Hommage à Heifetz
Hommage a Heifetz. Birthday Concert
2 February, 19:00
The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
Katedros Square 4
In commemoration of famous violinist, Vilnius born virtuoso Jascha Heifetz at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania a beatiful concert will take place. The concert is a part of a project called GIVE MUSIC A FUTURE. Main supporter of the project is a European Union program called Creative Europe.
Project partners: EMCY, Natų knygynas, Balys Dvarionas Charity and Support Foundation, The Flying Gorillas, Het Nederlandse Viool Concours, Ugda, BT Music and Performing Arts, Juventudes Musicales.
The concert soloists are exceptional young violinists, winners of various national and international competitions (by the order of performance):
JINGZHI ZHANG, China
Grand Prix winner of the X International Balys Dvarionas Competition
Jing Zhi Zhang was born in China, in 2001 and she started playing the violin, being taught by her parents, when she was four years old. She won more than ten first prizes at the violin competitions held in China when she was seven years old; in 2010 she was the winer at the competition ”Concorso Violinistico Internazionale Andrea Postacchini”, in Italy.
In the following years he has performed in Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Lithuania and the United States.
Jing Zhi has given concerts together with the National Symphony Orchestra and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra of China, Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Moscow and others; she also was heard by the Senior Government Officials and the Prime Minister of China. From 2014 she is studying in Conservatorio della Svizzera Italia with the famous professor and violinist Pavel Berman. She performs on the Giuseppe Guarneri(1735) by the Pro Canale Foundation, Milano.
You can listen to Jing Zhi here.
JUSTINA AUŠKELYTĖ, Lithuania
2 Prize winner of the III International Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists
Justina has won awards at the most important national and international violin competitions in Lithuania. In 2009 she won the 2nd prize at the 3rd International Jascha Heifetz Competition and at other international competitions in Latvia, Czech Republic and Romania she was also highly recognized.
Holding awards from more than a dozen competitions Justina has been invited to give concerts at major music festivals in Lithuania. She often performs with symphonic and chamber orchestras, including Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra or St. Christopher chamber orchestra, as well as distinguished chamber ensembles, including Ciurlionis String Quartet and Musica Humana.
In February 2016 together with an Italian pianist Cesare Pezzi she recorded for the largest classical music label Naxos Records. Their musical album with the complete original works for the violin and piano by Balys Dvarionas will be released in May 2017.
In May 2016 Justina made her debut at Musikverein Concert Hall in Vienna, performing H. K. Gruber’s 2nd Violin concerto “Nebelsteinmusik” with the composer conducting himself.
The violinist’s following major musical performances include a concert tour in China in February and in the USA in April 2017.
Justina’s artistry comes from a distinguished lineage of teachers. For a number of years she studied with the renowned violinist Pavel Berman at the International Music Academy “Incontri col Maestro” and later at the Academy “Lorenzo Perosi”. Simultaneously she continued her studies at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy with the distinguished professor Jurgis Dvarionas. Justina also mastered her playing technique with the legendary violin professor Boris Kuschnir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz and later at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. In May 2015, having studied under the guidance of the late Stephen Clapp and Laurie Smukler, she gained a Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School in New York.
Currently the violinist is back to her hometown Vilnius. Recently she has been appointed professor assistant’s position at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy in prof. Jurgis Dvarionas’ violin studio. Justina continues performing in Lithuania and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician, participating in music festivals and innovative art projects. You can see her performance here.
JOHAN DALENE, Sweden
Laureate of the International Menuhin Competition and EMCY prize winner.
Born in Norrköping, Sweden, Johan Dalene began playing the violin aged four and made his debut with a professional symphony orchestra when he was seven. He has been studying with Professor Per Enoksson since 2011.
Johan has performed as a soloist in several countries in Europe, China and South Africa. In September 2015 he played at the Prize winner Concert in Musikverein Wien and in Summer 2016 he was invited to be a Student in Residence at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
Johan looks forward to many engagements as a soloist with orchestras in Autumn 2016, among them the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. Johan has participated in master classes with Gerhard Schulz, Alf-Richard Kraggerud, Stephan Barratt-Due, Olivier Charlier, Peter Herresthal, Dora Schwarzberg, Ilya Grubert, Philippe Graffin. He has most recently won the Junior 3rd Prize, Wieniawski Prize, the Chamber Music Award and the EMCY Prize at the Menuhin Competition London 2016. He has also won the 1st Prize in several international competitions including Talents for Europe (Slovakia), Giovani Talenti (Italy), Stockholm International Music Competition (Sweden), Øresunds Solist (Denmark) and the Kocian Violin Competition (Czech Republic).
You can watch Johan performing for the Menuhin Competition Junior First Round, Semi-Final, and Final. And you can also watch Johan playing here.
MAYUMI KANAGAWA, Japan/USA
Winner of the IV International Jascha Heifetz Competition for Violinists
Mayumi Kanagawa studied with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School Academy in Los Angeles, and with professor Masao Kawasaki as a pre-college student at the Juilliard School. Since October 2012 with professor Kolja Blacher at the University of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin.
She won the first prizes of the Irvin M. Klein Competition in San Francisco and the Jascha Heifetz Competition in Vilnius, Lithuania, and performed solo with several orchestras such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New West Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, Colburn Orchestra and Kremerata Baltica.
Mayumi has participated in many international courses and festivals, including the Verbier Festival Academy, the Aspen Music Festival, the Encore School for Strings and the New York String Orchestra Seminar.
In April 2012 she was presented in the Performance Today Young Artist Series. The recordings and interviews were broadcast nationwide on National Public Radio.
You can hear her performance here.
Contacts