Date/Time
Date(s) - 07/Feb/2019
Genre - Piano recitals
In a programme of Mozart: Fantasy in D minor K 397, Sonata in C major D 330; Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor Op. 23, Polonaise in A flat major Op. 53 ‘Héroïque’; Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G major Op. 32 No. 5, Prelude in G sharp minor Op. 32 No. 2, Prelude in B flat major Op. 23 No. 2, Prelude in G minor Op. 23 No. 5 ‘Alla Marcia’, Prelude in B minor Op. 32 No. 10, Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2 and Gershwin: 3 Preludes
Russian-Swiss pianist, Irina Chkourindina is a multi-faceted artist, whose talents range from concert pianist to chamber musician, from accompanist to musical dramatist. A graduate from Moscow’s prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory, she received a Special Mention from the jury for her work as a soloist and chamber musician. At the Conservatoire de Genève, she obtained another degree as a soloist and a post-graduate degree as a chamber musician.
Irina has distinguished herself in numerous international competitions. At only 13, she won second prize in Usti nad Labem, in what was then Czechoslovakia. Three years later she won the Beijing Piano Competition, and at 22 she took first prize at the Moscow National Accompanist Competition. In 2007, at the Zurich Orpheus Competition, she was awarded a recording contract
Her repertory is broad, with a fondness for Russian composers such as Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff. Romantic composers, such as Liszt, Chopin and Schumann are also among her favorites, as are the modern composers Dutilleux, Gubaidulina, Jean-Luc Darbelay and Schedrin.
Irina has performed as a soloist in India, Sweden, France, and the Sultanate of Oman. She gives yearly recitals at the Château de Lourmarin in Provence where she was artist in residence. In Switzerland she has performed at numerous festivals, including the Schubertiades and the Festival de Coppet. In November 2014 she performed Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestre Symphonique Genevois at Victoria Hall.
In 2008, she joined Trio Arc and has been performing regularly with them at Swiss venues such as Wettingen, Baden, Aarau and Compesières. As a chamber musician she has played with the cellist Estelle Revaz, the violist Maxim Rysanov, and the violinist Sergei Ostrovski. She has also accompanied Sophie Graf, Hélène Hebrard and has accompanied the great Finnish soprano, Camilla Nylund for her recital in Montreal, in March 2016.
Adding to her array of artistic projects, Irina has performed in “literary concerts” with actor-director Alain Carré’s dramatisation of the tumultuous romantic life of Franz Liszt, and the tormented sombre journeys of the poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Federico Garcia Lorca. Her current project recalls the life and exile of Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer, pianist and conductor. Irina has recorded two CDs of Romantic music and chamber music with trio “ARC” in 2017.
