RESPECTED pianist Alexander Soares performed to an enthusiastic audience at King’s Ely.
Alexander was due to play at the school in February but his concert sadly had to be postponed due to heavy snow. However, a large audience of all ages came together for the re-scheduled concert in the Recital Hall on April 25th. It was Alexander’s first performance in Ely and there were a good representation of pupils from King’s Ely Junior, King’s Ely Senior and even King’s Ely Acremont.
The concert was held as part of King’s Ely Recital Series’ 25th season programme and there was music by Chopin, Liszt, Dutilleux and Beethoven.
Hailed by The Telegraph as a pianist of “huge intensity”, Alexander is developing a reputation as an artist of formidable technique and virtuosity, with performances of “diamond clarity and authority”, as described by BBC Radio 3 In Tune. In 2015, his performance in the BBCSO/BBC Radio 3 ‘Boulez at 90’ celebrations received widespread critical acclaim in the press, described as a “brilliantly unbuttoned account” (The Sunday Times) and “most memorable of all” (The Financial Times). 2016-17 highlights included returns to Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. James’s Piccadilly and Alexander’s debut in the USA.
A keen chamber musician, Alexander has performed on numerous occasions in the Barbican, working with notable artists such as Boris Brovtsyn and Alexander Baillie. He has also toured France in venues including Auditorium St. Germain and Opéra Rouen, performing Stravinsky’s Les Noces on Pleyel’s original double grand pianos, manufactured in the late nineteenth century. Alexander has greatly benefitted from the guidance of pianists including Richard Goode, Stephen Kovacevich, Stephen Hough and Steven Osborne.
King’s Ely’s next Recital Series Concert is a celebration of the burgeoning Guildhall King’s Ely partnership when the Grainger Brass Ensemble, a dectet of young brass players, on May 16th.
Tickets, priced at £12 for adults and free for students and children, are available at www.kingsely.org/boxoffice. Alternatively, call (01353) 653931 or email music@kingsely.org.