The Royal Albert Hall shines spotlight on talented young pianist for the biggest concert of his career
20 September, 2012
The Royal Albert Hall is today delighted to announce that it is the first major UK venue to debut one of the most talented and promising young artists on the classical music scene, Louis Schwizgebel, following his recent appearance at last weekend’s Leeds International Piano Competition, broadcast on BBC4.
Having performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 with The Hallé, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, this performance brought him wide acclaim as well as the runner-up trophy and, after being spotted by the Royal Albert Hall, was immediately snapped up by the iconic venue to play a leading role at their Fantasia Live concert on Sunday 21 October 2012. At only 24 years old, his debut performance at the venue is quite simply the biggest concert of Louis’ career to date.
Disney will share one of its crown jewels of feature animation in this UK premiere which showcases selections from Walt Disney’s original Fantasia and Disney’s Fantasia 2000. Presented in high definition on a large screen within the magical setting of the Royal Albert Hall, Disney’s groundbreaking marriage of symphonic music and animation will be brought to life by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart.
Louis will perform George Gershwin’s 1924 musical composition Rhapsody in Blue, combining elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. The piece has often been interpreted as a musical portrait of New York City and is used to this effect in Fantasia 2000 where the music iconically represents New York in the 1930s, in the style of famed illustrator Al Hirschfeld’s cartoons of the time, depicting a day in the lives of many diverse people within the Depression-era bustling metropolis. Featured is an animated cameo appearance of Gershwin himself at the piano.
Louis commented: “It is an extreme honour to be asked by the Royal Albert Hall to perform at their Fantasia concert for my debut performance at the venue. Under the baton of Keith Lockhart, I am delighted to be performing alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra and look forward to bringing to life this cinematic masterpiece to both fans of the original films as well as introducing it to an entirely new generation”
Jasper Hope, Chief Operating Officer at the Royal Albert Hall, said: “A future star in the making on the classical music scene, we spotted something very special indeed in Louis and are now thrilled to welcome him to the Hall as part of the UK premiere of these live orchestral performances of Disney’s Fantasia. His involvement in these high-definition screenings and performances of some of the most memorable classical music ever composed, will no doubt introduce this extraordinary pianist to a wider audience on the world’s most famous stage”
Louis Schwizgebel was born in 1987 into a Chinese-Swiss family. He studied piano at the Lausanne conservatory in the class of Brigitte Meyer and passed the soloist diploma aged 15 with distinction. His career was launched in 2005 when he was 17 and won 2nd prize (1st prize not assigned), the public’s choice award as well as the “Coup de Coeur Breguet” at the Geneva International Music Competition. He further confirmed his talent by winning the 1st prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 2007. He has worked with orchestras including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Vienna Symphony Orchestra and has been heard in solo recitals at New York’s Carnegie Hall and at the World Expo in Shanghai.
Disney’s Fantasia is the latest film to be presented with a live orchestra as part of a unique cinematic experience at the Royal Albert Hall. It follows the successful sold out performances of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Matrix and the 50th anniversary of West Side Story and will proceed the much loved classic Singin’ in the Rain in March 2013.
This presentation is licensed by Disney Music Publishing © Disney
Listings information:
Disney – Fantasia – Live in Concert
Sunday 21 October 2012 at 2.30pm and 6.30pm
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
Tickets £15 - £55 (booking fees apply)
Box Office 020 7589 8212
www.royalalberthall.com / www.facebook.com/royalalberthall/ http://life.royalalberthall.com
For further information, please contact: Sean Carrigan, Media Partnerships Executive, Royal Albert Hall: seanc@royalalberthall.com Tel: 020 7959 0531
NOTES TO EDITORS
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is the world’s most famous stage. Its breathtaking auditorium hosts over 370 shows a year by the world’s greatest artists. The magical atmosphere combined with inspired artists creates legendary events.
Opened in 1871 as part of Prince Albert’s vision for a centre for the Arts and Sciences, the Hall is a registered charity which operates without public funding, remaining true to his founding ambitions within a modern context. Extending the brand with 200 events outside the auditorium, the Hall has broadened its appeal to younger, diverse audiences whilst still engaging its existing customers.
The Hall also offers the Elgar Room, a state-of-the-art small-scale performance space which hosts performances of classical music, jazz and world music, comedy, dance and hush, a series of gigs for just signed bands throughout the year. In the main auditorium, it offers the Albert Sessions, an initiative that encourages up and coming acts to play at the Hall by offering reduced rental fees to promoters and lower ticket prices to encourage younger audiences to visit the Hall. It also works extensively with schools, young people, disadvantaged groups and partners such as Music For Youth through its Education programme, reaching over 100,000 participants each year as part of its extensive public benefit remit. It has also been appointed by the Arts Council as one of the country’s regional music education hubs.
For more information, please visit www.royalalberthall.com
Registered charity number: 254543
Louis Schwizgebel
Louis Schwizgebel’s career was launched in 2005 when he was seventeen and won 2nd prize (1st prize not assigned), the public’s choice award as well as the “Coup de Coeur Breguet” at the Geneva International Music Competition. This led to several invitations as well as to his first CD production with works from Mozart, Moszkowski, Schulhoff and Felix Mendelssohn’s piano concerto No. 2 with the Geneva Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Goodwin. He further confirmed his talent by winning the 1st prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 2007 and the second prize at The Leeds International Piano Competition in 2012 where he performed Beethoven's piano concerto nr. 4 with The Hallé conducted by Sir Mark Elder broadcasted on BBC4.
Louis Schwizgebel works with orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Royal Albert Hall), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Vienna Symphony Orchestra (tour at Musikverein Vienna, Victoria Hall Geneva, Tonhalle Zürich, KKL Lucerne), Orchestra of St. Luke's, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Basel Symphony Orchestra and Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Carl Davis, Keith Lockhart, Thierry Fischer, Marek Janowski, Douglas Boyd, Christof Escher, Hervé Klopfenstein, Jean-Bernard Pommier and Louis Langrée.
Festival appearances include performances at Verbier Festival, City of London Festival, Bergen International Festival, Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, St Prex Classics, Piano à St-Ursanne, Festival Septembre Musical de Montreux-Vevey, Les Jardins Musicaux, Ohrid Summer Festival, Usedomer Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and YCA Tokyo and Beijing Festival.
In solo recitals he was heard at the New York Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall, Washington Kennedy Center, London Wigmore Hall, Gianadda Foundation in Martigny, Vancouver Recital Society, Victoria Hall Geneva and the Swiss Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai.
Louis Schwizgebel was born in 1987 into a Chinese-Swiss artist family. He studied piano at the Lausanne conservatory in the class of Brigitte Meyer and passed the soloist diploma aged fifteen with distinction. He followed master classes with Menahem Pressler, Christian Zacharias, Nelson Goerner and Pascal Devoyon and won 1st prizes at the Swiss Youth Music Competition. Louis Schwizgebel is currently studying at the New York Juilliard School in the classes of Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald and works closely with Pascal Nemirovski.
Official website www.louisschwizgebel.com