PART OF THE 8TH INTERNATIONAL PHAROS CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL

MATAN PORAT

Piano Recital

Israel-born pianist and composer, Matan Porat has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Irish National Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber and Symphony Orchestras with such conductors as James Conlon, Lawerence Foster and Mendi Rodan.

Among his solo recitals are debuts at the Auditorium du Louvre and Salle Cortot in Paris, in Alhambra’s Palacio Carlos V, the Irish National Concert Hall and Verona’s Sala Maffeiana.

An avid chamber music player, Porat has participated in many distinguished festivals, including Ravinia, Verbier, Bath, the Israel Festival, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, and upon the invitation of Daniel Barenboim in the West-Eastern Divan workshops. Other chamber appearances include performances with the Ysaÿe Quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet, Violinists Miriam Fried and Renaud Capuçon, Flutist Mathieu Dufour and Pianist Maria João Pires. This summer he will participate in the prestigious Marlboro festival.

A top prize winner in the 2003 Dublin International Piano Competition, he has also won the Artist of Special Promise prize at the 2003 Honens Competition in Canada, and the Legion d’Honneur award in Switzerland. Since 1995, he has been a recipient of the America-Israel Foundation scholarships in piano, composition and chamber music, as well as the Foundation’s grant for advanced studies, and a 2007/8 recipient of the Wingate scholarships.

Porat has begun his piano studies with Emanuel Krasovsky at the Tel-Aviv Rubin Academy.

In recent seasons he served as an artist-in-residence in Belgais, Portugal, studying and assisting Maria João Pires, and obtained his Master’s degree from The Juilliard School with Joseph Kalichstein.

He has also worked with such musicians as Daniel Barenboim, Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, Mitsuko Uchida and Alexis Weissenberg.

Active as a composer, Porat has studied with André Hajdu, Ruben Seroussi and George Benjamin. His works were commissioned by Maria João Pires, Elena Bashkirova and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, the AICF’s Spring Competitions and others, and were premiered at the Montpellier, Schleswig-Holstein and Menuhin Gstaad festivals for general acclaim. His opera, “Animal Farm”, was commissioned by the Tel-Aviv Academy and was performed this season.

This year Mr. Porat is working extensively with pianist Murray Perahia in London.

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata No. 12 In A Flat, Op.26:

Andante con variazioni
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un Eroe: Maestoso andante
Allegro

Matan Porat
Whaam! (2008)

Franz Liszt
Vallée d'Obermann
(from Années de Pèlerinage, Première Année: Suisse, No. 6)

Interval

Franz Schubert
Sonata in B flat major, D.960 (Op.posth.)
I. Molto moderato
II. Andante sostenuto
III. Scherzo Allegro vivace con delicatezza
IV. Rondo Allegro ma non troppo

Ticket Prices:

Adults: €20

Friends and Supporters of the Pharos Trust : €17

Concessions : €12

Tickets can be purchased from:

The Pharos Trust (22 663 871),

Moufflon bookshop (22 665 155),

Soloneion bookshop (22 666 799) and

Travelorama (22 452 945)