The Snowman and other festive works.
Bach-Sasha Grynyuk – “Badinerie”(J.S.Bach: Badinerie from Ouverture for orchestra BWV 1067)
Bach-Siloti – Prelude in B minor
Bach-Kempff – Prelude from Cantata, BWV 29
Haydn – Sonata In E-Flat Major Hob.16/52 i. allegro, ii. Adagio, iii. presto
Rachmaninov – “Humoresque”
Tchaikovsky – “December”
INTERVAL
Howard Blake
Penillion
Three Pieces for Children: Archangel’s Lullaby, Even Steven and Roly-Poly
Theme from Blake’s score for The Duellists, Ridley Scott’s film.
Burlesque
Walking in the air from the Snowman
We welcome back a duo that delighted our audience earlier this year for a concert with a Christmas theme.
Alicja and Sasha are working together to create a programme to celebrate the works of Howard Blake – the Snowman, which entered the hearts of young and young-adults alike not all that long ago, one of the first fruits of their collaboration; joy and bitter-sweetness in the hands of consummate musicians.
Alicja
Born in 1983 in Krakow, Poland Alicja Smietana performs works from Bach to Contemporary music with – what was described as – “Extraordinary brilliance and sensibility”.
Winner of numerous competitions and awards (including First Prize at the Israeli International Competition and Brahms Society Award) Alicja studied at the Krakow Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Kronberg Academy where her teacher was Christian Tetzlaff.
Gaining respect of many world-famous musicians Alicja has performed as a soloist and chamber musician together with Gidon Kremer, Nigel Kennedy, Ivan Monighetti, Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, Simon Rattle, Gustav Dudamel, Boris Pergamenshikov and others all around the world.
As a soloist she’s been also performing with many world-renowned orchestras and ensembles and has made her international debut in London under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Alicja has performed in some of the most important venues around the World, including the Berlin Philharmonic and Royal Albert Halls.
Attending many international masterclasses such as Bachakademie, Sommerakademie Prag-Vien-Budapest, Kronberg Academy, Alicja has been privileged to get artistic guidance from many wonderful musicians including Hagai Shaham, Dorothy DeLay, Tabea Zimermann, Erich Gruenberg, Zvi Zeitlin and most recently Itzhak Perlman.
Alicja’s also been a guest at many prestigious festivals such as Verbier, Buxton, Les Musiques and Schleswig-Holstein.
Since 2003 she has been involved from time to time with KREMERATA BALTICA – an internationally renowned group led by Gidon Kremer – which gave her the opportunity to work closely with many of the world’s finest musicians and conductors of our time.
In 2010 Alicja was asked by Nigel Kennedy to become a co-artistic director of his new Orchestra of Life with which she has also performed in the most renowned halls including Berlin Philharmonic, Cologne Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Palais des Congres and the Royal Festival Hall.
Alicja loves improvisation and is performing a lot of experimental music, jazz and contemporary music. She has also played in some of important venues for this music, like the 100 Club, the Vortex, Ronnie Scott’s and many others.
Sasha, a favourite and regular performer here
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sasha Grynyuk studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Ronan O’Hora. After graduation he also benefited from artistic guidance of such great musicians as Alfred Brendel and Murray Perahia.
Sasha was described by legendary Charles Rosen as “an impressive artist with remarkable, unfailing musicality always moving with the most natural, electrifying, and satisfying interpretations”.
Winner of over ten International competitions, prizes and awards Sasha was chosen as a Rising Star for BBC Music Magazine and International Piano Magazine.
His recent successes also include 1st prizes of Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition, Grieg International Piano Competition and Guildhall School’s most prestigious award – the Gold Medal – previously won by such artists as Jacqueline Du Pre and Bryn Terfel.