Date/Time
Date(s) - 10/Jan/2015
Genre - Trios
Mazda Hall at 6.30 pm
(Free Admittance)
In a programme of Beethoven: Piano trio Op. 70 No. 2; Schumann: Piano trio No. 1 Op. 63 and Ravel: Piano trio
Jean-Bernard Pommier played the piano from the age of four gave his first public concert at the age of seven and went on to study piano at the Paris Conservatoire with Yves Nat and Pierre Sancan as well as conducting with Eugène Bigot. International recognition came quickly. In 1960, he received First Prize in the Young Musicians International Competition in Berlin, in 1961 was awarded the "Prix de la Guilde des Artistes Solistes Français" whilst in 1962 (at the age of seventeen) he was the youngest finalist in the Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow, awarded First Honourable Mention by the jury presided over by Emil Gilels.
Mr. Pommier’s career has taken him all over the world as a pianist, working closely with conductors like Karajan and Celibidache and himself conducting many important orchestras.
Philippe Graffin is a highly sought after chamber musician and is founder and artistic director of the "Consonances", a chamber music festival held in St. Nazaire, France, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2015. Philippe has also written a short children’s story for violin and narrator, La Fée Cachée (The Hidden Fairy), illustrated with musical excerpts by Mozart, Paganini, Kreisler and Ravel. Graffin made his first recording with Yehudi Menuhin conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and his many highly acclaimed recordings since then bear witness to a questing mind and include many world premieres. As concerto soloist, he has performed with numerous famous orchestras and has had works written for him by Rodion Shchedrin, Vytautas Barkaukas, David Matthews, Philippe Hersant and Yves Prin.
Henri Demarquette was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris at the age of 13, where he studied under Philippe Muller and Maurice Gendron. He was awarded first prize by unanimous decision of the jury and pursued his studies under Pierre Fournier and Paul Tortelier in France, and Janos Starker at Bloomington in the United States. He began to perform from the age of 14 and at 17 he made his début recital at the Théâtre du Châtelet and his performance with the pianist Hélène Grimaud was recorded by France 3. He was immediately spotted by Lord Yehudi Menuhin who invited him to play the Dvořák Cello Concerto in Prague and Paris at performances conducted by Lord Menuhin himself. Henri Demarquette is particularly interested in contemporary music.
