The VSO Presents the Vancouver Debut of Alexander Gavrylyuk

The VSO Presents the Vancouver Debut of Alexander Gavrylyuk, performing Tchaikovsky���s other Piano Concerto!

Vancouver BC ��� Celebrated for his outstanding technique and dramatic musicality, Alexander Gavrylyuk is unquestionably one of the top pianists of his generation. Mr. Gavrylyuk plays Tchaikovsky���s Piano Concerto No. 2 in his Vancouver debut. Maestro Bramwell Tovey wields the baton in a string of other Russian classics performed by the orchestra, including Rimsky-Korsakov���s Russian Easter Overture, Shostakovich���s The Age of Gold Suite and Tchaikovsky���s 1812 Overture. This extraordinary concert is featured at the Orpheum and the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey in the final concert of the 2008/2009 Surrey Nights series.

���A world class pianist performing at his absolute best�Ķ���

- New York Times

����Ķsuch blow-your-socks-off virtuosity is complemented with a dark, intense, ferociously-concentrated essence and nature�Ķunlike so many competition winners we shall surely be hearing a lot more of this prodigiously gifted young pianist and life force.���

- The Gramophone

Winner of the 1999 Vladimir Horowitz Competition, the 2000 Hamamatsu Competition and, most notably, the 2005 Arthur Rubinstein Competition, Mr. Gavrylyuk is undeniably a superstar in the making. Currently based in Moscow, Mr. Gavrylyuk had his solo debut recital last year at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatorium at the invitation of Nikolay Petrov and also performed a solo recital at the Kremlin.

Alexander Gavrylyuk���s upcoming engagements include a recital at the hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic and the Moscow Radio Orchestra. Gavrylyuk has also been invited to record the complete Prokofiev concerti with conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Gavrylyuk performs Tchaikovsky���s Piano Concerto No.2, a rarely-performed gem of the repertoire that lives in the shadow of its much more famous big brother, the popular Piano Concerto No.1. Although not blessed with such an intense beginning or as many memorable melodies, many passages of the Second are as dramatic and beautiful as anything ever written for piano and orchestra. Mr. Gavrylyuk���s debut features this extraordinary work that has rarely been heard in Vancouver in an exciting, all-Russian classical celebration.

CONCERT INFO

Musically Speaking & Surrey Nights Series:

Exciting Russian Classics! Gavrylyuk Plays Tchaikovsky

Saturday, May 9, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre

Monday, May 11, 8pm, Bell Performing Arts Centre

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano*

Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Overture, Op. 36

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major*

James Maxwell Olympic Commission

Shostakovich The Age of Gold Suite

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Rubinstein Competition winning piano prodigy Alexander Gavrylyuk is one of the top pianists of his generation, standing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Lang Lang and Yundi Li. His performance of Tchaikovsky���s other piano concerto will blow you away.

Tickets for May 9 Concert: $20 to $56 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets for May 11 Concert: $37 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

May 9 Concert Sponsor: HSBC Canada

Video Screen Sponsor: TELUS

Video screen presentations created and produced by students and staff of digital video productions at Columbia Academy.

Radio Sponsor: 103.5 QM/FM

The Surrey Nights Series has been endowed by a generous gift from Werner and Helga H��ing.

BIOGRAPHIES

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey���s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective.

Tovey garnered a 2008 Grammy Award and a 2008 Juno Award for his recording with violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony. Recently named Principal Guest Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he works frequently with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, among many others. He has presided as host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic���s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall since its founding in 2004.

As a composer, he was honored with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull. New works include a co-commission for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics��� 2008 summer seasons as well as a full-length opera for the Calgary Opera, The Inventor, to premiere in January of 2011.

Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts.

Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano

Winner of the 11th Arthur Rubinstein Masters Piano Competition 2005. Winner of the 4th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition Japan 2000. Winner of the 3rd Horowitz International Piano Competition in Ukraine in 1999.

Alexander's upcoming engagements include solo recital at the big hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, the Moscow Radio Orchestra. Gavrylyuk has been invited to record and perform the complete Prokofiev concerti with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting in 2009.

In January 2007 Alexander had his solo debut recital at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatorium at the invitation of Nikolay Petrov. Gavrylyuk has also performed a solo recital at the Kremlin. 2007 took Alexander to Australia, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Taipei, and the USA.

Alexander has performed with the Russian National Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the, Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, and Western Australia Symphony. Lately Gavrylyuk has performed with conductors Lazarev, Spivakov, Segerstam, Fedoseyev, Gruppman, Ettinger, Tovey and Soudan.

Alexander Gavrylyuk was born in 1984 in the Ukraine and began his piano studies at the age of seven. He gave his first concerto performance when he was nine years old. In 1996 he was a prize winner in Senigalia, Italy and in 1997 was a 2nd prize winner at the Second Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev. The next big step for Alexander was going back to compete at the Third Horowitz International Piano Competition and winning the coveted First prize and Gold medal in 1999.

Proclaimed as ���the best sixteen year old pianist of the late twentieth century��� by critics in Japan in November 2000 after winning First Prize in the prestigious Hamamatsu International piano Competition in Japan. He was 16 years old in a field of competitors ranging in age from 16 to 32. Alexander returns regularly, touring Japan and performing to a full house in Suntory Hall and Tokyo Opera City Hall. He recorded his first two CD���s in Japan.

Alexander lived in Sydney, Australia from 1998-2006. His Australian concert activities in more recent years include recitals at the Sydney Opera House, City Recital Hall in Sydney as well as performances with the Melbourne Symphony and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra���s in 2006.

In April 2005, Gavrylyuk won the First Prize, Gold Medal as well as the Best Performance of a Classical Concerto in the internationally renowned Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition. That year, VAI International recorded his live performance at the Miami Piano Discoveries Festival, USA, for international DVD release which went on to receive four and five star ratings in the international press. In May 2007 he recorded his second DVD with VAI.