Charles Richard-Hamelin – Saturday February 29, 2020 | NOCCA - North Okanagan Community Concert Association

Charles Richard-Hamelin

Charles Richard-Hamelin
Saturday February 29, 2020 7:30 pm
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Charles Richard-Hamelin – Impressively credentialed, award winning Quebec-born pianist returns to Vernon, bringing the sheer beauty of his playing; mesmerizing audiences with passion, sensitivity and dynamic performances.

“Playing of this insight and maturity is rare. The pianist always displays sterling technique and agility.” Geoffrey Newman.

NOCCA is very pleased to welcome back Charles Richard-Hamelin to our Performing Arts stage on Saturday, February 29 at 7:30pm. Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian Zimerman award of the best sonata at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, Charles Richard-Hamelin stands out as one of the most important pianists of his generation. He also won the second prize at the Montréal International Musical Competition and the third prize and special award for the best performance of a Beethoven sonata at the Seoul International Music Competition in South Korea. Charles was recently awarded the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec and the prestigious Career Development Award offered by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto.

Originally from Lanaudière in Québec, Charles Richard-Hamelin studied with Paul Surdulescu, Sara Laimon, Boris Berman and André Laplante. He is a graduate from McGill University, the Yale School of Music, the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and now works on a regular basis with pianist Jean Saulnier.

Charles Richard-Hamelin’s 2018 -2019 season was marked by three tours in Asia (Japan, Korea and China), the recording of the second volume of Beethoven’s complete sonatas for piano and violin with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal concertmaster Andrew Wan, the recording of Chopin’s two concertos with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal conducted by Kent Nagano, a solo recording of Chopin’s Ballades and Impromptus and over 75 concerts in Canada, Asia, Europe and the United States. In 2019 both the 2018 Beethoven sonata and the 2019 Chopin concerto recordings were awarded ADISQ (Quebec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries) Felixes. The 2019 Chopin concerto recordings is listed at #2 and the Ballades and Impromptus recording at #6 on the CBC’s 20 favorite classical music albums for 2019.

For a young pianist (he turned 30 in July), Richard-Hamelin already has deep experience with Chopin’s Ballades and Impromptus, having played them the world over since winning the silver medal and Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition. “It’s really a blessing,” he explained to CBC Music when this album appeared. “This way I get to continue my lifelong exploration of his music, which still fascinates me so much. Chopin is usually all about grey areas.” His engagement — intellectual and emotional — with these pieces is palpable, and while he covers a huge dynamic range, his interpretation is never exaggerated or flamboyant. Some of the credit goes to producer/recording engineer Carl Talbot, who found the perfect balance between proximity and space to allow Richard-Hamelin’s pristine, bell-like tone to ring out. www.charlesrichardhamelin.com

Opening the performance is pianist Noah Wessels, a 17 year old grade 11 student who attends Vernon Christian School. He started playing piano in November 2015 after watching virtuosic music performance videos online. Noah studies piano with Daisy Penner at VCMS where he also takes violin lessons with Imant Raminsh, and he plays second violin in the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Click on the image/link below to view a video of Charles Richard-Hamelin: