Summer Music Concert 5
Razumovsky Academy 1
Friday 13 July 7.30pm

Anna Liisa Bezrodny violin (pictured above)
Maya Rasooly viola
Silver Ainomäe cello
Caroline Palmer piano

Programme including
Debussy  Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor
Prokofiev   Suite 3 from Romeo and Juliet Op 101
Piazzolla  Le Grand Tango
Sibelius  Humoresques Nos 4 and 6 Op 89
Debussy  Sonata for Violin and Piano
Shchedrin   Humoresque

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Rehearsal pictures: Friday 13 July

Quote

'Since cellist Oleg Kogan started the Razumovsky Ensemble in 1998, inviting close colleagues to join him for chamber music recitals, the idea has burgeoned. There’s now a Razumovsky Trust that sponsors outstanding young musicians, and a Razumovsky Academy that offers specialist coaching. A lunchtime concert at the Wigmore Hall was the first showcase for the talents that have been nurtured by the fledgling academy.’ 
The Guardian

'RISING STAR Great Artists of Tomorrow
ANNA-LIISA BEZRODNY violinist (pictured above)

London is lucky to have poached this 25-year-old Finnish talent – but her thoughts never stray too far from home.

Anna-Liisa Bezrodny began studying the violin with her parents when she was three years old. She didn’t always progress without a fight, ‘But when they both taught me together it was two against one and I couldn’t do anything about it. I realised that they were always right, although that was hard to admit!’

Formerly a student at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, Bezrodny transferred to London’s Guildhall School of Music in 2001 to study with Yfrah Neaman. ‘Finland is a great place to be, but very secluded. musical life here is much more colourful.’ Today, her biography is a list of prize wins – from the Jan Kocian International Violin Competition (1995) to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Gold Medal in 2006 – past winners of which include Jacqueline du Pré, Bryn Terfel and Tasmin Little. But she doesn’t like competitions: ‘It’s sad, but they’re becoming more to do with numbers, speed, volume... If your only target is to win, it can work against you.’

Even so, playing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto for the Gold Medal was a dream come true for her, she admits. Now her success is continually building: in May she will play Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and a recital in Finland, Brahms’s Double Concerto in London and a concert in the Guildhall Fellows Recital Series (24 May). Her first CD, containing Elgar, Debussy, Brahms and more, will be out in Scandinavia late 2008 – so she has a lot of music to learn in very little time. ‘I do have a large repertoire but there is always something that I have to learn quickly; I have had very close calls.

Last year I had to learn Brahms’s Violin Concerto in six weeks. I said to myself: “You must be crazy!” But it was fun to see how much I could push myself.’ If she can fit any more into her schedule, she will. I’d like more solo and chamber music engagements. I have been working with an amazing pianist, Ivoly Ilia, and I hope we’ll have many more concerts together in the future.'

Interview by Pauline Harding, BBC Music Magazine April 2007

Biography

Anna-Liisa Bezrodny violin
Born in 1981 into a family of professional musicians in Moscow, Anna-Liisa began her violin studies with her parents at the age of three, and attended the Central Music School of Estonia. At the age of nine she entered the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Professor Igor Bezrodny and Professor Mari Tampere-Bezrodny, later continuing her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Currently she holds the prestigious Leverhulme Chamber Fellowship at the GSMD, where she studies with Professor Oleg Kogan and Krzysztof Smietana.

Anna-Liisa has succeeded in many international competitions, i.e. the Jan Kocian International Violin Competition in the Czech Republic (1995, 1st prize), the Sibelius Academy’s Violin Competition (1997, 1st prize), The Rotary Club Prize (1999), finalist of the Eurovision Broadcasting Union, recipient of the Ian Flemming Charitable Award of the Musicians Benevolent Fund (London, 2003), Martin Musical Scholarship Award (London, 2003), Hattori Foundation and Myra Hess Trust prizes (London, 2004), Jasch Heifetz International Violin Competition (2005, 3rd prize) and the Johannes Brahms International Competition (2005, 2nd prize). She has been acknowledged and supported by all the main cultural foundations of Finland, Estonia and Russia. Last year she performed the world premier of O Colomina Bosch’s Cantus for solo violin and ensemble at the Wigmore Hall as part of the Guildhall Gold Series, and was awarded the PROMIS Award from the LSO, and the Philharmonia Orchestra Prize. In May 2006 Anna-Liisa won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Guildhall School, playing the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 at the Barbican Hall with maestra Sian Edwards.

Anna-Liisa took part in festivals such as Das Russische Musik Fest, Dortmund (Germany), Internazionales Musikfest in Dietzenbach/Frankfurt (Germany), Malta International Music Festival, Tallinn Chamber Music festival and others. In 2004 she was invited to play recitals in Chicago, Milwaukee and Hancock in USA’s Finland University Sibelius Festival programme.

Anna-Liisa’s playing has been heard on several occasions on Finnish and Estonian National TV and National Radio, as well as on NBC. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Moscow Symphony Orchestra TV6 in the Moscow Conservatory’s Great Hall, Estonian National Orchestra, Estonian Chamber Orchestra, Juvaskyla Chamber Orchestra (Finland), Turku Philharmonic, Vaasa Philharmonic (Finland), Liepaja Symphony Orchestra (Latvia), Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Vilnius Philharmonic (Lithuania), Jena Philharmonic in Weimar, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Camerata de Arroyomolinos (Spain) and others, and she has worked as a soloist with conductors such as Eri Klas, Tibor Boganyi, Juha Kangas, Paul Magi, Arvo Volomer and the Nikolay Alekseyev. Anna-Liisa is a very active chamber musician and she is a member of the Taldon Piano Trio.


Maya Rasooly viola
In 2003 Maya Rasooly won third prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and first prize at the Bromsgrove Festival International Musicians’ Platform Competition. She graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music, London and completed her Master’s degree with distinction at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

She was a founding member of the Fidelio Piano Quartet (2001 – 2005) which was awarded the prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship at the RAM from 2002 – 2004, as well as the Wigmore Hall Award (2001) and the Tunnell Trust concert scheme (2002). Throughout her studies, Maya has been awarded scholarships by the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Fund, Friends of the RAM Development award, the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Musician’s Benevolent Fund.
Maya has performed as a soloist and in chamber music groups at numerous music festivals, including the Spoleto Festival, Italy, the Lake District Summer Music, the Prestigne Festivals, the Oxford Chamber Music Festival and Ravinia Festival. She recorded for BBC Radio 3 and has been invited by the French ensemble Dissonance to record the sextet version of Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht for the French label Naïve.

Maya’s violin and viola teachers have included Hagai Shaham at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, Miriam Fried (Indiana University, Bloomington), Garfield Jackson, Tabea Zimmermann and David Takeno. She has played in masterclasses for Isaac Stern, Dorothy DeLay, Arnold Steinhardt, Joseph Silverstein, Shlomo Mintz and Yehudi Menuhin.

Silver Ainomäe cello
Born in Tallinn in1982, Silver Ainomäe began to play cello at the age of six studying with Laine Leichter. After moving to Finland in 1990, he continued his studies at the Turku Conservatory with Jukka Perksalo. He also studied piano and percussion. In 1994 he was accepted to the well-known Sibelius-Academy Department for Young Performers, where his teacher was Hannu Kiiski. From 2001 – 2005 he was a student of Professor Arto Noras at Sibelius-Academy Chair for Soloists, where he got his Master of Music degree. Currently Silver continues his advanced solo studies at the Razumovsky Academy with Professor Oleg Kogan.

Silver Ainomäe won second Prize at the International Competition for Young Cellists in Usti nad Orlici (Czechoslovakia), first prize and four special prizes at the Estonian Young Performers Competition Con Brio, fourth prize at the Isang Yun international Music Competition in South-Korea, in 2003 and third prize in 2005 W. Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Poland.

In 1999 Silver Ainomäe was chosen to join the Gustav Mahler Orchestra of Young Performers founded by Claudio Abbado. With this orchestra he has been performing in Europe and America with Claudio Abbado, Seji Osawa, Franz Welzer-Möst, Yuri Bashmet, Yo-Yo Ma and others.
He played in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by Leif Segerstam, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Heinrich Schiff, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Mikko Franck and Paavo Berglund. In London Silver was invited on many occasions to work with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Silver Ainomäe has performed as soloist with the Zürich Chamber Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Estonian National Orchestra, Polish Radio Orchestra, Pärnu City Orchestra and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. He has worked with conductors like Neeme Järvi, John Storgards, Eri Klas, Paul Mägi, Jonathan Brett-Harrison and Alain Paris. As a recitalist and chamber musician he has performed on numerous occasions in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, England, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Silver Ainomae plays on a Stefano Scarampella cello made in Italy in 1896.

Caroline Palmer piano

Caroline Palmer studied at the Guildhall School of Music & drama with Edith Vogel and later continued her studies with Peter Wallfisch and Hans Keller. She was a finalist in the Busoni competition and has played in the USA and in much of Europe. Well-known as both a solo pianist and chamber musician, she has recorded for British, Swiss, French, german and Italian radio stations and has made televised appearances in Italy and Bulgaria.

Caroline's latest CDs include the cello sonatas of Saint-Saens, Fauré and Busoni and the Brahams violin sonatas. She has made numerous recordings as soloist and chamber musician for the BBC. Caroline has been a piano professor at the Guildhall since 1990, where she coaches chamber repertoire as well as teaching individual students.

In addition to our well established relationship with the Razumovsky Ensemble, the Blackthorpe Barn is thrilled to be associated with their latest development; the Razumovsky Academy. This Academy; created by the Razumovsky Ensemble and cellist Oleg Kogan and supported by the Razumovsky Trust; aims to teach, guide and support the most gifted music students that they can find internationally. This evening spotlights the individual talent of the senior members of the Razumovsky Academy. Each student will perform solo or accompanied by piano. The extraordinary talent of these young musicians can be clearly heard in this showcase evening.

This is to be achieved through the use of master-classes with members of the Razumovsky Ensemble, giving students the experience of public performance, help with travel, sourcing of instruments of the highest quality and mentoring of careers as they develop. Finally the older students learn to teach the younger ones.

The Razumovsky Trust has already acquired a superb cello, which it has now lent to the brilliant young cellist David Cohen. The Razumovsky Academy gave their first public master-classes and concert at the Wigmore Hall in London in January 2007. They are scheduled to appear at the Valdres Festival in Norway in June. Blackthorpe Barn is proud to be the first music festival in the United Kingdom to showcase this extraordinary talent.

Tickets for supper has now sold out

After concert supper menu 5
Chicken breast poached in wine and tarragon; vegetable tagine; wild mushroom risotto with parmesan and herbs; watercress, orange and radish salad; new potato and red onion salad; green salad. Selection of breads. Crunchy apple and almond flan. Coffee/tea

If you wish to add your review to the concert please email your comments and they will be uploaded onto the website. Blackthorpe Barn reserves the right to edit comments submitted.

'It was an amazing concert and I had experienced greatest pleasure being in the audience – thank you, George for your confidence in the Razumovsky Academy.'
Oleg Kogan

'To my surprise the young people were startlingly promising and fulfilled all expectations as Academy 2.'
Rhoda Ormerod, Row C seat1