BEYOND TRIO (Italy, Japan/America, England)

FESTIVAL RESIDENT ENSEMBLE

Giuseppe Guarrera, piano
Mayumi Kanagawa, violin
Ben Goldscheider, horn

Programme:
Jörg Widmann (1973), Air for Solo Horn

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Piano Sonata No. 26, Op. 81a, “Les Adieux”
I. Das Lebewohl. Adagio – Allegro
II. Abwesenheit. Andante espressivo
III. Das Wiedersehen. Vivacissimamente (im Lebhastesten Zeitmasse)

György Ligeti (1923–2006), Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano, »Hommage à Brahms«
I. Andante con tenerezza
II. Vivacissimo molto ritmico
III. Alla marcia
IV. Lamento. Adagio

Intermission

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), Horn Trio, Op. 40
I. Andante
II. Scherzo. Allegro
III. Adagio mesto
IV. Finale. Allegro con brio

The ensemble Beyond was conceived from a desire to explore each member’s distinct musical voice. This interplay of diverse backgrounds cultivates a unique and potent creative energy that informs their performances. In addition to the sublime Brahms Horn Trio, Beyond will present Ligeti’s Horn Trio, a compelling example of how modernism, despite its complexities, can be profoundly expressive and stylistically versatile.

ARTIST TALK – GIUSEPPE GUARRERA, MAYUMI KANAGAWA, MICHIAKI UENO on Wednesday 25.6., at 15.00, at Glasbena matica FVJ – Gorizia (IT). 

Ben Goldscheider is a leading horn player of his generation, captivating audiences with his virtuosity and dedication to exploring new musical frontiers. He is currently a member of the Boulez Ensemble and Principal Horn of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, as well as a professor at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp and Artist in Association at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Goldscheider has received numerous awards, including a prize at the 2019 YCAT International Auditions, Concerto Finalist in the 2016 BBC Young Musician Competition, and an ECHO Rising Star for the 2021/22 season nominated by the Barbican, London.

Recent highlights include recitals at major concert halls across Europe including at the Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Pierre Boulez Saal, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Koln Philharmonie, Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall and as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (BBC Proms), Ulster Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Lucerne Symphony, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Prague Philharmonia, Munich Chamber Orchestra (Klosters Music), Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen among others.

He has premiered over 50 new works for the horn to date including concerti, solo, chamber and cross-genre projects including with live electronics and lighting. Further to the world premiere performances of two new concerti by composers Gavin Higgins and Huw Watkins in the 2023/24 season, upcoming highlights for Ben include debuts with the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra (Rebecca Miler) for the Swedish Premiere of Watkins’ Horn Concerto, the London Philharmonic (Valentina Peleggi) with Strauss, Horn Concerto No.2 and Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Jamie Phillips) with the Higgins Horn Concerto. A committed chamber musician, Ben has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Sergei Babayan, Kirill Gerstein, Denis Kozuhkin, Sunwook Kim, Clara Jumi-Kang and Allan Clayton at the Verbier, Salzburg, Jerusalem, Intonations (Berlin) and Barenboim (Buenos Aires) Festivals, among others.

His recordings include Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Brain on Three Worlds Records with newly commissioned pieces by Huw Watkins and Roxanna Panufnik and a solo concerto recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra featuring the works of Arnold, Schoenberg and Gipps conducted by Lee Reynolds. Ben also recorded the solo horn call from Wagner’s Siegfried with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder.

Mayumi Kanagawa is a violinist praised for her rich, dark sound and focused, engaging musicality. Gold medalist of the 2024 George Enescu competition as well as prizewinner at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and silver medalist at the 2018 Long-Thibaud Crespin competition in Paris, she is establishing herself as a versatile and refined soloist and chamber musician.

The 2024-25 season brings re-invitations from orchestras such as the Tokyo Metropolitan, Hiroshima and Maidstone Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre de Pau Pays de Bearn as well as debuts with Ensemble Kanazawa, with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Elias Grandy, and Nodoka Okisawa. Recital and chamber music concerts with colleagues including Giuseppe Guarerra, Yu Kosuge, Ben Goldscheider, and the Tonhain Kollektiv bring her throughout Europe and Japan. Her debut CD “Recital” with pianist Giuseppe Guarrera was released in Japan in February 2023 to wide critical acclaim, and in 2024 she received the “Fresh Artist” award from Nippon Steel.

Mayumi has performed with many orchestras including the Mariinsky Orchestra, Belgian National Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, in repertoire ranging from Bach to Britten and Berg. Her unique talent for communicating the love and joy of music making in varied repertoire and venues has also brought her to many outreach programs and schools around the world, from San Francisco to Novosibirsk. She is currently an ambassador for El Sistema Japan’s new Ribbon project, bringing instruments and music education to children in the foster care system. Since October 2023 she is also teaching at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen. Mayumi’s musical education has been shaped by Kolja Blacher, Yoshiko Nakura, Masao Kawasaki, and Robert Lipsett. She currently performs on the Wilhelmj Antonio Stradivarius violin from 1725, on generous loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

Pianist Giuseppe Guarrera is the latest winner of the Beethoven Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition (2024). Acclaimed for his “virtuosity” and “expressiveness” (Scherzo), Guarrera has performed as both a soloist and chamber musician in some of Europe’s most prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall in London, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, and the Scherzo Foundation in Madrid. His concert engagements also span renowned festivals and venues such as the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Verbier Festival Academy, and Klavierfestival Rhur, as well as distinguished halls like the Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Philharmonie in Luxembourg.

Guarrera’s concert highlights include collaborations with esteemed orchestras such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice and The Cleveland Orchestra. A significant milestone in his career was his invitation by the legendary conductor Daniel Barenboim to perform at the opening concert of the 2017-2018 season at the Pierre Boulez Saal.

In addition to his recent achievements, Guarrera received the Tabor Award at the Verbier Festival in 2018 and was named a Rising Star at the Klavierfestival Ruhr in 2019. Before joining the Barenboim-Said Akademie under the mentorship of Nelson Goerner, Guarrera studied in Italy with Siavush Gadjiev and Giuseppe Cultrera, and later in Berlin with Eldar Nebolsin. This year, he will perform Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 2 in F Major with Camerata Strumentale under the baton of Jonathan Webb. He will also perform solo and chamber recitals at the Tokyo Spring Festival, Heidelberg Spring Festival, Grünwalder Konzerte, and Piano en Valois Festival, in addition to a recital tour in Italy this summer.

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Admission free.