Piano Island Festival | Singapore

“Aimo Pagin is a very talented young pianist, who is completely devoted to his passion, music”

- Radu Lupu

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Born in 1983, from a musical background, Aimo Pagin decided to devote himself to his passion. He started piano at age 7, at the conservatoire of Strasbourg with F. Claustre , and then at the conservatoire of Colmar with Rena Shereshevskaya, where he finished his studies , receiving unanimously the diploma for piano , music theory as well as chamber music. In 2001 he was accepted to study at the conservatoire supérieur de musique in Geneva, with Dominique Merlet for three years, ending with the highest distinction, the Diplôme de Soliste .

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He won at age 14 the First prize at the Concours musical de France in Paris. Prizewinner of the George Enescu Competition (Bucharest 2005) and of the Valsesia Musica (Milano 2006), he won (Napoli 2006) the First prize at the Premio Pianistico Pausilypon with outstanding acclaim, and made with this occasion his debut on italian national TV (RAI).

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In November 2007 he won the Second prize at the Ferrol International Piano Competition (Spain), in August 2008 the Second prize at the Jacopo Linussio International Piano Competition in Tolmezzo (Italy) and more recently the First prize at the Palma D’oro International Piano Competition (Summer 2009) and the Second prize at the Premio Faustro Zadra (Abano Terme, Italy 2010).

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Program:

• Waltz in E flat major Op. 18

• Waltz in A flat major Op. 34 No. 1

• Waltz in A minor Op. 34 No. 2

• Waltz in F major Op. 34 No. 3

• Waltz in A flat major Op. 42

• Waltz in D flat major Op. 64 No. 1

• Waltz in C sharp minor Op. 64 No. 2

• Waltz in A flat major Op. 64 No. 3

• Waltz in A flat major Op. 69 No. 1

• Waltz in B minor Op. 69 No. 2

• Waltz in G flat major Op. 70 No. 1

• Waltz in F minor Op. 70 No. 2

• Waltz in D flat major Op. 70 No. 3

• Waltz in A minor [op. posth.]

• Waltz in E minor [op. posth.] (n. 14) on the Polish Edition.

Venue : Esplanade Recital Studio

Date: 02.07.2019

Time: 6pm

Born in Besançon, Cassard was trained at the Conservatoire de Paris where he won two first prizes, for piano (Dominique Merlet's class) and for chamber

music (Geneviève Joy's class) in 1982. He then spent two years (1983–85), at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Hans Graf's and Erik Werba (fr)'s classes). After perfecting his skills with Nikita Magaloff, he was awarded at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, then in 1988 he won the famous Dublin International Competition. 

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A regular producer at France Musique since 2005 with more than 400 broadcasts of Notes du traducteur, a program that was crowned by the SCAM prize for "best sound work" in 2007, all radios combined. A boxed set of 6 CDs containing some of the programmes he devoted to Schubert was released at the end of 2011 (France Musique/Harmonia Mundi) and won the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles-Cros. In 2015, another 6-CD box set was issued, this time dedicated to Debussy.

Since September 2014, he has been collaborating on the broadcast Classic avec Dessay on France Inter, providing the musical programming.

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He has been giving masterclasses since 2008 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (Visiting Tutor), and at the Tibor Varga Academy[10] in Sion (Switzerland) during the summer. He was a jury member at international competitions in Geneva, Epinal, Dublin, Melbourne.

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Philippe Cassard is the author of an essay dedicated to Schubert (Actes Sud - Classica, 2008) and an interview book with Jean Narboni and Marc Chevrie Deux temps trois mouvements (Capricci, 2012) devoted to music and cinema.

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Program:

DEBUSSY:

• Reflets dans l'eau

• Ondine 

• Poissons d'or

• La Cathédrale engloutie 

• Brouillards 

• Jardins sous la pluie 

• L'Isle Joyeuse
  
  SCHUBERT:

• Sonata D.959 in A major

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Venue : Esplanade Recital Studio

Date: 02.07.2019

Time: 8pm

"Fortunately we are in the best hands of the Italian pianist, who plays these sonatas with sensitivity, kind stolen and beautiful sound" (Hastings)

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A pupil of Aldo Ciccolini, who called him an ‘excellent, high-class, convincing, brilliant, impressive pianist’, the only one to whom the great master handed over his legacy in the form of an exciting book published by Curci. "Conversations with Aldo Ciccolini". Dario Candela has matured as a musician with guidance of Sergio Fiorentino and Fausto Zadra, Dario possesses a knowledge of the piano based on the great Neapolitan tradition.

He plays solo and in various chamber ensembles collaborating in dozens of concerts with the Italian Virtuosi, the San Carlo Soloists, Rocco Filippini, Alain Meunier, Antony Pay, Francesco Manara, Luca Signorini, Rita Marcotulli, Eric Porche, Martin Stegner, Hans Udo Heinzmann and also with Aldo Ciccolini, Bruno Canino and Roberto De Simone, in venues and institutions such as the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Mercadante in Naples, Teatro de la Commedie Francaise in Paris and abroad: Belgium, Spain, Greece, France, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, States US, Romania, Poland, Serbia.

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He recorded for the Phoenix Classic, Naxos, Brilliant and for Dynamic the complete Sonata by Cimarosa considered by the German magazine Pianonews "wonderful (Schafer)" and hailed by the American critics as the first performance that returns to the sonata of Cimarosa their fair value

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Piano City artistic director of Naples for five editions, the big event, which has had a following of 35,000 spectators, has served as coordinator of the classical section, involving hundreds of artists, from the youngest to internationally renowned professionals.

Program:​

​CIMAROSA:

• Sonata in A minor. Largo (C.55)

• Sonata in A major. Allegro (C47)

• Sonata in Bb minor. Andantino (C.70)

• Sonata in D minor. Andante con moto (C79)

• 10 Sonata in C major. Allegro (C88)

MOZART:

• Sonata No. 13 KV 333 in si b magg

• Sonata No. 14 KV 457 in do mineur

• Sonata No. 17 si bem. Magg K. 570

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Venue : Esplanade Recital Studio

Date: 03.07.2019

Time: 6pm

Poom graduated from the Royal College of Music (RCM), London where he earned the prestigious International Artist Diploma in 2014 and a Master's Degree in Performance (Distinction) in 2013, which received an exceptional high distinction for both solo piano and chamber music. Recently, he was awarded the most prestigious Tagore Gold Medal for his great contribution to RCM, which was presented to him by HRH The Prince of Wales on May 2014. He also recieved his Bachelor of Music (Honours) with Hopkinson Gold Medal and the Sarah Mundlak Memorial Prize for Piano from the RCM for the best fourth year Graduation recital in 2011. Other important awards at RCM have included the John Chisell Schumann Award (2009) and 1st prize in RCM Concerto Competition where he performed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no.2 in G minor, op.16 with RCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Phillip Ellis (2011).

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In addition to an outright win in Novi Sad, Poom also have won many prizes including 1st prize and audience prize at the UK Intercollegiate Sheepdrove Piano Competition (2009), 1st prize at Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Soloist Competition (2008), 2nd prize and a special prize for the best performance of Liszt at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Budapest (2008), 1st prize of Thailand International Piano Competition (2011). Most recently, he was awarded First Prize in the Grand Final of Sussex International Piano Competition (2013) where he performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 3 with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Gibbons in the final round.

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Program:

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BEETHOVEN:

• Sonata Op. 109
  
  CARL VINE:

• Sonata No. 1
  
  KHACHATURIAN:

• Vocalise
  
  SCRIABIN:

• Etude Op. 42 No. 5 

• Etude Op. 65 No. 3
  
  MEDTNER:

• Sonata Ballade Op. 28

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Venue : Esplanade Recital Studio

Date: 03.07.2019

Time: 8pm

Featuring prize winners of the 3rd International Piano Island Festival Competition

Program: TBC

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Venue : Singapore Chinese Cultural Center  

Date: 07.07.2019

Time: 5pm