The award-winning classical pianist was Sarah-Jo Kirsch's guest live in studio to talk about Wednesday's concert with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

The piano super­star first appeared with the MCO in 1991, and he's been one of the high points of every sea­son in which he has appeared with the chamber orchestra. Wednesday night's performance will be MCO's season opener.

Marc-André Hamelin is ranked among the elite of world pianists for his unrivaled blend of musicianship and virtuosity in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the neglected music of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Watch his interview with Classic 107's Sarah Jo Kirsch below.

 

Over the summer Hamelin returned to the BBC Proms for the Ravel Left Hand piano concerto BBC NOW and François Xavier Roth, a work he repeats at the Colorado Music Festival. Recitals included the Ruhr Piano Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Festival Cully Classique, the International Keyboard Festival in New York City, Aspen Music Festival, and Wigmore Hall.

For the 2015/16 season, Hamelin will perform with the London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski at the Alte Oper Frankfurt (Liszt Totentanz and Rachmaninoff's Paganini Variations) and again later in the season at the Royal Albert Hall for performances and recording of Rachmaninoff Cto. No. 3 and Medtner Cto. No.2. He will tour North America in Liszt 1 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer to Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Maison symphonique de Montréal. And he has a three part residency at the Muziekgewbouw in Amsterdam, and debuts at the Teatro alla Scala with the La Scala Orchestra led by Jakob Hrusa.

Orchestral appearances in North America include Edmonton, Los Angeles Chamber, Manitoba, National Arts Centre, Quebec, San Diego, and Toronto Symphony orchestras. In addition to the London Philharmonic, in Europe Hamelin appears with the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Hallé, the Lucerne Symphony and the Orchestra Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in repertoire ranging from Mozart to Brahms, Ravel and Messiaen.

At Wednesday night's MCO performance Hamelin will be performing Valentyn Sylvestrov's The Mes­sen­ger plus a work by Geor­gian com­poser Giya Kancheli.

Watch Hamelin perform Chopin's Ballade No. 3 below.

 

 

The concert begins at 7:30 PM Wednesday night (Oct 14) at Westminster United Church. Tickets range from $10 for students to $32 for adults.

They are available at McNally Robinson Booksellers, the West End Cultural Centre, Organic Planet or by calling the MCO Ticketline at

204.783.7777