Applications for the Classeek Ambassador Programme 2023-24 are now open!

The Classeek Ambassador Programme is a one-year career enhancement programme for promising young classical artists, ready for a career at the highest level. 

This year, there will be two spaces open to applicants from around the world, looking to pursue an international career in the classical music industry. We will have one space for instrumentalists, and for the first time, we will also have one space open to composers. 

 page to find out more about the programme, entry requirements and how to apply.

Entry onto the scheme for the remaining artists of the programme is via nomination by one of Classeek’s internationally renowned Artist Ambassadors. This year, ambassador nominations will be presented by Sir András Schiff, Steven Isserlis, Renaud Capuçon, and Sonia Simmenauer.

Classeek Ambassador Programme 2023-24

Applications now open!

Together with the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra and its Principal Conductor John Axelrod, we are happy to announce our new artistic partnership, offering opportunities for professional engagements and recordings sessions to both past and present artists of the Classeek Ambassador Programme. 

To begin the partnership, Classeek Ambassador Programme alumnus 

, performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The concert takes place on December 30 at the Sala Palatului, and will recorded and rebroadcast on 1st January on Romanian TV Station Antena 3 CNN. 

 will perform the Brahms Violin Concerto, on 22nd March at the Romanian Athenaeum, followed by a recording period together with the orchestra and John Axelrod. Later in the season, on 16th July, 

 will perform Beethoven's Emperor Concerto at the BMI International Competition for Conductors, alongside the competition winner. 

“I have been involved in education and career development for young professional musicians for over two decades, following the influence of my mentor, Leonard Bernstein. With Classeek and the BSO, that commitment continues at the highest artistic level making marvellously musical memories to last a lifetime.”

Both Classeek and BSO are excited to begin this collaboration, in providing new opportunities and supporting artists' careers further. More information in the BSO press release, 

Classeek partners with Bucharest Symphony Orchestra

Presenting new opportunities to Classeek artists

Viola

Paul Zientara

Paul Zientara talks with Michel Le Naour about his education, experiences, inspirations  and collaborations.

Paul Zientara Interview

with Michel Le Naour

Following last week's announcement of the finalists of our Ambassador Programme open application, we are excited to announce the final artist on our programme this season as violinist Alexey Stychkin!

Alexey, our first ever open application winner, joins eight other exceptional young artists who were nominated on the Ambassador Programme this season. Each musician will have the opportunity to perform a concert, broadcast live and in high definition from the stunning setting of Classeek’s private recital hall in Aubonne, Switzerland, and will receive opportunities for career enhancement, throughout the one-year programme.

Nominated by Sir András Schiff, 21-year-old pianist Avery Gagliano recently made her Carnegie Hall debut and released her debut album “Reflections” on the Steinway & Sons label. She gained international acclaim as the First Prize and Best Concerto Prize winner of the 10th National Chopin Piano Competition and was the only American semifinalist at the 18th International Chopin Competition in 2021.

Nominated by Renaud Capuçon, 22-year-old Paul Zientara began studying the viola at the age of seven at the Music school of Yerres in Yves Pruvot's class. In 2015, he joined the CRR (Regional Conservatory) of Paris in Françoise Gnéri's class. He regularly participates in international academies and masterclasses including the Kronberg Academy Festival

Nominated by Gautier Capuçon,  20-year-old cellist Jeein You was born in South Korea in 2002 and began studying cello at five. When she was seven she joined the Korea National University Of Arts Preschool under her tutor Chung Myung-Wha. Her ambassador Capuçon says, “Jeein is such a talented cellist and a very sensitive musician with an incredible ability to carry her emotions through music."

Nominated by Sir András Schiff, pianist Julia Hamos performs a programme of Bach, Bartók and Schumann. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Hamos currently studies with Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin and at the Kronberg Academy. In 2021 she worked with Daniel Barenboim in a succession of filmed masterclasses on Beethoven's solo piano and string sonatas.

Nominated by Sonia Simmenauer, violinist Bilal Alnemr began to study violin at the age of eight, at the Solhi-AL-WADI Conservatory. In 2007, he won the first prize in the national competition for young Syrian talents. His mentor Sonia Simmenauer says, “I was stricken when I met with Bilal the first time and his seriousness about being a musician. I admire his courage and dedication to music.”

Nominated by Sonia Simmenauer, 22-year-old Gigashvili is a frequent soloist and chamber musician working with various orchestras and taking part in festivals and masterclasses all over the world. He has always been passionate about music and was trained by famous Georgian pianist and teacher Revaz Tavadze where he continued his formal musical training at the Paliashvili Central Music School for Gifted Children. 

Nominated by Emmanuel Pahud, 24-year-old flautist Alberto Navarra began his studies under Maurizio Valentini at the Ghedini Conservatory in Cuneo. His ambassador Emmanuel Pahud says, “Alberto Navarra is a leading talent of his generation.” Alberto is also a laureate of the Severino Gazzelloni International Flute Competition and the Carl Nielsen Flute Competition.

Nominated by Sir András Schiff, 21-year-old pianist Tom Borrow began playing the piano at the age of 5 and has performed as a soloist with many native orchestras of his country, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Symphony Orchestra.

Welcomed onto the programme via the open application, Russian-Greek violinist Alexey Stychkin, born in Moscow in 2000, comes from a family with deep musical and artistic roots. He began his musical studies at the age of five and continued on to study with Marc Bouchkov at the Liege Royal Conservatory. Alexey is currently studying his masters degree at the Hochschule fur Musik und Tanz in Cologne with Mihaela Martin, and this season  holds an academy position in the first violin section of the Staatskapelle Berlin. 

Each artist on the programme will perform at the Classeek concert hall during the season, in a variety of solo, duo and chamber recitals. Find out more about our 

Ambassador Programme Artists 2022-23

Latest news

This season we have 8 wonderful emerging artists nominated onto the Classeek Ambassador programme, by our ambassadors, including pianists Avery Gagliano, Julia Hamos, Giorgi Gigashvili and Tom Borrow, flautist Alberto Navarra, violinist Bilal Alnemr, violist Paul Zientara, and cellist Jeein You. 

This year for the first time, we also opened up the programme to applicants all over the world, to fill our last space on the programme. Having received applications from very high level musicians and a diverse range of instruments and applicants, the process has been difficult. We are thankful to all artists who applied this year as we have been amazed to discover so much talent through the application process.

We are delighted to announce the 13 finalists of our Ambassador Programme open application, for season 2022-23

Following the next round of the application process, we will be announcing the final artist of our Ambassador Programme, next week. 

Open application finalists

Ambassador Programme 2022-23

Piano

Avery Gagliano

Avery joined the Classeek Ambassador Programme in season 2022-23, following her nomination by Sir András Schiff. 

Having recently made her Carnegie Hall debut and released her debut album “Reflections” on the Steinway & Sons label, 21-year-old pianist Avery Gagliano captures audiences with her sensitivity, emotional depth, and musical expression. She gained international attention as the First Prize and Best Concerto Prize winner of the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition, and as the only American semifinalist at the 18th International Chopin Competition in 2021. 

Avery Gagliano | Szymanowski, Variations in B flat minor, Op. 3

Variations in B flat minor, Op. 3

Classeek Showroom performance, September 2022

Nominated onto the Classeek Ambassador Programme by esteemed French violinist Renaud Capuçon, Paul Zientara performs a trio of lyrical viola works alongside pianist Arthur Hinnewinkel. They open the recital with Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, one of the best loved works in the orchestral repertoire, which has undergone many arrangements for every imaginable instrumentation. Extracts of the ballet are heard here for viola and piano, adapted by renowned Soviet violist Vadim Borisovsky. The drama and heightened intensity of the large-scale production are stripped back to expose the raw emotion of Prokofiev’s writing and storytelling. 

To follow, Brahms’ Viola Sonata No. 2, a mellow, intimate work with a contrasting, impassioned central movement. Originally written for the clarinet, the sonata was written at a time when the combination of clarinet and piano was rarely heard, but Brahms enjoyed experimenting with the rich variety in the clarinet’s sound and tonal colours. The altered arrangement for viola also exploits the rich colours and timbres of the instrument, before ending on a sweet, tranquil note that brings us to a calm, contented conclusion. 

To complete this expressive programme is Enescu’s Concertstück, a piece written at the turn of the 20th century as a commission from Fauré for a work for the annual viola concours at the Paris Conservatoire. It is, by its very nature, a show piece, exhibiting the full potential of the instrument and its player – but is rigorously demanding of both. Its composer Enescu was a virtuoso string player himself, still remembered as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. His cultural heritage manifests throughout the piece with a bold, rhapsodic style, with influences and elements of Romanian folk music. 

Paul Zientara, viola | Arthur Hinnewinkel, piano

Extracts from Romeo and Juliet (arr. for viola and piano)

Viola Sonata No.2 in E flat major, Op.120

Concertstück for viola and piano

Duo Recital

Julia Hamos

Nominated onto the Classeek Ambassador Programme by international superstar Sir András Schiff, pianist Julia Hamos brings a programme of works showcasing her boldness as an artist and the breadth of her technical capabilities. She begins with the fourth of Bach’s much-loved ‘French’Suites, a set of pieces initially compiled for Bach’s wife, possibly as a wedding present. These highly stylised Baroque dance movements are split into seven short movements, designed for home music-making for Bach and his students.

Hamos then cycles forward a few centuries to another set of dances, this time based on avariety of asymmetric rhythms common in Bulgarian folk music. Bartók wrote six books of Mikrokosmos, bringing together 153 pieces of music predominantly designed as teaching materials. These Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm are taken from the final book, which hasenjoyed a life beyond the practice room in the concert hall, thanks to its joyful, drivingenergy, playful motifs and grand flourishes. It’s not only the complex rhythms that makethese pieces difficult for the performer – it’s also the use of ‘biomodalism’, a widelyembraced technique at the time, in which two keys are used at the same time to create anunusual tonality. 

Hamos brings us finally to another set of piano pieces inspired by a composer’s great love. Like Bach’s French Suites, Schumann penned Davidsbündlertänze in tribute to ClaraWeick, with whom he was deeply in love at the time of writing. The set of 18 piano pieces for the piano are based on a mazurka by Clara, and the work in its entirety is a very personal tribute to her, containing, as Schumann later put it, ‘many wedding thoughts’. Davidsbündlertänze is full of vibrant characterisations and is named after the composer’s music society. The Davidbündler was a partly real, partly imaginary group of artists created by Schumann in his writings – a group organised to discuss and defend the cause of contemporary music. The two predominant members, Florestan and Eusebius, appear in much of Schumann’s work at this time but are explicitly portrayed in the Davidsbündlertänze. This selection ofintimate character pieces are shown to be musical dialogues between these two figures– symbolising the extroverted and introverted sides of Schumann’s personality respectively.

French Suite No.4

Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm from Mikrokosmos

Davidsbundlertänze Op.6

Piano Recital

Violin

Bilal Alnemr

Syrian violinist Bilal Alnemr kickstarts his time on the Classeek Ambassador Programme with a selection of sonatas by Schumann, Fauré and 20th-century Syrian composer Solhi al-Wadi. 

Opening the programme is Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, a piece written at the tail end of Schumann’s life, long after his other chamber works. Unlike these, the sonata is set in three movements as opposed to the usual four, with the central Allegretto combining the stylings of both a slow and scherzo movement. The surging main theme shows off the rich sonorities of the violin, particularly in the first movement where the low registers of both violin and piano are exploited. The second movement is faster paced, with short phrases, more frequent tempo changes and barlines hidden with syncopations and overlapping phrases. The perpetually moving finale sees the melody passed back and forth between the two instruments, before a dramatic final flourish. 

While Schumann’s sonata was one of his later successes, Fauré’s First Violin Sonata marked a turning point in his career, with fame coming rather late to the French composer. The sonata quickly made its way into the programmes of some of Europe’s top performers, including Ysaÿe, Enescu and Saint-Saëns, who was Fauré’s former piano teacher and a notable fan of his work. It was Saint-Saëns who introduced Fauré to the French mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot and her daughter Marianne, with whom Fauré quickly fell in love. The violin sonata was dedicated to her brother, Paul Viardot, who gave the premiere of the piece with Fauré himself on the piano. 

To complete this evening’s programme, Alnemr tips his hat to a fellow Syrian musician, Solhi al-Wadi. Having been born in Iraq, al-Wadi moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He spent the rest of his life in Syria, where he was a significant champion of opera and music in the country. He campaigned for the opening of various musical institutes and the Damascus Opera House, and also helped form the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra.

Bilal Alnemr, violin | Giuseppe Mentuccia, piano

Sonata in A minor, Op. 105 

Sonata No.1 in A major

Violin Sonata No.2

Flute

Alberto Navarra

Nominated to the Classeek programme by world-class flautist Emmanuel Pahud, Alberto Navarra brings a vibrant programme of chamber music to his first rehearsal on the scheme. He is joined by cello and piano for Weber’s Trio in G minor, one of the composer’s most substantial chamber pieces. With lively writing for all three instruments and plenty of melodic invention, there are opportunities for each of the musicians to dazzle audiences with their virtuosity. A melancholic, contemplative Allegro moderato gives way to a spirited waltz, before we end with a final movement referred to as Schäfers Klage (Shepherd’s Complaint or Shepherd’s Lament, an allusion to Goethe’s 1802 poem of the same name). 

We then move on to three works for flute and piano, starting with a piece originally written for clarinet and piano: Schumann’s Fantasiestücke. These have been a staple of the chamber repertoire, transcribed for various instrumentations. The three pieces are almost character studies, with sudden contrasting shifts in mood, moving from inward-looking darkness to light, extroverted buoyancy. The first piece is rather dreamy, with directions for the players to approach ‘tenderly, with expression’. The second piece moves to the major version of the key, in a much more playful, energetic temperament. The final movement stays in this new major key, but with a frenzied energy, pushing the players to their limits for a triumphant ending.

Navarra then moves us on to two prominent pieces within the 20th-century flute repertoire: Poulenc’s Sonata and Frank Martin’s Ballade, both of which have enjoyed further success in well-known orchestrated versions. The Poulenc is almost elegiac in its poignant main theme, infused with the composer’s trademark wit and playfulness. Martin is less well known as a composer, but his Ballade is an essential piece in any flautist’s arsenal. In his early life, he was influenced by French composers, particularly Fauré, before he went on to study with Schoenberg in the 1930s, which inevitably introduced new approaches to composition. The blend of these vastly different styles became Martin’s trademark, which you can hear in his Ballade – a piece with no real tonal centre but plenty of lyricism. 

Alberto Navarra, flute

Fantasiestücke op. 73 (arr. flute and piano)

Sonata for flute and piano

Ballade for flute and piano

Trio in G minor op. 63

Chamber Recital

Giorgi Gigashvili

Giorgi Gigashvili opens his programme with a pair of Scarlatti Keyboard Sonatas, a set of one-movement works with idiomatic harpsichord writing, which demands great technical proficiency from the performer. The D major is particularly challenging, asking the player to tackle multiple instances of hand crossing, parallel intervals moving together and quick, repeated note patterns. The use of these techniques reveals the development of new playing techniques of the time, which, combined with the innovative use of new musical structures, point to the emerging Classical style of the time. 

We move into the 19th century for the second part of the concert, with a set of three solo piano Intermezzi composed by Brahms towards the end of his life when he was staying in Bad Ischl, a spa town in Austria. This triptych of dreamy, elegiac pieces are autumnal in mood, supposedly once described by the composer as ‘three lullabies to my sorrow’. The first intermezzo is recognisable by its gentle rocking lullaby, featuring two lines from ‘Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament’, an old Scottish ballad. When Clara Schumann first heard of the existence of these pieces, she wrote to Brahms – a close friend – asking him to send them to her. There are subtle echoes of the ‘Clara Theme’ which ran through a lot of the work of her husband, Robert Schumann, who incidentally is the dedicatee of the final work in the programme, Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor. 

By the time Liszt’s sonata was completed in 1853, his career as a travelling virtuoso had almost entirely ended and he was focusing almost exclusively on composition. In contrast to the Brahms work, Clara Schumann refused to perform this sonata because she found it ‘merely a blind noise’. While much of the initial response was critical, Wagner praised the piece after a private performance in London. ‘The sonata is beautiful beyond compare,’ he wrote to Liszt. ‘Great, sweet, deep and noble, sublime as you are yourself. It moved me most deeply.’ In the years since, it has attracted a lot of discussion from scholars concerning its symbols and potential meanings. Some have argued that it’s autobiographical, with contrasts in the music representing the different facets of Schumann’s personality, while others have suggested that it might be a musical portrait of the Faust legend, or an allegory set in the Garden of Eden dealing with the fall of man.

*Note, the recital programme has been updated as follows: 

Schumann, Sonata Op. 11 No. 1 in F sharp minor

Sonata in C major K487

Sonata in D major K29

Three Intermezzi, Op. 117

Sonata in B minor, S 178

Tom Borrow

Nominated by Sir András Schiff, Israeli pianist Tom Borrow joins us for his debut recital on the Classeek Ambassador Programme with a commanding programme of monumental solo piano works.

He opens with a masterful triptych by César Franck, demonstrating the French composer’s unique fusion of traditional forms and innovative, unexpected harmonies. While the form of the Prelude and Fugue had been made famous by JS Bach, it had been neglected for much of the 19th

century. Franck’s attempt to revitalise the form marked a move away from sacred and organ music, which had occupied much of his early career. The Prelude, Chorale and Fugue demand both expressive depth and technical prowess of the player, with contrapuntal lines weaving around each other. Franck takes us on a journey from a majestic, heroic opening via an introspective, reflective chorale into an exhilarating climax of the final fugue.

We then move onto the work of another French composer, working a generation on from Franck. The Chorale et Variations from Dutilleux’s only piano sonata is packed full of references to a range of Soviet and French impressionist composers. Dedicated to and premiered by Dutilleux’s wife Geneviève Joy in 1948, it is one of the composer’s first mature works.

As a final offering, Tom Borrow presents one of Schumann’s finest works for solo piano and a cornerstone work in the greater Romantic repertoire. The composer referred to his Fantasie in C major as ‘perhaps the most impassioned music I have ever written’ in a letter to Clara Wieck, the woman who went on to become his wife. The piece began life as Ruines, a single-movement lament for Clara, with whom Schumann was deeply in love. Clara’s father opposed their marriage and the pair were forced to live separately during a period of great anguish for the composer. The piece was then incorporated into a ‘Grand Sonata’ for one of Schumann’s great composing idols, Beethoven. Sweeping romantic gestures are littered throughout the work, which is similarly grandiose and intimate, with moments of profound lyricism and dramatic contrasts. In its final iteration, Schumann dedicated the piece to Franz Liszt, one of the few pianists of the time who had the technique to be able to tackle the technical challenges of the second movement. Schumann demands sustained passages of simultaneous leaps in both hands, requiring a great deal of physical stamina. It remains one of the most challenging but rewarding pieces for pianists today.

Prelude, Chorale and Fugue

Chorale and variations

Fantasy in C major, Op. 17

Personally nominated to the Classeek Ambassador Programme by Sir András Schiff, pianist Avery Gagliano joins us with a recital spanning nearly 200 years and encompassing a broad range of musical styles and influences. She opens with one of the more delicate of Bach’s ‘French’ Suites, which first appeared in a music book he compiled for his second wife, possibly as a wedding present. Written in B minor, a key often reserved for some of Bach’s most impressive – and melancholic – works, the suite brings together musical influences from across Europe, making the ‘French’ moniker somewhat misleading. Following the form of a Baroque dance suite, these were designed to challenge Bach’s students as he was developing his reputation as one of Europe’s leading music teachers. 

Chopin sits at the heart of this programme, with a set of three grand, rhythmic mazurkas, thick with melodic invention and expressive range. Written during one of his summers in Nohant in France with the writer George Sand, the three mazurkas showcase the very best of Chopin’s contrapuntal writing, with contrasting lines interwoven to create a vibrant range of textures.

This gives way to Chopin’s Barcarolle in F sharp major, a piece written a few years later towards the end of the composer’s life. Although it is a lyrical work, full of sweeping romantic phrases, it’s also incredibly demanding of the pianist, requiring large interval reaches in the left hand and balanced, even passages in the right. There is a childlike simplicity and dreaminess to the playfulness of each phrase, while still being peppered with the folk-inspired harmonic language you’d expect of a barcarolle, a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers. 

Szymanowski brings us into the 20th century with his set of 10 Variations in B flat minor, dedicated to his friend and one of the world’s greatest ever pianists, Arthur Rubinstein. They follow on from Chopin’s Barcarolle with a similarly romantic style, in a hat tip to the 19th-century ideals of form construction. However, there’s a uniquely modern flavour added throughout, with moments of heavy chromaticism and dissonance thanks to Szymanowski’s bold harmonic language. 

French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 

Mazurkas, Op. 50

Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60

Cello

Jeein You

Cellist Jeein You joins the Classeek Ambassador Programme under the recommendation of Gautier Capuçon, bringing us a wide-ranging virtuosic recital programme with pianist Samuel Parent. Bookending the evening are arrangements and reimaginings of much-loved operas: Granados’s Goyescas and Bizet’s Carmen.

Goyescas was the last of Granados’s six operas, beginning life as a series of piano pieces inspired by the lavish paintings of Francisco Goya, a fellow Spaniard who had dominated the art scene a century earlier. These were later expanded into an opera, but the Intermezzo doesn’t feature in the original scores. It was added later – as many intermezzos are – to allow for staging changes between scenes. Despite this late edition, it has developed a life of its own beyond the opera halls, becoming a popular independent concert piece, performed in both orchestral and chamber arrangements. Evocative and dramatic, it is full of technical and musical challenges for both cellist and pianist, with Spanish influences heard throughout.

Moving from the sounds of Spain to the textures and sonorities of the Russian church, we are introduced to Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata in G minor, one of his most famous pieces of chamber music. Neither instrument is dominant here, with the piano introducing themes which are then embellished and expanded upon in the cello line. Written in 1901, it was a particularly critical time for Rachmaninov as a composer. He had endured a nervous breakdown and subsequent mental health crisis in 1897 following the failure of his First Symphony. 1901 signalled his return to his creative powers. His now hugely popular Second Piano Concerto was premiered in November, around the same time he started work on this sonata. 

We are brought back to the opera hall to finish, with Buxton Orr’s brilliant rendering of Bizet’s much-loved Carmen. Devised as an encore piece for a recital in 1985 New York, Orr’s Fantasy exploits the cello’s capabilities with double stopping, plucked notes and fast passages, while also remaining loyal to the original keys and Bizet’s musical style. It’s far from a whistle-stop tour of the opera’s famous tunes – they are merely hinted at, instead offering us an entirely new virtuoso composition.

Jeein You, cello | Samuel Parent, piano

Intermezzo from 'Goyescas' (arr. G. Cassadó)

Sonata in G minor, Op.19

A Carmen Fantasy (arr. Buxton Orr)

Alexey Stychkin

It is with great pleasure that we present violinist Alexey Stychkin's debut recital on the Classeek Ambassador Programme, featuring a captivating duo performance alongside pianist Raúl da Costa. The technical prowess of both musicians will be placed under the microscope this evening, with a range of demanding, diverse and highly expressive works.

The recital opens with one of Ysaÿe’s six violin sonatas, written in the early 20th century and representing the evolution of musical techniques and stylings of the time. Each sonata is dedicated to a fellow virtuoso of Ysaÿe, who was himself a celebrated violinist. The second plays homage to Ysaÿe’s friend and mentee, Jacques Thibaud, a violinist renowned for his elegant phrasing and charming tone. While the complete set of sonatas were inspired by the sonatas and partitas of JS Bach, Sonata No. 2 is subtitled ‘Obsession’ because of its particularly notable preoccupation with the great Baroque composer. The piece opens with a reference to the prelude of Bach’s Partita No. 3, which is soon dissected by Ysaÿe, who blends it with references to the Dies irae plainchant from the traditional Requiem mass.

It was Ysaÿe who, in turn, provided the inspiration for the next piece in tonight’s programme. Franck’s lone violin sonata was penned as a wedding present to Ysaÿe and his new wife, Louise Bourdeau, when they married in 1886, and quickly became a mainstay of Ysaÿe’s touring programmes around Europe. Imbued with lyricism and introspection, it has become a beloved gem in the Romantic repertoire, shifting between dramatic and delicate as the violin and piano dance around one another.

Ravel began writing his Second Violin Sonata in 1923, the very same year Ysaÿe wrote his sonatas. Unlike Ysaÿe however, Ravel wasn’t interested in the seamless interplay between the violin and piano. Instead, his focus was on their independence, describing the instruments as ‘essentially incompatible, which not only do not sink their differences, but accentuate incompatibility to an even greater degree.’ In this sonata, he celebrates their own distinct identities. As is the case in several other of Ravel’s works – not least his opera L’enfant et les sortilèges and his two piano concertos – the sonata pays tribute to the composer’s love of jazz, with its central movement ‘Blues’ referencing the American idiom with syncopations, honky-tonk rhythmic patterns and violin slides. Stychkin and da Costa will showcase Ravel’s unique blend of impressionistic and neoclassical elements in the intricate dialogues within this sonata.

From Ysaÿe’s technical brilliance to Franck’s emotional depth and Ravel’s innovative sonorities, this promises to be a fine display of music-making at its most dynamic, showing the full expressive range on offer to the violin.

Alexey Stychkin, violin | Raúl da Costa, piano

Sonata No. 2

Violin Sonata 

Violin Sonata No. 2

Duo recital

The Ambassador Programme is a one-year career enhancement programme for promising young classical musicians, ready for a performance career at the highest level. Starting this year we are opening one place on the programme per season, to young artists looking to pursue an international career as a performer, via an application process. 

The programme is open to all instrumentalists holding a Bachelor of Music or equivalent. Applicants must be aged 30 or under on August 1, 2022. 

 page to find out more about the programme and how to apply. 

Classeek Ambassador Programme 2022-23

Kim Bernard

Kim joined the Classeek Ambassador Programme in season 2021-22, following his nomination by Gautier Capuçon. 

Born in 1999, Bernard Kim began studying piano at age 5 with Michèle Mary. He later went on to study at the Lyon National Superior Conservatory with Florent Boffard and Laurent Cabasso where he earned his masters degree in 2018, after which he began the Concertiste program at the Paris Regional Conservatory. With support from the Fondation, Kim has recorded his first album, “Chopin, Debussy, Ravel” on Warner Classics & Erato (2022).

Kim Bernard | Debussy, L’isle Joyeuse

L’isle Joyeuse

Classeek Showroom performance, June 2022

Kim Bernard | Chopin, Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op.60

Barcarolle in F sharp major Op.60

Kim joined the Classeek Ambassador Programme in season 2021-22, following his nomination by Gautier Capuçon. Born in 1999, Bernard Kim began studying piano at age 5 with Michèle Mary. He later went on to study at the Lyon National Superior Conservatory with Florent Boffard and Laurent Cabasso where he earned his masters degree in 2018, after which he began the Concertiste program at the Paris Regional Conservatory. With support from the Fondation, Kim has recorded his first album, “Chopin, Debussy, Ravel” on Warner Classics & Erato (2022).

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