Emerging pianist Phạm Lê Phương will perform Jonathan Leshnoff's piece. Photo courtery of the organiser

HÀ NỘI — Concertante for 2 Violins and Piano by Grammy-nominated composer Jonathan Leshnoff will be performed at the Grand Hall of the Việt Nam National Academy of Music (VNAM) on June 28.

The concert marks the Asian premiere of the piece, which honours Pepito Figueroa of the legendary Puerto Rican Figueroa musical family dynasty. Known as the 'Figueroa Stradivarius', Pepito was widely considered the most extraordinary Puerto Rican violinist and teacher of all time.

Figueroa’s son, Pepe Figueroa, commissioned Leshnoff to write a piece for two violins and piano. Leshnoff and Christopher Zimmerman later collaborated on orchestrating the piece for a full orchestra and two violins.

The piece captures the arc of Figueroa’s career and eventual passing of his violin from one musician to another.

Leshnoff is renowned for his music's striking harmonies, structural complexity, and powerful themes. The Baltimore-based composer has been ranked among the most performed living composers in recent seasons, with performances by over 100 orchestras.

He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville and Pittsburgh, among others.

Leshnoff’s compositions have also been premiered by classical music’s most celebrated soloists, including Gil Shaham, Johannes Moser, Manuel Barrueco, Noah Bendix-Balgley and Joyce Yang.

"Listeners of a concertante experience the rich interplay between the solo instruments and the orchestra, as well as among the solo instruments themselves -- at times harmonising, engaging in counterpoint, conversing or chasing one another in musical dialogue," said musicologist Mai Đức Hạnh.

"In the version performed here, however, the orchestral part is played by piano instead. It follows the classical tradition of three movements, offering a full emotional journey throughout the piece."

The piece will be performed by violinists Chương Vũ and Đào Mai Anh and pianist Phạm Lê Phương.

Phương is a young pianist from Hà Nội. After her studies with Đào Trọng Tuyên at VNAM she was accepted into the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where she studied under Professor Fabio Bidini.

She currently studies under the insightful guidance of Dr. Michael Baron, who holds a Ph.D. in Piano Performance, at the Bower School of Music at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Most recently, she was awarded the second prize in the Sarasota Artists Competition, along with an invitation to perform a future solo concert.

The concert also features Moritz Moszkowski's Suite in G Minor for Two Violins and Piano, Ástor Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Paul Schoenfield's Café Music.

Café Music was composed for violin, cello and piano by Schoenfield, a well-known American-Jewish musician. The idea came to him in 1985 after sitting in one night for the pianist at Murray’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge in Minneapolis.

Murray’s employed a house trio which played entertaining dinner music in a wide variety of styles. Schoenfield's intention was to compose a kind of high-class dinner music -- music that could be played at a restaurant but might also find its way into a concert hall. The piece he wrote later went on to become a concert hall hit.

"The audience can feel the atmosphere of the Broadway stage through the humorous and spontaneous lens of jazz, gypsy and musical theatre elements in this piece," Hạnh said.

This is the Vietnamese premiere of Café Music.

The concert will begin at 8pm at the Grand Hall at 77 Hào Nam Street. Tickets are available online at https://quickom.net/event/3073 or by calling 038 6610815, 083 8948537 or 094 5521888. — VNS