Early April brings more than a well-deserved spring to Urbana’s Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Two exceptional opportunities for small ensemble experiences just might bend your appreciation of what Krannert offers to the more diminutive offerings. An award-winning soloist and a near legendary chamber duo start
April with some stunning potential.
On April 3rd, Foellinger Great Hall will host two great soloists performing as a duo, Yefim Bronfman and Pinchas Zukerman. While these two artists both had formative years in Tel Aviv, Israel, their lives have seen many different roads to fame. While Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv in 1948, Bronfman did not arrive there until 1973, at the age of 15. His family left his birthplace, the Soviet Union’s regional capital of Tashkent (now the capital of Uzbekistan), for a new life. In 1973, when Bronfman began his musical studies in Tel Aviv, Zukerman was already an established artist with recording that were draing critical attention.
Today, Zukerman can list 135 CDs still available under his name, two Grammy Awards, 21 Grammy nominations, and an international reputation as a soloist, conductor, and chamber music player. It is this last skill that he brings to Krannert on April 3rd.
Bronfman would join the classical music scene in the United States before the 1970’s ended, with studies at Julliard and Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute. He would remain in the United States for his concert and recording career, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1989. Twenty-five of his recordings are still available, as well as Disney’s Fantasia 2000, on which he plays the Shostakovich Piano Concerto #2.
Their program on April 3rd is from Europe’s great 19th century tradition — Schubert’s Sonatina, OP 37, No. 2; Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 7, OP 36, No. 2; and Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, OP 120, No. 1.
Twenty-seven-year-old Vadym Kholodenko is a native of Kiev, Ukraine. Since 2010, his star as a concert pianist has been on the rise with first place finishes at the Schubert and Sendal International music competitions. In 2013, he added the gold medal at the Van Cliburn Competition. That victory generated a concert tour that we are blessed annually to host at Foellinger as part of the Sunday Salon Series. On Sunday, April 6th, at 3 p.m., you can sit on the stage of the Great Hall and enjoy some refreshment and an afternoon of Liszt and Chopin.
As spring arrives in Champaign county, Urbana’s Krannert Center offers some wonderful introductions to the great tradition of 19th century European classical chamber and instrumental music, presented by two veteran virtuosos and a brilliant rising star. For further information go to the Krannert Center website or call the box office at 217-333-6280.