TALENTS
INNOVATIVE
Theodosia Ntokou, piano Alexander Bedenko, clarinet

THE CONCERT

Innovative Talents

Alexander Bedenko, clarinet
Theodosia Ntokou, piano

Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini
Jacopo Brusa, conductor

July 29, 9:15 p.m.
Rotonda Vassallo – Lerici

THE PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Ouverture from Le Nozze di Figaro

Concerto for clarinet and orchestra in A major K 622
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Rondò. Allegro

Dmitrij Šostakóvič (1906-1975)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, op. 102
1. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro

INFO

CONCERT START
The concert is scheduled to begin at 9:15 pm.  The kind audience is advised to arrive early to take their seats.

HOW TO GET THERE
Google Map

THE INTERPRETERS

Theodosia Ntokou, pianoforte
Praised by BBC Music Magazine as “dramatically poised”, “Classically aware”, “emotionally supple”, and “Refreshing”, Theodosia Ntokou has established her presence in the classical music scene with great performances and interpretations. In January 2021, Martha Argerich (a Kennedy Center Award Winner) and Theodosia Ntokou, recorded a Beethoven album, which was released by Warner Classics for Beethoven’s 250 years Anniversary, which acclaimed excellent reviews.  LA Times wrote, “refreshes as though the “Pastorale” were bathed in a crystalline mountain stream, and Norman Lebrecht from Slipped Disc called it, “The most musical account of the Pastoral since…. Bruno Walter, maybe.” Theodosia Ntokou is the Founder and Artistic Director of the annual music festival “China Music Series”, which takes place each November at the Guangzhou Opera House in China, “one of the best 10 Opera Houses in the world” voted by USA Today, in which wonderful top music personalities from the international music stage are participating each year, such as Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, Daniel Hope, Steven Isserlis, Guy Braunstein, Mischa Maisky, among many others. Theodosia Ntokou is the protégé of Martha Argerich. The friendship, mentorship and guidance that Theodosia received from the legendary pianist Martha Argerich, since they first met in 2009, has been a great inspiration and has led her to new paths in her career. Martha Argerich has spoken about Theodosia as an «Excellent, extremely talented, enthusiastic musician and a brilliant pianist with a very generous temperament.« Grammophone Magazine said “I can see why Argerich is drawn to Ntokou’s playing, for it has a certain freedom and daring.” Theodosia has performed in many Festivals such as the Festival Pianistico Brescia e Bergamo, the Sagra Musicale Malatestiana, the Progetto Martha Argerich, the Ravello Festival, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, the Martha Argerich Hamburg Festival, the Carloforte Music Festival, the Rossini Open and has performed with top orchestras and conductors around the world. The Greek pianist Theodosia Ntokou, started piano at the age of twelve and went on to graduate with honors from the National Conservatory of Athens. She continued her studies with Laszlo Simon at the Universität der Künste Berlin and simultaneously received her Postgraduate Degree from the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest. Theodosia completed her Master’s Degree with Russian pianist Oxana Yablonskaya at the University of Hartford. Theodosia Ntokou is the 1st Prize Winner of the “Young Artists International Piano Competition” (2006) and the “Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition” (2007).

Alexander Bedenko, clarinetto
The multi award-winning, Ukrainian-born American clarinetist Alexander Bedenko has appeared in recitals at Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Steinway Hall, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C and UNESCO in Paris. Graduated from the prestigious The Curtis Institute of Music, Alexander Bedenko collaborated with artists such as Vladimir Spivakov, Christoph Eschenbach, Nikolai Lugansky, Kirill Gernstein, Daniel Hope, Nabuko Imai, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Gautier Capucon and with the Borodin, Jerusalem, Alma, Ariel, Endellion and Orion string quartets. Solo appearances include the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, Romanian, Uzbekistan and Ukraine National Symphony Orchestras, Texarkana Symphony, Moscow Virtuosi, and chamber music concerts at the Colmar, Verbier, Spoleto, Malta, Mozaic and Schubertiade festivals. A former Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra principal clarinetist, Alexander Bedenko was invited by Riccardo Muti as guest principal clarinetist for a Chicago Symphony Orchestra European tour and has performed as guest principal with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser Möst. Alexander Bedenko is a Selmer Paris and D’Addario woodwinds Artist.

Jacopo Brusa, conductor