Noriko Ogawa, Vadym Kholodenko and Finghin Collins are among the pianists scheduled to make appearances
Main image, left to right: Charles Owen, Katya Apekisheva, Marcin Wasilewski, Marcus du Sautoy, Sally Beamish, David Owen Norris, Noriko Ogawa, Vadym Kholodenko, Kathryn Stott, Finghin Collins, Janneke Brits, James Kreiling
The London Piano Festival has announced the line-up for its 2020 edition, taking place at Kings Place, London from 7-11 October.
Ten pianists will come together for five days of recitals. The Festival is offering a limited number of discounted tickets to under 30s for selected events, in order to broaden the reach of the Festival.
This year the Festival opens with a solo recital by Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko who makes his Kings Place debut with a programme of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov and Albéniz [7 Oct].
Charles Owen is joined by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy to explore the symmetry between maths and the music of J.S. Bach, including a performance of Goldberg Variations [8 Oct].
The climax of the Festival is the highly-anticipated Two-Piano Gala, featuring six pianists playing works for two pianos in a variety of pairings on two interlocking Steinways [10 Oct]. Katya Apekisheva, Finghin Collins, Vadym Kholodenko, Noriko Ogawa, Charles Owen and Kathryn Stott all take to the stage for a varied programme featuring works by Stravinsky, Bartók, Saint-Saëns and more. This concert features The Rite of Spring, reflecting Kings Place’s year-long series Nature Unwrapped.
Celebrated composer Sally Beamish has been commissioned to write a piece for two pianos which will receive its European Premiere, performed by Apekisheva, Collins and Owen.
Concluding the Festival is this year’s family concert featuring Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals and a special arrangement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, also part of Nature Unwrapped [11 Oct].
Performed by Kathryn Stott, Finghin Collins, Janneke Brits and James Kreiling, with Guildhall School of Music and Drama Chamber Ensemble, alongside text by Ashley Wass and Matthew Trusler (Mash Productions), images by Emily Carew-Woodard and narrated by Julia Somerville.