Write a comment
The inaugural Newry Chamber Music Piano Festival will welcome multi-award-winning British pianist Steven Osborne to Newry Town Hall, where he will perform masterworks by Schumann, Ravel, and Schubert.
Steven Osborne OBE will perform the Festival's finale concert, Reflections On The Waltz, on Sunday 8 February at 2.30pm, with a beautifully crafted programme centring on the waltz and featuring work by seven different composers.
Winner of The Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist of the Year, two BBC Music Magazine Awards, and two Gramophone Awards, Osborne was also awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to music. Throughout his career, the Scottish native has enjoyed great critical acclaim. The Scotsman described his playing as "a masterclass in the true beauty of pianism, delivered with an intelligent and instinctive musicality" while The Guardian called him "a musician of profound individuality and invention".
For Reflections On The Waltz, Osborne will perform Schumann's Papillons, Op 2, a suite of piano pieces written in 1831, Satie's beguiling Gymnopedie no.3, and a work by the pioneering 20th century composer Lili Boulanger, the first woman to win the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1913, D'un Jardin Clair from Trois Morceaux pour piano, and A Musical Snuff Box, Op.32, by Russian composer Anatoly Lyadov.
The concert will also feature Osborne performing Liebesleid, originally written for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler and later adapted for solo piano by Rachmaninoff, and Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, a suite of waltzes with elements of Impressionist and Modernist music.
Osborne will conclude the concert with Schubert's mighty Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D.960. Written just weeks before the composer's death in November 1828, it is regarded as one of the greatest piano sonatas of all time, and will bring the inaugural Newry Chamber Music Piano Festival to a thrilling close.
Joanne Quigley McParland, Artistic Director of Newry Chamber Music, said bringing an artist of Steven Osborne's stature to Newry for the inaugural Festival is truly special. "His artistry, imagination and depth of musical insight make him one of the most compelling pianists of our time. This beautifully curated programme captures both intimacy and grandeur, and Schubert's final sonata is the perfect way to our first Piano Festival. We couldn't imagine a more inspiring or thrilling finale for our audience."
As part of the Festival, Osborne will lead a public masterclass at Newry Town Hall on Saturday 7 February at 2pm for young pianists of grade 8 level and above. This is an amazing opportunity for the participants and piano teachers and enthusiasts. To be considered for the masterclass, email concerts@newrychambermusic.org.
Tickets are £20/£10 for Reflections On The Waltz. Newry Chamber Music Piano Festival is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Newry Mourne and Down District Council, and RTÉ Supporting the Arts. For more information and booking see newrychambermusic.org.
