Born in Warsaw, Poland, the young Alicja Fiderkiewicz’s outstanding musical talent was recognised at the tender age of 3 by her elder sister’s piano teacher who, upon hearing her play, immediately spotted Alicja’s tremendous potential. Two years later Alicja was accepted into the Central School of Music attached to Moscow’s Conservatoire.
Having graduated from Warsaw’s Lyceum of Music with Distinction, Alicja decided to continue her studies abroad. She entered Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, in the class of Polish pianist, Prof. Ryszard Bakst. Within 3 months of entering RNCM Alicja was awarded a scholarship for the rest of her 5 years undergraduate studies and further year as a post graduate student. Prof. Bakst was to have vast influence on Alicja’s musical development especially that of her sound, which has been described by some critics as “a sound of exquisite beauty”. Throughout her career Alicja appeared with number of major orchestras – The Halle, Da Camera, Manchester Camerata, La Scala in Milan, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Polish Radio & TV and many others and worked with number of conductors including Frank Cliff, Jacek Kaspszyk, Marek Pijarowski, Kenneth Page, Owain Orwell Hughes, Pierluigi Urbini.
8.30pm – Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen Recital
One of the most highly-acclaimed piano duos performing today, Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen are passionate advocates for the wide range of four hands and two piano repertoire. In parallel with their extensive solo careers, they have been performing together around the world and across the UK since 2001. Their close collaboration stems from a shared teacher, the inspirational Irina Zaritskaya, with whom they both studied at the Royal College of Music. Their friendship dates from 1987 during a visit of students from the Gnessin School in Moscow to the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey. The duo released a first recording for Quartz in 2016, featuring Stravinsky’s two piano ballets, the Rite of Spring and Petrushka, with a dedication to the memory of their teacher. Their second disc came out in January 2018 on Avie featuring music by Rachmaninov, recorded at Kings Place. Together, Charles and Katya are the Artistic Directors and founders of the London Piano Festival, held annually at Kings Place.
We are delighted to welcome them back to Stoller Hall for the closing recital of 2021.
