Wigmore Hall's entrance is framed by a distinctive iron and glass canopy

Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both grandly impressive yet intimate enough for recitals of chamber music. With near perfect acoustics, the Hall became quickly celebrated across Europe, acquiring almost legendary attraction for the greatest artists of the 20th century. Today the Hall promotes some 400 concerts a year and broadcasts a weekly concert on BBC Radio 3 attracting an audience of several hundred thousand listeners as well as a worldwide internet audience.^[1] The Hall also promotes an extensive education programme throughout London and beyond.

Originally named the Bechstein Hall, it was built between 1899 and 1901 by C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik, the German piano manufacturer whose showroom was next door. The hall was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt, who also designed the Savoy Hotel on The Strand. Similar concert halls were also built by Bechstein in Saint Petersburg and Paris.

The building follows the Renaissance style, using alabaster and marble walls to furnish a flat, rectangular hall with a small raised stage area complete with a cupola depicting the Soul of Music^[2] above. The hall is considered to have one of the best acoustics for classical music in Europe.^[3] It was refurbished in 2004 and was widely praised for being completed on time and on budget. The Hall's current capacity including stalls and balcony is 545 seats.^[4] In 2005, the Wigmore Hall Trust purchased a long lease of 300 years for £3.1m.^[5]

The "Bechstein Hall" opened on 31 May 1901 with a concert featuring the virtuoso pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni and violinist Eugène Ysaÿe.^[4] During its early period, the Hall attracted great artists like Artur Schnabel, Pablo Sarasate, Percy Grainger, Myra Hess, Arthur Rubinstein, Camille Saint-Saëns and Max Reger.

Because of its German ownership, the hall was seized as enemy property during World War I. The hall with over 130 pianos was sold at an auction to Debenhams for a fraction of its value and was re-opened as Wigmore Hall in 1917. Wigmore Hall has had an important relationship with living composers throughout its history; many great artists including Sviatoslav Richter, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Victoria de los Ángeles, Sergey Prokofiev, Shura Cherkassky, Paul Hindemith, Andrés Segovia, Benjamin Britten and Francis Poulenc have performed there. In 1929 Wigmore Hall hosted the third international congress of the World League for Sexual Reform.^[6]

The Wigmore Hall's current director is Limerick born John Gilhooly, a classical singer. He joined the Wigmore Hall as CEO in 2000 and became Artistic Director in addition in 2005 at the age of 32.^[7] On 31 August 2007 a new commissioning scheme for modern composers was announced by the Hall's Director.

The previous Artistic Director was Paul Kildea. William Lyne served as director from 1966 to 2003. Frequent current performers at the Hall include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Stephen Kovacevich, Andras Schiff, Joshua Bell, Maxim Vengerov, Thomas Quasthoff, Ian Bostridge, Susan Graham, Angela Hewitt, Mark Padmore, Steven Isserlis, Sir Thomas Allen, Matthias Goerne, Dame Felicity Lott, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Simon Keenlyside, Anne Sofie von Otter, Wolfgang Holzmair, Soile Isokoski, the Nash Ensemble, The King's Consort, the Beaux Arts and Florestan Trios and the Emerson, Endellion, Artemis, Hagen, Jerusalem and Zehetmair Quartets. The Hall's first Composer in Residence from 2009 was Luke Bedford;^[8] his successor from 2012 will be Julian Anderson.^[9][10]

The Wigmore Hall also publishes on its own record label Wigmore Hall Live recordings of concerts by prominent artists, receiving the special award Label of the Year in the 2011 Gramophone Awards.^[11] The label entered the classical charts with a recital by the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, which has also been nominated for a Gramophone Award.

The Hall also has a programme of educational events, including a series of concerts for under-5s called "Chamber Tots", and a number of concerts for schools.

It is sometimes referred to as "Wiggers".^[12]

See also[link]

• List of concert halls

References[link]

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External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wigmore Hall

• Official website

Coordinates: 51°31′00″N 0°08′57″W / 51.516535°N 0.149292°W / 51.516535; -0.149292

Sergio Daniel Tiempo (born February 24, 1972) is a Venezuelan-Argentine classical pianist. He has studied under some of the best known pianists.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Sergio Tiempo began playing the piano at an early age. His first teacher was his mother, Lyl Tiempo, who began teaching him before he turned three. He achieved early acclaim by appearing on Argentine television when he was four years old and gave concerts in London and France at age seven.

In 1980, eight years old, he received special recognition at the Ealing Music Festival (London). In 1985 he performed at Doelen Concert Hall in Rotterdam with his sister Karin Lechner who was born several years earlier in Buenos Aires in 1965. They performed music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georges Bizet, Darius Milhaud, and of Manuel Infantes. This concert was recorded live and issued on LP and CD. In the following year, 1986, he was awarded the Alex De Vries prize, named after the Belgian pianist of Dutch origin. That same year he gave a solo recital at The Concertgebouw. This live performance was recorded as well and released on LP and CD.

His list of teachers has included Tessa Nicholson, Maria Curcio, Pierre Sancan, Michel Béroff, Jacques Detiege, Alan Weiss and Nelson Freire. He has also attended the International Piano Academy Lake Como, where he worked with Dimitri Bashkirov, Fou Ts'ong, Murray Perahia and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He has also been taught by and performed with Martha Argerich. Argerich remains one of his staunchest supporters.

Since his emergence in 1986, Tiempo has performed and recorded regularly all over the world. His tours have included frequent trips to Japan, recitals in many of the greatest European concert halls, and performances in numerous North American cities. He frequently participates in music festivals, including the Progetto Martha Argerich, where he performs every year. He also performs regularly with his sister, pianist Karin Lechner. Among his most significant chamber-music collaborations are recordings and performances with the cellist Mischa Maisky, whose daughter, a concert pianist, has studied piano with Tiempo's mother.

He has recorded several collections of classical music, and has received particular praise for his interpretation of Gaspard de la nuit by Ravel and for his versions of the Chopin Nocturnes.^[1]

References[link]

1. ^ Intermusica / Artists / Sergio Tiempo / Reviews

External links[link]

• SergioTiempo.com

• Arts Management Group Biography

Mark Padmore is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera.

Born in London 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent in England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1982 with an honours degree in music.

He was first recognised as a singer with potential by William Christie and Philippe Herreweghe, with whom he sang several pieces written by Bach. His operatic experience is well-rounded and extensive, performing songs from such operas as Don Giovanni, Jephtha, and Platée. He has performed at various festivals, including the Edinburgh Festival and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

References[link]

• Artist's website, accessed 25 January 2010
• Management webpage, accessed 25 January 2010
• Mark Padmore at the Internet Movie Database
• New York Times review by Steve Smith (February 26, 2009), accessed 25 January 2010
• Classical Archives Interview

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Iestyn Davies (born 16 September 1979) is a British classical countertenor.

Education and background[link]

Iestyn Davies was a boy treble in the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. He began singing countertenor in his teens, at Wells Cathedral School. He returned to St John's as a choral scholar, graduating in archaeology and anthropology. He gained his DipRAM from and was later appointed ARAM by the Royal Academy of Music.^[1] In 2004 he won the Audience Prize at the London Handel Singing Competition.^[2] In 2010 he was named Young Artist of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society.^[3] He is the son of cellist Ioan Davies, a founder member of the Fitzwilliam Quartet and a member of St. John's College.^[4]

Performance[link]

Iestyn Davies's opera career to date has included ^[5] the role of Ottone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea for both Zürich Opera ^[6] and Glyndebourne Festival Opera,^[7] and in Handel's Partenope he has sung Arsace for New York City Opera ^[8] and Armindo for English National Opera.^[9] He has sung Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Houston Grand Opera,^[10] Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice for English National Opera ^[11] and Hamor in Handel's Jephtha for both Welsh National Opera^[12] and Opéra National de Bordeaux. In 2010 he sang Creonte in Agostino Steffani's Niobe at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In 2011, he sang the part of Unulfo in Handel's Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

He has appeared in concert at ^[5] Teatro alla Scala with Gustavo Dudamel, at the Concertgebouw and the Tonhalle with Ton Koopman, at the Barbican, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Lincoln Centre, and at the Royal Albert Hall in the BBC Proms.^[13] He has worked with many leading orchestras including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the King's Consort, Northern Sinfonia, the English Concert, the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin, Retrospect Ensemble, the Parley of Instruments, Il Complesso Barocco, the Gabrieli Consort and Players, the Minnesota Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Concerto Köln, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, Fretwork and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Leading interpreters with whom Iestyn Davies has collaborated include ^[5] conductors Rinaldo Alessandrini, Philippe Bender, Harry Bicket, Ivor Bolton, Frans Brüggen, Harry Christophers, Stephen Cleobury, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Alan Curtis, Steven Devine, Richard Egarr, John Eliot Gardiner, Edward Gardner, Jane Glover, Paul Goodwin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Matthew Halls, Nikolas Harnoncourt, Edward Higginbottom, David Hill, Benedict Hoffnung, Christopher Hogwood, Peter Holman, Robert King, Nicholas Kraemer, Stephen Layton, Iain Leddingham, Charles Mackerras, Paul McCreesh, Kenneth Montgomery, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Kent Nagano, Donald Nally, James O'Donnell, Enrico Onofri, Daniel Reuss, Jeffrey Skidmore, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Charles Stewart, Patrick Summers, Elizabeth Wallfisch and Dominic Wheeler, and recitalists Julius Drake, Mark Padmore, Philip Langridge and Roger Vignoles.

Iestyn Davies's future engagements ^[14] include a Carnegie Hall recital debut, his debut at the Metropolitan Opera to which he is re-invited for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and his Chicago Lyric Opera debut. He will sing his first full operatic performance for La Scala in the coming season in Death in Venice. In London, he will sing the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at English National Opera.

Recordings[link]

Iestyn Davies has an extensive and growing discography including a Wigmore Live CD (2010) of a 2009 recital with his own Ensemble Guadagni and three recordings as a treble chorister.

• Discography

Reviews[link]

• The Guardian (2010)
• Time Out (2010)
• The New York Times (2010)
• The Independent (2009)
• Press clippings

Other external links[link]

• Official website
• Askonas Holt artist management
• Wigmore Hall podcast: Iestyn Davies in conversation
• New York City Opera podcast: Iestyn Davies and Anthony Roth Costanzo discuss the countertenor voice
• Iestyn Davies sings Vivaldi

References[link]

Simon Trpcheski (Simon Trpčeski), OMM (Macedonian: Симон Трпчески) (born September 18, 1979, in Skopje, Macedonia), is a Macedonian classical pianist.

The youngest of three children, his father was a judge and his mother a pharmacist.^[1] In 2002, he received his degree in music from the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, where he studied with Professor Boris Romanov. By then he had already made his debut in recital at London's Wigmore Hall in 2001 and had won prizes in international competitions in the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Italy.

Building on his exposure as a member of the BBC New Generation Scheme 2001-2003, Trpčeski has since 2005 made a rapid series of debuts with orchestras worldwide—including the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Toronto Symphony—and has made recital tours in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In December 2005 he appeared for the first time in the International Piano Series in London, and he has performed with English orchestras including the London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In Scandinavia, he has performed with the Stockholm, Bergen, Gothenburg, and Helsinki orchestras and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Trpčeski's first recital recording—an EMI Classics Debut Series compact disc including music of Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev—received both the Editor's Choice and Debut Album awards from Gramophone magazine. Trpčeski shifted to EMI's main label with his second disc; it and its two successors comprise single-composer recitals of Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Debussy respectively.

In both his concert appearances and his recordings, Trpčeski has received enthusiastic responses from critics and the public alike. Many consider him an unusually gifted new artist at the outset of what promises to be a major career.

Awards[link]

• December 2009,

Order of Merit for Macedonia^[2]

• April 2005.

Disc of the Month (April) - BBC Music Magazine

• May 2003.

"Young Artist Award" awarded by the Royal Philharmonic Society

• 2001-2003

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist

• April 2000.

"Millennium World Piano Competition London" - Second place

• December 1998.

World piano contest "Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe" in Skopje - First place

• September 2011

National artist of Macedonia - he is the first artist that got this award

Selected recordings[link]

• Rachmaninov 2010 - awarded Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2010

References[link]

• San Francisco Symphony Orchestra performer profile of November 15, 2006 [1]
• Biography on performer's Web page [2]
• Review of Music Toronto Concert, Tuesday, October 31, 2006, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto. [3]

External links[link]

• IMG ARTISTS LLC
• The official website of Simon Trpčeski (English)

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