Union welcomes pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin to Memorial Chapel Sunday, March 18 at 3 p.m. as part of the Chamber Concert Series. Hamelin will be performing Beethoven's Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109; Sonatina Concertante, Op. 28 (1934) by Pantcho Vladigerov; Operatic paraphrases on Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and Verdi's Ernani from Liszt and Heitor Villa-Lobos' Rudepoema (1925).
Nominated for Gramophone Magazine's 2005 Artist of the Year for his recordings of the complete Albeniz “Iberia” and Ives's “Concord” Sonata, Hamelin received a Juno Award for best classical album solo or chamber ensemble for “Iberia” in 2006. His double album of the complete Chopin-Godowsky Etudes won the 2000 Grammy Award and he was the only classical artist to play live at the 2001 Grammy Awards for his double nomination of the epic Busoni Concerto with the CBSO under Mark Elder and the Chopin-Godowsky. Hamelin received another Grammy nomination in 2002 for his recording featuring the works of Alkan.
North American Orchestral engagements for 2006-07 include the world premiere of Kevin Volans' Piano Concerto for his debut with the San Francisco Symphony and Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 for his debut with the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern. Hamelin's recital appearances include the 92nd Street Y, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Harvard Musical Association, Pro Arte Musical in San Juan and the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild.
Hamelin's latest release is a disc of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. His highly acclaimed recording of Dukas' epic piano Sonata and Decaux pieces was released earlier this season. Among his dozens of recordings include concertos by Alkan, Bernstein, Bolcom, Korngold, Joseph Marx, Medtner, Rodion Schedrin, Scriabin, Shostakovich, and solo discs of Alkan, Catoire, Nikolai Kapustin, Liszt, Reger, Roslavets, Rzewski, Schumann, Villa Lobos, and “The Composer-Pianists: From Alkan to Hamelin.”
A native of Montréal, Hamelin was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005 and a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec.
Concert tickets are free for the Union community, $20 for the general public and $8 for area students. For more information, call 388-6080 or 372-3651; or visit http://www.union.edu/concertseries/.