• Willa Lentza

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• 08-05-2024, Wednesday, at 6:00 pm - Ticketed event

Wednesday 8th May 2024 (at 6 p.m.) brings a very special music event held as part of our cycle titled CHOPIN AT THE LENTZ VILLA. COMPLETE WORKS. This time, Szczecin’s finest residence, built in the late 19th century, hosts the world-famous Chopin interpreter KEVIN KENNER and the Vienna Morphing Soloists ensemble!

The programme includes the following works by the great master from Żelazowa Wola: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 (ca 1830), Variations in B-Flat Major on the Theme of ‘Là ci darem la mano’ from W.A. Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’, Op. 2 (1827/28, dedicated to Tytus Woyciechowski), as well as Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante in E-Flat Major (for Baroness Sarah Frances D’Este).

Born in southern California, Kevin Kenner began his piano education with Krzysztof Brzuza. As a teenager, he came to Poland to study with Professor Ludwik Stefański, who prepared him for participation in the 1980 International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He was the youngest contestant at that time and won a special award ‘for the highly promising artist’.

Kenner won worldwide recognition in 1990, when he won the 2nd prize (the first was not presented), audience award and award for the best performance of a polonaise in the 12th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He also received the bronze medal of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, thus garnering top accolades in two events considered as the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

As a soloist, he has appeared with such excellent orchestras as the BBC Symphony, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Warsaw and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, Nationaal Orkest van Belgie, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, NHK Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, under such masters of the baton as Jiři Bĕlohlávek, Andrew Davis, Sir Charles Groves, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and Antoni Wit. His chamber music partners include the Belcea, Casals, Endellion, Panocha, Tokyo, and Vogler Quartets. He has also played in duets with cellist Matt Haimovitz and violinist Kyung Wha Chung.

Kenner has been hailed as ‘one of the finest American pianists to come along in years’ (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune), ‘...fulfilling a criterion which one only knows from great Chopinists such as Rubinstein, Benedetti-Michelangeli and Dinu Lipatti’ (Winfried Wild, Schwaebische Zeitung). The Financial Times described Kenner as a ‘player of grace, subtle variety and strength, with a mature grasp of dramatic structure and proportion: in short, a grown-up musician nearing his peak.’ Washington Post recently proclaimed him ‘a major talent ... an artist whose intellect, imagination and pianism speak powerfully and eloquently’. Stanisław Skrowaczewski, a conductor who recorded, among others, with Artur Rubinstein, recalls Kenner’s Chopin interpretations as ‘highly emotional and beautiful’.

Kenner’s discography includes recordings of music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Fryderyk Chopin, Astor Piazzolla, Maurice Ravel, and Robert Schumann. His Piazzolla album won the Fryderyk Award of Poland’s Phonographic Academy for chamber music. His Chopin recordings on an 1848 Pleyel piano (NIFC series, 2008) was highly praised by the French Diapason magazine.

Vienna Morphing Soloists is a quintet made up of soloists – members of the highly renowned MORPHING CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, critically acclaimed as one of Europe’s best chamber ensembles. The quintet’s founder and head, Tomasz Wabnic, is an outstanding violist, arranger, producer, and music event organiser. The quintet members’ extraordinary musicianship and versatility make Vienna Morphing Soloists into one of the most universal ensembles worldwide.

The quintet’s reputation in the music scene is reflected in collaborations with such musicians as Aleksandra Kurzak, Roberto Alagna, Makoto Ozone, Bobby McFerrin, Josef Tawadros, and Kevin Kenner. They have taken part in such prestigious music projects as an album recorded with Tim Allhoff for Berlin Klassik, streamed more than two million times on digital platforms.

Their breathtaking arrangements and performances have earned them worldwide acclaim, confirmed with invitations to play concerts in such famous venues as Vienna’s Eroica Hall and Konzerthaus as well as Salle Cortot in Paris. 2023 saw the quintet’s successful tour of Brazil, attracting an audience of more than 50 thousand during five concerts, as well as participation in the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen (Switzerland).

Vienna Morphing Soloists have had their albums released under Europe’s major music labels such as Sony, APARTE and BERLIN KLASSIK. Their performances have been broadcast by such famous radio and television stations as Radio Klassik Wien, Radio Classique France, PBS (USA) and the Viennese ORF.

This year, the quintet continues its musical journey, with concerts in such European cities as Paris, Vienna, Hamburg, and Cracow, as well as a scheduled tour of South Korea.

This unique ensemble constantly crosses artistic boundaries, inspiring audiences worldwide with their music and passion.

Please join us for this unique musical event.

Bios