The winner of the 12th Unisa International Piano Competition, Lukáš Vondrá?ek from the Czech Republic will tour South Africa during March as part of his prize.
The tour includes 12 recitals in seven provinces as well as a performance with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban.
It will start on Tuesday 5 March with a recital in Durban and end on 26 March with a recital in Bloemfontein. Other venues included in the tour are Pretoria, Potchefstroom, White River, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, Cape Town, Hermanus and Stellenbosch.
Two programmes, consisting of a selection of music by Brahms (Piano pieces Op 118), Scriabin (Piano sonata no 4), Rachmaninov (Corelli Variations), Chopin (Nocturnes), Martinu, Mendelssohn (Variations Serieuses), Schubert (Impromptu) and Prokofiev (Sonata no 7) will be performed.
In Durban Mr Vondrá?ek will perform his fellow countryman Dvo?ak’s piano concerto.
The Unisa International Piano Competition took place in Pretoria in January 2012.
In addition to a cash prize of more than R500 000, sponsored by Vodacom, the Unisa Music Foundation is sponsoring the upcoming concert tour.
Unisa and Vodacom also sponsored a CD production in collaboration with the South African label TwoPianists Records based in Stellenbosch.
The CD, with music by Haydn, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev will be released internationally on 5 March 2013.
Biography:
Born in Opava, Czech Republic, in 1986, Lukáš Vondrá?ek’s musical ability was spotted at the age of two by his parents, both professional pianists. He gave his first concert at the age of 4 and now, at the age of 24, he has visited 27 different countries giving in excess of 1000 concerts.
His first international tour was at the age of 10 (1997), when he performed at various festivals in the UK and the USA. In the intervening years he gave many recital and concerto performances throughout his home country as well as abroad.
He also spent time studying at the Vienna Hochschule with Prof. Peter Barcaba, at the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, with Prof. Andrzej Jasinsky, and at Ostrava University with Prof. Rudolf Bernatik.
Currently, Mr. Vondrá?ek is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory in Boston under the tutelage of Prof. Hung-Kuan Chen. Lukáš performed debut recitals at La Cite in Paris, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Tonhalle in Zurich. He has also played in a number of piano festivals in the USA, including the Gilmore Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and the New York International Piano Series.
Vladimir Ashkenazy was the conductor when Lukáš made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in May of 2002 with concerts in Prague and Italy. Since then he has appeared frequently with the Orchestra, including a major US tour (perfomance at Carnegie Hall), and concerts in Cologne, Lucerne, Vienna, Bad Kissingen, and Birmingham's Symphony Hall.
Lukáš performances with orchestras are widely acclaimed--in March 2003 it was Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 1 with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Birmingham. In October 2004 he made his debut with the BBC Philharmonic, playing Grieg's Piano Concerto under conductor Vassily Sinaisky. A year later, he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 with the same orchestra under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda.
In March 2005 he joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 1, conducted by Paavo Järvi; in April it was Helsinki and the Dvo?ak’s Piano Concerto with Ashkenazy conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic, and in May he was back in the UK, playing Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop.
As a concert soloist Lukáš has played with orchestras throughout the world: the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra in the UK, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Malta National Orchestra, and the symphonies of Iceland, Dallas, Cincinnati. He has toured in Japan with the NHK Symphony. In January 2006 the Mozart Prague programme commenced at the Rudolfinum. Lukáš joined the Czech Philharmonic in Mozart's Concerto No 24 in C minor K491, conducted by Walter Weller.
Other projects during the 2006/2007 season included a recital debut at Dortmund's Next Generation Series and his debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon. Later in 2007 Lukas joined the Australian Youth Orchestra on their European tour before his first visit to Australia, where he played with the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth. In 2007, Lukáš performed in Sao Paulo, Brasil, with one of the leading orchestras in South America--Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo.
During the 2008/2009 season he made his recital debut in Istanbul before returning to the US for a number of concerts with the El Paso, the Colorado and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. Performances in Germany, Switzerland, Canada, United States, Nigeria, Venezuela and Great Britain were among the highlights of the 2010/2011 season. 2011/2012 engagements included concerts with the Orchestre National de Belgique, Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Washington's National Symphony Orchestra.
In 2001, Lukáš was awarded the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Award for the most exceptional young artist in Europe.
During the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2009), Lukáš was awarded The Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award. In 2010, he won 1st prize at the 10th Hilton Head International Piano Competition in South Carolina, USA.
He is represented worldwide by Harrison/Parrott Ltd., London
His concert dates for recitals in the main centra are as as follows:
Tuesday 5 March: Durban
Thursday 7 March: Concert with the KZNPO in Durban -- Dvorak Piano Concerto
Saturday 9 March: Recital Pretoria at 18:00 at the Enoch Sontonga Hall, Unisa
Sun 10 March: Potchefstroom at 15:30
Sat 16 March: Johannesburg Music Society in the Linder Auditorium 20:00
Mon 18 March: Port Elizabeth
Sat 23 March: Cape Town
Mon 25 March: Stellenbosch
Tues 26 March: Bloemfontein
Wed 27 March: Masterclasses: 09:00 to 13:00 at the Free State University
For more information about the tour, please contact Schalk Visser at 012 424 9156.