Save the date, April 19th and get your tickets soon...

In a rare move, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is presenting a concert outside its normal announced schedule.

On April 19th, the acclaimed chamber orchestra Les Violons Du Roy will be presented by the WSO in a special concert at the Westminster United Church, and as a bonus, the concert will feature the vibrant and exciting pianist from France, Alexandre Tharaud.

If you missed our interview with WSO V.P. of Artistic Operations & Community Engagement, Jean-Francois Phaneuf, watch it here!

 

 

The chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy takes its name from the renowned string orchestra of the court of the French kings. The group, which has a core membership of fifteen players, was brought together in 1984 by founding conductor Bernard Labadie and specializes in the vast repertoire of music for chamber orchestra, performed in the stylistic manner most appropriate to each era. Although the ensemble plays on modern instruments, its approach to the works of the Baroque and Classical periods has been strongly influenced by current research into performance practice in the 17th and 18th centuries; in this repertoire Les Violons du Roy uses copies of period bows. The orchestra also regularly delves into the repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, as witnessed by its recordings of works by Piazzolla, Bartók, and Britten.

Alexandre Tharaud was born in Paris on December 9, 1968. His father was a singer and director of operas. At five Alexandre began piano lessons and at 14 enrolled at the Paris Conservatory. Among his teachers there were Germaine Mounier and Théodor Paraskivesco. Tharaud had later studies with Leon Fleisher, Nikita Magaloff, and Claude Helffer. In 1987 Tharaud won the Barcelona-based Maria Callas Competition and two years later finished second at the prestigious ARD Competition in Munich. He quickly drew notice on his concert tours throughout France and Europe. Naxos issued his first recording in 1995, a disc of piano works by Milhaud, and he has since recorded over 25 other CDs. 

Tickets for the April 19th show are available here