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An evening of flute and piano music highlighting hidden gems of chamber music and well-known repertoire written between 1940 and 1980. The programme will focus on composers whose lives were greatly affected by their countries’ ever-changing views on their art.
Schnittke Suite in the Old Style
Prokofiev Flute Sonata Op. 94 - interval - Szeligowski Sonata for Flute and Piano Gubaidulina Allegro Rustico Gubaidulina Sounds of the Forest Taktakishvili Sonata for Flute and Piano 
Supported by the Oleg Prokofiev Trust
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credit: Madeline Robinson
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Aleksandra Henszel is an award-winning flautist whose accolades include The Musicians’ Company Lambert Scholarship, Patricia Prindl Prize and The Countess of Munster Derek Butler Award. As a classical soloist, chamber and orchestral musician she has performed at some of Europe's most famous concert halls including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Royal Albert Hall. Aleksandra is a Britten-Pears Young Artist 2020.
Aleksandra enjoys a busy freelance career, giving solo and chamber music recitals at venues such as King's Place, Southbank Centre, Elgar Room and festivals including Flute Festival Peñalolén in Chile, Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, St Lawrence Jewry Chamber Music Festival and The Great Yarmouth Arts Festival. She also works with orchestras nationally and internationally, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Arensky Chamber Orchestra and The NGF Orchestra (Italy). Aleksandra's formal musical training began at the age of seven in her hometown Szczecin, Poland. At the age of nine she received the City of Szczecin Artist Scholarship, the highest accolade in her region, and ten years later started her professional career in the UK. During her studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she took the Principal Flute seat for an RCS/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra project which culminated in recording and broadcast of works by Stravinsky and Copland on BBC Radio Scotland and took part in an El Sistema Scotland project with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel. Whilst pursuing her Masters' degree at the Royal College of Music London, Aleksandra had the pleasure of performing Principal Flute at a Gala concert with singers from Opera Australia at Buckingham Palace, organised by Prince Charles in 2015. Aleksandra is also a passionate traditional, folk and world dance music player and she regularly performs with her band Narnain across Europe, from Greece to Scotland. |
credit: Madeline Robinson
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credit: Kaupo Kikkas
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Praised for playing of 'determined cohesion' (The Gramophone) and 'compelling conviction' (The Telegraph) Maksim Štšura is an Estonian pianist and music scholar based in London.
He performs extensively as soloist and chamber musician in the prestigious concert halls across the United Kingdom and internationally, including the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in London, Buckingham Palace, Bridgewater Hall, Usher Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, as well as for the New York Chamber Music Festival and Cervantino Festival in Mexico. He received his Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from the Royal College of Music, studying under Gordon Fergus-Thompson. Maksim was a Mills Williams Junior Fellow for 2013-14. In 2014 Maksim started his Doctoral course at the RCM, supported by a Leverhulme Postgraduate Studentship and Mr Nigel Woolner MBE. His research is focused on the piano transcriptions of the contemporary orchestral scores. Maksim has won prizes in several international competitions, including First Prizes at the 7th Estonian Piano Competition (2008) and the BPSE Intercollegiate Beethoven Piano Competition (2013). His regular collaborators include violinist Eunsley Park, cellists Ariana Kashefi and Jamal Aliyev. As a pianist in the Foyle-Štšura Duo, Maksim won the BPSE Duo Competition and the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in 2015, played live on BBC Radio 3, NPO Radio 4 and Estonian Klassikaraadio and recorded for Delphian Records and Challenge Classics. Maksim is a Trustee of the Mills Williams Foundation. |