Charles Richard-Hamelin, silver medalist at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, closes the Coast Recital Society 2017-2018 concert season in spectacular fashion this Sunday afternoon, March 11, at the Raven’s Cry Theatre. The concert begins at 2:30 p.m. with a pre-concert chat at 1:30 p.m. At that same competition, Charles Richard-Hamelin was also awarded the prestigious Krystian Zimerman Award, named in honour of the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman, acknowledged as one of the greatest Chopin interpreters of our time.
Richard-Hamelin has appeared in numerous important festivals including La Roque d’Anthéron in France, the Prague Spring Festival, the Chopin and His Europe Festival in Warsaw and the Lanaudière Festival in Quebec. As a soloist, he has performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, National Arts Center Orchestra, and Les Violons du Roy, with conductors Kent Nagano, Vasily Petrenko, Peter Oundjian, and Jacques Lacombe.
His all-Chopin recording on the Analekta label received widespread acclaim from Diapason and BBC Music magazines, as well as a Felix Award (ADISQ). His CD of music by Beethoven, Enescu and Chopin was nominated for Classical Album of the Year at the 2017 JUNO Awards. He recently became a Companion of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec.
The CRS concert will feature music by Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. After hearing Richard-Hamelin at the 2015 Chopin Piano Competition, Polish Radio commentator Róża Światczyńska said: “I had been waiting for such a performance since the beginning of the Competition. [Richard-Hamelin] is every inch an artist, an extraordinarily mature musician who focuses on the beauty of Chopin’s works, which he performs with a high degree of consciousness. He is one of the few who can find a wise balance between the spirit of Chopin and his own individuality.”
Call Coast Recital Society for more information: 604-885-0991.
– By Frances Heinsheimer Wainwright, CRS Artistic Director
