Tuesday 23 June 2009, Larnaka Municipal Theatre, 20:30
Wednesday 24 June 2009, Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Lefkosia, 20:30
Soloist: Alison Balsom (trumpet)
Music Direction: Alexander Anissimov
Programme:
S. Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 (”Classical”)
J. Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E flat major, Hob. VIIe:1
I. Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”)
W. A. Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major K. 551 (“Jupiter”)
Ticket prices: 10 and 5 euro for pensioners. Tickets available at the Theatres’ box office
Free entrance for students, soldiers, student card and EURO<26 card holders
Alison Balsom performs a wide range of recital and concerto repertoire, from Albinoni to Zimmermann. She performs on both modern and natural trumpets. Whilst represented by the Young Artists Concert Trust, Alison caught the ear of EMI Classics, who released her debut CD in 2002 and have recently released her CD of Bach works for trumpet. Her next CD will be released later this year. A trumpet concerto by Joby Talbot, whose recent commissions include his Proms debut and music for the Disney Film The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, commissioned for Alison by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic and Munich Chamber orchestras, will be premiered later this year. Alison is currently a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme, under whose auspices she has already given concerts at the Wigmore Hall, and with all of the BBC orchestras, including the BBC Symphony and Sir Andrew Davis, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Recent performances have included her debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, IRIS Chamber Orchestras and the Orchestre National de Belgique with Mikko Franck as well as recitals at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, The Tower of London and in Dortmund, Germany. Future highlights include performances with Athens Camerata, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Cincinnati Symphony and SWR Freiburg. Alison studied trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music, the Paris Conservatoire, and with Håkan Hardenberger. She was a concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition in 1998 and received the Feeling Musique Prize for quality of sound in the 4th Maurice André International Trumpet Competition. She has recently been appointed Visiting Professor of the trumpet to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was named “Βest Young British Performer” at the Classical Brit Awards this year.
Alexander Anissimov currently holds the Principal Conductor positions of the National Symphony Orchestra of Belarus and the Busan Philharmonic of Korea, and is an honoured artist of Russia. He is a regular guest conductor with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and in August 2002 conducted them in two Wagner Ring Cycles in concert performance. These performances were acclaimed as the musical highlight of 2002 in Birmingham UK from Birmingham Post, and received the Allianz Business2Arts award in Ireland as the outstanding arts event of 2002. He works regularly for Opera Ireland and Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland, and is Hon President of the Wagner Society of Ireland. He has made three appearances at Wexford Festival conducting Tcherevitchki, Fosca and The Demon, the last of which has been released on CD by Naxos. For Opera Ireland he has conducted Verdi’s Macbeth, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and the Irish première of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. He also returned to Ireland in 2009 to conduct Mazeppa. His career has included work with the Puccini Festival in Klagenfurt, Austria, Holland Sinfonia and Nuremberg Philharmonic, a full Beethoven programme in Spain with Orquestra Simfònica de l’Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu and Evgeniy Onegin with the Nikikai Opera in Tokyo. He also has made his debut at the Houston Grand Opera with Prince Igor. Another triumph was conducting Shostakovich 10th Symphony with the Australian Youth Orchestra which was recorded by Melba recordings, receiving outstanding reviews from all over the world. Alexander has also worked with the Leningrad Philharmonic, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Warsaw Philharmonic, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Colon Argentina, State Opera of South Australia, Orchestra of St Cecilia, Roma, Opera Venezia at La Fenice, Opera Genoa, Hannover Staatsoper, Hamburg Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Opera Bastille, Opera Garnier in Paris, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra Future engagements in addition to his work in Belarus, Korea and Russia, include invitations from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Czech Philharmonic and Orquesta Simfonica de Barcelona i Nacional di Cataluyna.
