Events

We are really sorry to announce that Elisabeth Brauß is unwell and has had to withdraw from this concert. It is her first cancellation ever and she sends her apologies to the audience.

Fortunately – with the help of Professor Martyn Harry – we have been able to find a last-minute replacement performer, the Malaysian pianist Julian Chan. Julian will be presenting the Romantic programme that he has recently been touring in Germany. Details of this below and a word from Martyn Harry, who has watched Julian in concert.

If you have tickets for Elisabeth Brauß, they will be valid for Julian Chan. We very much hope that you will still be joining us and giving your support to Julian.

Programme

Franz Schubert/Ferenc Liszt Frühlingsglaube S558, no.7
Alban Berg Sonata in B minor, op.1
Robert Schumann Bunte Blätter, op.99
Franz Schubert Sonata in C minor, D958

A word from Professor Martyn Harry:

It’s a great shame indeed that Elisabeth Brauß has had to withdraw from tonight’s concert, especially given her wonderful performance at the end of the last season at SJE: I know that Michèle is in discussion with her agent, and it will not be long until Elisabeth returns to give her next concert at the International Piano Series. However Elisabeth’s indisposition also means that the opportunity has come up – at very short notice! – to hear a pianist who is widely regarded as one of our most promising emerging young instrumentalists.

Julian Chan is younger and at an earlier stage of his career than Elisabeth, but his characteristic pianistic attributes are already very much in place: an extraordinary technique and a very precise ear that he places entirely at the service of the music that in some way recalls an aspect of Elisabeth Brauß’s playing. He lets the music speak for itself, and it will be particularly exciting to hear him perform one of Schubert’s works, the Piano Sonata in C minor D. 958, with the control of harmonic colouring that Julian frequently brings to early Romantic repertoire.

Julian has just returned to the UK, fresh from a tour of Germany where he has performed tonight’s repertoire. A former student of Ian Fountain and Michael Dussek at the Royal Academy of Music where he was awarded the Aud Jebsen Piano Fellowship, Julian has already acquired a reputation for his imaginative programming, with his concerts featuring works by figures as diverse as Sweelinck, Alkan, Messiaen and Rzewski alongside the core classical and romantic repertoire with which he has made his name.

A prizewinner at a number of international piano competitions, Julian Chan has already started to perform regularly in prestigious venues across Europe and Asia, including at the Wigmore Hall, Nanjing Poly Theatre, and the Palau de la Música Catalana. Tonight’s concert of Schubert, Schubert/Liszt, Schumann and Alban Berg represents a memorable chance to hear a true poet of the piano, whose generosity of spirit and expressive urgency is fast coming to the attention of audiences worldwide.

We are very grateful to Dr Margaret Bent CBE for her generous sponsorship of this concert.

Our thanks to the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, for their hospitality and support for the International Piano Series