Tuesday 12 March 2024 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Recital Room, Faculty of Music
About
Richard Causton has been described as 'one of the most courageous and uncompromising artists working today'. He has worked with artists including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Ensemble Recherche, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and the Nash Ensemble. His work is recorded on Metier, Delphian, Orchid, Regent and NMC, whose disc - Millennium Scenes NMC D192 - was No.1 in the Sunday Times' 100 Best Records of the Year (Contemporary Music section). He has been the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, a British Composer Award and First Prize at the International 'Nuove Sincronie' Competition.
Causton's works often engage with political themes (Millennium Scenes, The Flight), and his search for new sounds has led him to build new instruments and seek out new playing techniques. His works also include a Nocturne for 21 Pianos and a Concerto for Percussion and Gamelan, commissioned by Evelyn Glennie.
Recent pieces include Ik zeg: NU, premiered by Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and recorded on NMC 273. It was one of just two works selected by the BBC to represent the UK at the International Rostrum of Composers, and has been broadcast in dozens of countries worldwide.
Causton is currently Professor of Composition at the University of Cambridge.
Erik Bertsch
Born in the Netherlands and based in Italy, Erik Bertsch is a pianist who focuses his attention on contemporary repertoire with curiosity and spirit of research. His commitment to the music of our time gave him the opportunity to collaborate with established composers like George Benjamin, Marco Stroppa, Ivan Fedele, Fabio Vacchi, Alessandro Solbiati, Fabio Nieder and his concert programs illuminate surprising and unexpected elective affinities between compositions even distant from each other, looking for new paths and listening experiences.
In 2020 Kairos released his debut album dedicated to Marco Stroppa's First Book of Miniature Estrose, received with enthusiasm and unanimous approval by national and international critics, obtaining 5 stars and the recognition of Cd of the Month for Classic Voice and 5 stars for Diapason (“Erik Bertsch y déploie une électrisant virtuosité” Patrick Szersnovicz).
Prize-winner at several national and international piano competitions, Erik has performed in prestigious concert halls and festivals, amongst which Auditorium Parco della Musica - Sala Sinopoli in Rome, Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, Teatro Litta and Palazzina Liberty in Milan, Cappella Paolina of the Quirinale Palace, Salle de Concert of the Conservatoire de Musique in Montreal, Girton College in Cambridge, Salone dei Concerti di Palazzo Chigi Saracini in Siena, Casa della Musica in Parma, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Milano Musica, Rondò – Divertimento Ensemble in Milan, Biennale Koper, Traiettorie in Parma, Amici della Musica in Modena, Festival Forlì Open Music, Festival Nuovi Spazi Musicali in Ascoli Piceno, La Milanesiana, Festival Trame Sonore in Mantua... On several occasions he also plays live on the Italian national radio for RAI - Radio3.
Erik graduated, cum laude, at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence under the guidance of Maria Teresa Carunchio, then he followed advanced courses with Enrico Pace (Accademia di Musica, Pinerolo) Alexander Lonquich (Accademia Chigiana, Siena) and in chamber music with Carlo Fabiano (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome). He also improved the contemporary repertoire with Maria Grazia Bellocchio (Divertimento Ensemble, Milan), Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich (Piano Academy, Munich).