May 8 & 10, 2014
Thursday - 7:30pm | War Memorial Auditorium
Saturday - 8:00pm | Dana Auditorium
Subscribe Today: 336-335-5456 x 224
Alexander Schimpf, piano
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, conductor 
Program
Two Emperors - Two Five-stars
Beethoven Piano Concerto #5 “Emperor" Alexander Schimpf, piano
Intermission
Shostakovich Symphony #5
Sponsors
Thursday Saturday
About the guest artist:
Over the past few years Alexander Schimpf has risen to prominence by impressively winning a series of competitions, first winning the 2008 German Music Competition (a distinction no pianist had earned for 14 years), winning First Prize at the 2009 International Beethoven Competition in Vienna and finally emerging as the first German pianist ever to win First Prize at the 2011 Cleveland International Piano Competition. His final round performance at Severance Hall with the renowned Cleveland Orchestra was given a standing ovation and additionally honored with the Audience Favorite Prize. Since winning these notable awards, Alexander Schimpf’s career has gained momentum with regular appearances at important music centers around the world. In 2011 alone he gave debut recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin’s Konzerthaus and at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New York.
Born in Göttingen, Germany in 1981, he initially studied piano with Wolfgang Manz in Hannover and subsequently studied with Winfried Apel at the Musikhochschule Dresden as well as with Bernd Glemser in Würzburg. The pianists Cécile Ousset and Janina Fialkowska also played an important role in his artistic development.
He has performed in recital throughout Germany (including appearances at Gasteig München, NDR Hannover, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Musik-und Kongresshalle Lübeck) as well as at festivals such as Oberstdorfer Musiksommer, Heidelberger Frühling and the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele. Mr. Schimpf has appeared in recital in France (Auditorium du Louvre and Salle Cortot in Paris), Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and England as well as undertaking two recital tours of South America. He made his debut appearance at Carnegie Hall in December 2011, with many additional recital and concert appearances planned in the United States.
His engagements through 2013 include appearances as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Marinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in the great auditorium of the Alte Oper Frankfurt, and with the Dresden Philharmonic; in addition Alexander Schimpf will give recital performances at the International Keyboard Festival in New York and the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Poland. His chamber musician partners include the violinist Christian Tetzlaff, violist Nils Mönkemeyer, and cellist Julian Steckel.
Released in 2009, his first CD was co-produced by Deutschlandradio Kultur and GENUIN; in a co-production with Bayrischer Rundfunk, in early 2012 he completed his second CD recording as an exclusive artist on the OEHMS Classics label. The disc features works by Ravel, Scriabin, and Schubert. For more information, please visit: http://www.alexander-schimpf.de/main_en.html
Preludes
The Prelude on Thursday, May 8 begins at 6:45 p.m.on the Mezzanine level of the War Memorial Auditorium. The Prelude on Saturday, May 10 begins at 7:00 p.m in the Moon Room at Dana Auditorium.
Meet the Artists
Join us after the Thursday
evening concert for a brief question and answer
session held at the front of the stage with our
guest artists and Dima.
Radio Broadcast
WFDD will broadcast this
concert in September 2014.
“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.”
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
