KEVIN CHEN

Friday, 31 January 2025 - 19:30

The two sides of romantic pianism
By Luca Cossettini

Kevin Chen was born in March 2005 in Calgary and trained with Marilyn Engle. When he was not yet 10, he was named among the CBC’s “Top 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” and one of the “100 Remarkable Canadians ” from Maclean’s magazine.
His rich list of victories includes first prizes at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv in 2023, at the Concours de Genève in 2022 and the Franz Liszt in Budapest in 2021, to mention just the most recent successes.
In addition to having already been applauded in recitals or concerts with orchestra in some of the most renowned concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York, St. John’s Smith Square in London and the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Kevin has also been invited to perform at prestigious international festivals, such as “la Roque d’Anthéron”, the Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój and the “Chopin and his Europe” in Warsaw. Currently, he is studying at the Hochschule Hannover with Arie Vardi.

No barnstorming or demonstrative virtuosity but a young man who has been raised to put musical meaning and the composers wishes before any other consideration.
Christopher Axworthy


Fryderyk Chopin
(Żelazowa Wola, 1810 – Parigi, 1849)

Ballata n. 1 in sol minore, op. 23

 

Polonaise-Fantaisie, op. 61

 

Variazioni su “Là ci darem la mano” dal Don Giovanni di W.A. Mozart, op. 2

——

Franz Liszt
(Raiding, 1811 – Bayreuth, 1886)

Ballata n. 2 in si minore, S.171

 

Da Années de Pèlerinage II, S.161:
n. 5, Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

 

Réminiscences de Don Juan, S.418