Newport Classical today announced that it will present its next Chamber Series concert featuring pianist Eric Lu.
Hailed by the Guardian as “a veritable poet of the keyboard,” Eric Lu makes his Newport Classical debut at Newport Classical’s home venue, Newport Classical Recital Hall, on Friday, January 26, 2024, at 7:30 pm, in a program of music by J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Chopin.
Eric Lu won the First Prize at The Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018 at 20. The following year, he signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics and has since collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and been presented in major recital venues. The Massachusetts native has performed with leading orchestras, including the London Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and more. As a recitalist, he has been presented worldwide at the Cologne Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and more. In addition to The Leeds International Piano Competition and Chopin International Competition, Lu has been awarded the International German Piano Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Lu begins his performance in Newport with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother, BMV 992. The Capriccio is set in six movements, with each section outlining a different moment in a close friend’s departure. His concert will also include Schubert’s Four Impromptus, Op. 90, composed in 1827, reflects the Romantic era’s lyricism in a series of vignettes. Lu will perform several selections from Felix Mendelssohn’s 48 Songs without Words, published between 1830-47. In these Songs, Mendelssohn relies on the power of music without any text to convey lyricism and meaning. Lu closes his Newport Classical program with Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, a monumental technical and interpretive feat of virtuosity. Despite the lack of critical acclaim upon its 1844 publication, Chopin’s third sonata has since been recognized as one of the revered composers’ most important contributions to the repertoire.
Newport Classical’s next performance on February 23 features the Galvin Cello Quartet, which burst onto the scene after capturing the Silver Medal at the 2021 Fischoff and 2022 Victor Elmaleh competitions. Bassoonist Eleni Katz and pianist Evren Ozel take the stage on March 22 in a program celebrating the many facets of the bassoon, featuring music by Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Coleridge-Taylor, and more. On April 26, the award-winning Balourdet Quartet, which recently won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, will present a program featuring Mozart, Beethoven, and Karim Al-Zand. Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuźma, praised as a “standout” with “star quality” by Opera News, performs a program spanning from Chopin to Rachmaninoff to Rodgers and Hammerstein on May 17. On June 7, pianist Asiya Korepanova closes the Chamber Series with music by Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Beach, Chopin, and more. The 2024 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-21, 2024, with programming to be announced on March 26.
For Newport Classical’s complete concert calendar, visit www.newportclassical.org/concerts
