(Morgan Szymanski)
Friends of Music will host a recital by Morgan Szymanski and
James Grace tomorrow (October 20) in a programme that will include works by Ferdinando
Carulli; Francisco Tarrega; Manuel De Falla; Julio César Oliva; Manuel M. Ponce;
Celso Machado, and Paulo Bellinati.
Described as
'a player destined for future glories', Morgan Szymanski has been highlighted
as 'One to Watch' by both Gramophone Magazine and the BBC Music Magazine. Born
in Mexico City in 1979, Morgan Szymanski started playing the guitar at the age
of six. Early studies at the National Music School (Mexico) and the Edinburgh
Music School led to a scholarship to study under Carlos Bonell and Gary Ryan at
the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, graduating in 2004 with first class
honours.
Performances
as a soloist and with orchestras have taken him to concert halls and festivals
around the world. His devotion to chamber music has led to collaborations with
artists such as John Williams, Celso Machado and Carlos Bonell (guitar), Mark
Padmore (tenor), Alison Balsom (trumpet), Priya Mitchell (violin), Adam Walker
(flute), the Sacconi, Doric and Carducci Quartets, Phuong Nguyen (accordion),
and Clara Mouriz (mezzo-soprano) amongst others. Collaborations with composers
have led to new works for guitar dedicated to Szymanski by Simone Iannarelli,
Stephen McNeff, Julio César Oliva and Alec Roth. Szymanski plays on a guitar by
the Chinese master guitar luthier Yulong Guo. He is a Live Music Now alumni,
the scheme started by Lord Yehudi Menuhin to reach audiences that would
otherwise have no access to live music.
James Grace is
one of one South Africa's leading concert artists. In recent years he has
appeared with the Cape Philharmonic, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic, the Johannesburg
Festival, the Johannesburg Philharmonic and the Free State Symphony in concerti
by Rodrigo, Villa-Lobos, Giuliani and Vivaldi. He studied at the Royal College
of Music in London as a Foundation Scholar with Carlos Bonell. Upon graduating
he became the first guitarist in the history of the College to receive the
Tagore Gold Medal, an annual award presented to the most outstanding student.
After spending
two years in Doha, in the Arabian State of Qatar where he taught guitar at an
International Music Centre, Grace returned to South Africa and was appointed
Head of Classical Guitar Studies at the University of Cape Town.
The Prelude
Performer for the evening will be Janice Atkinson (21) who is studying flute
with Sabine Baird. She performed with the KZNPO at the Young Performers'
Concert in 2010 and 2014. In 2010 she passed her Grade 8 Flute exam with
distinction (90%). She attended a master class with Lady and Sir James Galway earlier
this year in Cape Town. Accompanied by Dana Hadjiev, she will perform all three
movements of Francis Poulenc’s Flute Sonata.
The concert takes place tomorrow night (October 20) at 19h30
in the Durban Jewish Centre.. Tickets R70 (R60 FOM members and R20 orchestral/students)
booked through Computicket.
Friends of Music acknowledges valued funding from the
National Lotteries Commission.
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