Interviews

All the Seen and Heard Interviews

PIANIST YEOL EUM SON IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE

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Gregor Tassie’s interview with pianist Yeol Eum Son

Yoel Eum Son

Music lovers in Scotland will be able to enjoy a rare festive musical occasion when the brilliant young Korean pianist plays Mozart’s sparkling Concerto No.27 in B flat. She is not only magnificent at the keyboard, but also an artist of the highest order. In musical terms, Yeol Eum shares Shakespeare’s truism, ‘To thine own self be true’, reflecting ‘As an artist, I want to become more adventurous, free and daring but, at the same time, remain curious and “up-to-date”.’ Her choice of repertoire, which spans the works of Bach and Mozart to those of Shchedrin and Kapustin, is guided chiefly by the quality and depth of the music.

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Q&A WITH SOPRANO ADRIANA GONZÁLEZ

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Adriana González was born in Guatemala and was First Prize and Zarzuela Prize of the Operalia Competition 2019, she has been acclaimed for her fine lyric voice and outstanding musicality and is considered one of the most promising singers of her generation. For Seen and Heard International she answered Joseph Alder’s questions. Joseph Alder: You … Read more

Marin Alsop previews The Amazon Concert and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s debut at Carnegie Hall with Daniele Sahr

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Maestro Alsop brings the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall for the first time in the orchestra’s history

Marin Alsop © Reinaldo Canato

For Marin Alsop, it is about working in partnership and extending an opportunity to the world to immerse themselves, as listeners, in new experiences of place, people and culture. On 14 and 15 October, Maestro Alsop will bring the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall for the first time in the orchestra’s history, as part of a North American tour. She has had a long relationship as their Music Director from 2013-2020, and she spoke to me about her vision coming together in these two days of concerts at Carnegie Hall. She now holds the title of Conductor of Honor.

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Alisa Weilerstein in conversation with Harvey Steiman about FRAGMENTS, her fresh approach to Bach’s cello suites

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Cellist Alisa Weilerstein in conversation with Harvey Steiman

Alisa Weilerstein walked onto the stage Monday morning at Harris Concert Hall in Aspen, picked up her cello and played for a select audience who were there to provide feedback on her new idea for a concert experience.

Alisa Weilerstein © Graham Northrup/Northrup Studios

For the project, called FRAGMENTS, Weilerstein had commissioned short pieces from 27 living classical composers to intersperse between the 36 movements of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for unaccompanied cello. The audience got no printed program and knew only that she was going to play all of the first cello suite and music from five contemporary composers. There would be a stage set and lighting.

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Previewing the Festival de Música dos Capuchos 2022 with artistic director Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro

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Festival de Música dos Capuchos 2022 Beginning in 1980 the Festival de Música dos Capuchos was a major event on the international landscape. After a silence of two decades, the Festival was reborn in 2021 in a beautiful monastery in Almada across the Tagus River from Lisbon, with the hall at the University of Lisbon’s … Read more

Eamonn Quinn previews the 2022 Louth Contemporary Music Festival with Robert Beattie

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The 2022 Louth Contemporary Music Festival Every year, the Louth Contemporary Music Society runs a mid-summer Festival in Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland which is dedicated to contemporary Classical music. The Festival returns to in-person performances this year on 17 and 18 June, after a 3-year gap and an online iteration last year. The … Read more

András Keller, the Music Director of Concerto Budapest, in conversation with Gregor Tassie

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András Keller answers Gregor Tassie’s questions Gregor Tassie: The last two years have been intensely difficult for musicians worldwide, how did the pandemic affect your musicians and what did you do to bring music to your audiences? András Keller: In the first three months of the pandemic, we remained partially silent, as I’m not a … Read more

Northern Irish composer Greg Caffrey in conversation with Robert Beattie

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Contemporary music composer and founder of the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, Greg Caffrey, interviewed by Robert Beattie Northern Irish composer, Greg Caffrey, has won a number of awards for his compositions including First Prize at the Concorso, Counterpoint, Italy in May 2012, the Taukay Edizioni Musicali International Composition Prize in 2012 and the Musica Domani International … Read more