Chetham's School of Music

1.45pm – Alim Beisembayev Young Artists Recital

In preparation for the final stages of the Leeds International Piano Competition we are thrilled to welcome Alim for the first of six recitals presented by the three young finalists.

The competition takes place in early September and we are delighted to support these outstanding young pianists as they prepare for this important event. Alim is well known to summer school participants as the winner of the Manchester Concerto Competition in 2017.

5.15pm – Classical improvisation at the piano: too much to choose from? Simon Parkin

7pm – Schumann Kriesleriana – Lecture Recital, Christopher Elton

We are delighted to welcome Christopher to give a lecture recital on Kreisleriana. Schumann’s Kreisleriana has long been one of the works for which pianists feel a very special and close affinity. But for audiences it can, with its quixotic changes of character and strange passages of almost neurotic introspection, seem quite impenetrable.

In a letter to his wife Clara, Schumann reveals that she has figured largely in the composition of Kreisleriana: ‘I’m overflowing with music and beautiful melodies now – imagine, since my last letter I’ve finished another whole notebook of new pieces. I intend to call it Kreisleriana. You and one of your ideas play the main role in it, and I want to dedicate it to you – yes, to you and nobody else – and then you will smile so sweetly when you discover yourself in it.’

Christopher Elton is much in demand overseas both as a teacher and as a jury member for international competitions. Within the last few years he has given masterclasses in the USA, Japan, Israel, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany Ireland and Vietnam.

Christopher Elton website

8.30pm – Dina Parakhina

After graduating with a “Diploma of Distinction” from both the Central Music School and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Dina Parakhina went on the become one of the youngest-ever members of the Central Music School faculty when she inherited the chair formerly held by her teacher, professor Tamara Bobovich. She occupied this post for fifteen years until she moved to the UK in 1996, and was one of the most-wanted pedagogues in her native Russia. She combined teaching with a busy performing career, collaborating with many outstanding instrumentalists, singers and conductors, as well as playing with major Russian orchestras, giving recitals and making TV and radio broadcasts at the most prestigious venues in Moscow and other cities of the former Soviet Union.

Dina is in great demand both as a performer and teacher. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the Stoller Hall for a solo recital.

Dina Parakhina website