Programme:
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Concert Piece for clarinet, basset horn and piano No. 2 in D minor, Op. 114
M. Ravel: Piece in the form of Habanera for clarinet and piano
G. Gershwin: Three Preludes for clarinet and piano
B. Kovács: Hommage à Feidman for clarinet and piano
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C. Saint-Saëns: Sonata for basson and piano in G major, Op. 168
M. Glinka: Trio Pathétique for clarinet, basson and piano in D minor
François Benda was born in Brazil to a musical family. He studied clarinet, composition and conducting in Graz and Geneva, debuting as a soloist in the latter city in 1988. In 1991 he was awarded the Premio Internazionale Gino Tani per le Arti dello Spettacolo in Rome. Today he performs in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and appears as a soloist with leading orchestras. Alongside his activities as a soloist and conductor, he is a professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin and also teaches at the City of Basel Music Academy.
Norwegian bassoonist Ole Kristian Dahl began playing the bassoon at twelve and commenced his studies at the University of Stavanger in Norway at the age of just sixteen. He has taught bassoon at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts since 2008 and has been Visiting Bassoon Professor at the Royal College of Music in London since 2017. He has been principal bassoon of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (National Orchestra of Sweden) since 2016. His first job as solo bassoon was with the Malaysian Philharmonic in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, while he was still a student at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Geneva. After completing his studies in Switzerland, he enrolled at the University of Music in Hanover.
The Latvian pianist Elina Gotsouliak has been described as one of the most promising and versatile pianists of her generation. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Riga, she went on to study with Rudolf Bachbinder in Basel. The winner of multiple prizes, she is also an outstanding harpsichordist. She has been teaching at Basel Academy of Music since 2010.
