Schenectady, N.Y. (March 28, 2002) – Flutist Emmanuel Pahud named “Instrumentalist of the Year 1997” at the prestigious Victoires de la Musique award ceremony in Paris, will perform with violinist Christoph Poppen, violist Hariolf Schlichtig, and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras on
Monday April 8 at 8 p.m. in Union College's Memorial Chapel.
The program will include Mozart's Quartet in C Major, Quartet in A Major, Quartet in G Major, and Quartet in D Major; Webern's String Trio, Op. 20; and Fuminori Tanada's Flute Quartet.
Born in Geneva in January 1970, Pahud started to study music at the age of six. He graduated in 1990 with the Premier Prix from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, after which he continued his studies with Aurele Nicolet.
He has won first prize in many major competitions and he won eight out of the twelve prizes at the International Music competitions of Geneva in 1992, Kobe in 1989 and Duino in 1988. He took the Soloists Prize in the French-speaking Community Radio Awards in Switzerland, and the European Council's Juventus Prize. He is also a laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and of the International Tribune for Musicians of UNESCO.
At the age of 22, Emmanuel Pahud was appointed principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, a post to which he will be returning in April 2002 after a 20-month sabbatical period.
He gives frequent solo recitals and concerto performances all over the world, and appears regularly at leading international festivals throughout Europe, the U.S. and the Far East. Emmanuel's past two seasons included concerto appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Suisse Romande, as well as duo recital tours with pianist Eric Le Sage in Europe, Japan and North America. Highlights of the next two seasons include a South American début, flute and string quartet tours in the Far East, North America and Europe, a recital tour with Stephen Kovacevitch, and several concerto engagements, in addition to tours to the U.S. with the Barcelona Symphony and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie.
In 1996 he signed an exclusive solo recording contract with EMI. He has since released six discs on the label to unanimous critical acclaim and Pahud's collaboration with EMI is set to be one of the most significant contributions to recorded flute music. Future releases include a collaboration with jazz pianist Jacky Terrasson and Nielsen's Flute Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Violinist Christoph Poppen enjoys a reputation as a conductor, soloist, and chamber musician, and is revered for his teaching activities on the international music scene.
He has won prizes at numerous national and international violin competitions, and in 1978 he established the Cherubini Quartet which, with Mr. Poppen as first violinist, was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1981 International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. Concerts in almost all the world's major concert venues followed, as well as numerous CD, radio and televison recordings. As a soloist, he has made appearances with many leading orchestras and conductors.
Mr. Poppen taught at the Detmold Conservatory as a professor of violin and chamber music from 1988-1995. In 1995, Mr. Poppen became a professor at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin and held the position of president of the school from 1996-2000.
He has been music director of the Munich Chamber Orchestra since 1995. Tours have included concerts on virtually every continent worldwide. Mr. Poppen's most recent release on ECM, Morimur, for solo violin and the Hilliard Ensemble, featuring Bach Partita No. 2 in D minor and related chorales, became an instant best-seller.
Violist Hariolf Schlichtig is best known for being the viola player in the Cherubini-Quartet. During his 20 years in the ensemble, the Cherubini Quartet performed all over the world and in many international music festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, and the Rheingau Music Festival. The Quartet made a number of recordings on EMI, their discography including compositions by Schubert, Schumann, Haydn, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Schumann, and Aribert Reimann.
Among Mr. Schlichtig's teachers were Nathan Milstein and Cecil Aronowitz, but the most important teacher in his musical education was Sandor Vegh. In 1979 he received a “Lehrauftrag” at the High School for Music in Aachen, and in 1987 he became a professor at the High School for Music and Theatre in Munich where he currently teaches viola as well as chamber music. He also teaches courses at the IMS England, at the Karl Klingler Foundation, at Ticino Musica Locarno, and in the Haus Marteau Germany.
As a soloist Mr. Schlichtig has performed with many outstanding orchestras and has recently recorded viola concertos by Stamitz, Hofmeister, and Zelter with the Munich Chamber Orchestra for release in December 2001 on the TUDOR label.
Cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras is recognized as one of the most outstanding cellists of his generation. His repertoire includes both classical and contemporary works: he has premiered cello concertos by Ivan Fedele with the Orchestre National de France and by Gilbert Amy with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. With Concerto Köln, he has performed Schumann's Cello Concerto on a period instrument at the Luzern Festival and the Köln Philharmonie, and he will tour both Europe and the United States in 2002-2003.
Mr. Queyras has been invited to give chamber music or solo concerts at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Athens Concert Hall, Brussels Philharmonie, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Carnegie Hall in New York. His solo engagements with orchestras have included the Orchestre National de Belgique, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, 'I Pomeriggi Musicali', Orchestra Verdi, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Basel Radio Orchestra and Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra. During the 2001-2002 season, the Printemps Musical de Cosme and Kilkenny Festivals invited him as both an artistic director and a performer for their chamber music concert series.
After graduating with first prize honours from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, he was awarded a scholarship to further his studies at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, and at both the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music in New York. At the age of 18, Mr. Queyras was awarded “Most Promising Young Artist” at the Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and was a prizewinner at the Munich International Competition.
Jean-Guihen Queyras was the solo cellist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, with whom he has recorded the Ligeti Cello Concerto conducted by Pierre Boulez for Deutsche Grammophon. This recording was awarded the acclaimed 1995 Gramophone Contemporary Music Award. In 2001, Mr. Queyras was appointed a professor at the music conservatory in Trossingen, Germany.
Tickets at $20 ($8 for students) are available in advance at the Office of Communications, Union College (518) 388-6131 and at the door at 7 p.m. For more information, call 372-3651.