Concert by Pianist Ben Schoeman
In a change to our advertised programme, the first of our 2023-2024 Concerts will now be performed by the talented pianist Ben Schoeman. We are delighted to welcome Ben to perform in Brantwood’s Drawing Room. The ambience of a private drawing room affords the opportunity to meet the musicians and observe at close quarters the technique, interpretation and expertise of their performance in this most exquisite of venues. Performance begins at 7pm, doors open 6.30pm. Seating is limited to forty so booking early is recommended (bookings@brantwood.org.uk or tel: 015394 41396). Tickets £25 (includes an interval drink). Discounted price of £85 if booking all four concerts in the series.
Pre-concert supper will be served in the Terrace Cafe from 5.30pm. £16.50 per person, booking essential (theterrace@brantwood.org.uk or tel: 015394 49025).
Programme to include:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Sonata in F major, K. 332
- Allegro
- Adagio
- Allegro assai
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Pour le Piano (1901)
- Prélude
- Sarabande
- Toccata
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12 in C sharp minor, S. 244/12
Interval
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
- Polonaise Heroïque in A flat major, Op. 53
- Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 no. 1
- Scherzo no. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)
Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36 (1931 version)
- Allegro agitato
- Non allegro
- Allegro molto
Ben Schoeman is a Steinway Artist and was awarded the first prize in the 11th UNISA International Piano Competition, the gold medal in the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition in London, the contemporary music prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the Huberte Rupert Prize from the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. He has performed at prestigious venues around the world, including the Wigmore, Barbican, Cadogan and Queen Elizabeth Halls in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Gulbenkian Auditorium in Lisbon, the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, and he has appeared at the City of London, Edinburgh Fringe, Enescu, Grahamstown and Ottawa Music Festivals. He has performed 40 piano concertos with distinguished conductors such as Gerard Korsten, James Judd, En Shao, Yasuo Shinozaki, Conrad van Alphen, Wolfram Christ, Bernhard Gueller, Diego Masson and Carlos Izcaray.
In 2016, he obtained a doctorate on the piano music of Stefans Grové from City, University of London and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Schoeman’s solo album, featuring works of Franz Liszt, is available under the TwoPianists label. In collaboration with pianist Tessa Uys, he is currently recording all Beethoven’s Symphonies transcribed for piano duet by Xaver Scharwenka for SOMM Recordings in London – the first four volumes (of six) have been released, eliciting praise in the BBC Music, Gramophone and the International Piano Magazines, the Sunday Times and on BBC Radio 3. Ben Schoeman is a senior lecturer in piano and musicology at the University of Pretoria. He has served as a jury member at national and international competitions.