as part of Singapore’s 50th jubilee celebrations of independence. Other concerto engagements include performances with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Klassische Budapest Philharmonic, Metropolitan Festival Orchestra Singapore, Mikhail Jora Philharmonic of Bacau and National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Churen has won top prizes at international and national competitions, including First Prize at the Cambridge University Music Society Concerto Competition, International Young Talents Piano Competition of Barlassina (2014), the International Piano Competition “Pietro Argento” (2014), the PianoTalents Milano (2014), the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition (2014), the Ars Nova International Piano Competition (2012), and the National Piano and Violin Competition – Senior Category (2011), and Third Prize at the Aarhus International Piano Competition (2011). In 2014, Churen was featured as a President’s Young Performer in her home country, Singapore. She is also the recipient of prestigious grants, including the Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship (2015), the FJ Benjamin-Singapore Symphony Orchestra Bursary (2013) and the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship (2011-15). She has been invited to perform recitals and chamber music at international festivals such as the Norfolk Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, ISA Music Festival, as well as at concert series in the USA, Denmark, Italy, Wales, Ireland, England, Korea, Indonesia and Singapore.
Churen is also passionate about new music, having experimented increasingly with combining musical genres, as well as reflecting on the relationship between musical and societal evolution. In September 2018, she presented a sold-out concert at Zouk, a popular nightclub in Singapore, juxtaposing Western art music in a contemporarily subversive environment. She was among the ten pianists selected in 2018 to participate and perform in the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, and in the same year, at the prestigious Roche Continents programme in Salzburg, an interdisciplinary programme of workshops and lectures in the arts and in science.
Churen attained her Bachelor’s Degree from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore), where she studied with Albert Tiu, and graduated aged 19 as the youngest of her cohort. She then continued with a Master’s Degree at the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Peter Frankl and Hung-Kuan Chen. She has recently completed a Master of Philosophy in Music at Cambridge University, presenting her dissertation on “An Autoethnographic Approach to the Analysis of George Crumb’s Five Pieces for Piano”. Churen is currently an Artist Faculty at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.
