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John
O'Conor
Behre Piano Series II Master Class
July 11 - 15 , 2009
Our
Behre Piano Series Master Class teacher for the 2009 session will
be John O'Conor. Through his recitals, concerto appearances, and
critically acclaimed recordings, the Irish pianist John O'Conor
has earned a reputation as a masterful interpreter of the Classic
and Early Romantic piano repertoires. He has been praised for his
formidable technique and through his eloquent phrasing, mastery
of keyboard colour, and in particular his unique sound he has been
called a true Poet of the Piano.
He has performed in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia
and New Zealand, and has appeared with such orchestras as the Royal
Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, l'Orchestre National
de France, the Scottish and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, the Israel
Camerata, the NHK, Yomiuri, Kyushu, Kyoto and Sapporo Symphonies
in Japan, the KBS Symphony in Seoul, the Singapore Symphony, the
New Zealand Symphony, and the orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco,
Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, Tampa,
and Washington D.C in North America. He also appears frequently
with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and the Irish Chamber
Orchestra in Ireland and abroad. He has given recitals in many of
the world's most famous halls, including New York's Lincoln Centre,
the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Wigmore Hall in London, the
Musikverein in Vienna, the Dvorak Hall in Prague, and the Bunka
Kaikan in Tokyo.
He also enjoys collaborating in Lieder recitals, and performing
chamber music with many instrumentalists and ensembles, such as
the Cleveland, Tokyo, Vanburgh, Vermeer, Takacs, and Ying String
Quartets.
Mr. O'Conor also continues to make significant contributions to
the arts in his native country, through his numerous performances
of music from the traditional repertoire, and his championing of
the works by Ireland's leading 19th century composer, John Field.
He has become a key figure in the development of young artists through
his role as Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and was
a co-founder of the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition,
of which he is Artistic Director and Chairman of the Jury.
John O'Conor first gained widespread attention in the United States
in 1986 with the release of the initial volume of the complete recorded
Beethoven sonata cycle, which was issued as a box set in 1994. CD
Review described Mr. O'Conor's performances of these sonatas as
"piano recording of the highest calibre and Beethoven playing
at its best", and went on to say "This Beethoven series
should become the complete set of choice for the next decade."
Mr. O'Conor has made more than 20 recordings for the Telarc label,
including the complete Beethoven Bagatelles, which was cited by
the New York Times as the best recording of these works; four volumes
of Mozart Piano Concertos with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra; numerous works by Schubert, including the late
A major sonata, the complete 'Impromptus and Moments Musicals',
Waltzes, and the 'Trout' Quintet with the Cleveland Quartet; and
two volumes of short piano pieces entitled "Piano Classics"
and "Autumn Songs". An avid proponent of the works of
his fellow countryman John Field, he has recorded most of the composer's
major works, including the complete Concertos, Sonatas and Nocturnes.
His recording of Field's 'Nocturnes' featured on Billboard's classical
charts for many weeks. He has also made a recording of his favourite
Irish airs with the Irish Chamber Orchestra entitled "My Ireland".
The 2004-5 season is mainly devoted to the piano sonatas of Beethoven,
as Mr. O'Conor is performing the complete cycle at the National
Concert Hall in Dublin, in the Millenium Theatre of the Limerick
Institute of Technology, and is performing single performances from
the cycle extensively around Ireland. He will be visiting the U.S.A
regularly, performing Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Kansas
City Symphony under its new Musical Director Michael Stern, the
Field Piano Concerto No. 6 with the Valdosta Symphony in Georgia,
and giving recitals in California, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He
is also doing a short residency at the Juilliard School in New York
as well as giving many masterclasses. He will also be visiting the
U.K, Poland, Israel, Italy and Japan.
Highlights of recent seasons include return trips to Australia and
Korea, and his first visit to the People's Republic of China. In
the 2005-6 season, he is already scheduled to return to China, Romania,
Poland, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Germany along with
frequent trips to the United States.
Mr. O'Conor's early studies began in Dublin. He was awarded an Austrian
Government scholarship that enabled him to study in Vienna with
the respected pedagogue Dieter Weber. He also made a special study
of Beethoven with the legendary pianist Wilhelm Kempff. In 1973
Mr. O'Conor was unanimously awarded First Prize at the International
Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna, and in 1975 won First Prize
at the Bosendorfer Competition.
John O'Conor is deeply committed to the development of young pianists
in Ireland and in other countries. As well as being Professor of
Piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, he gives masterclasses
and lectures in many of the places he performs, as well as in many
of the major music institutions, including the Juilliard and Manhattan
Schools in New York, Harvard, Yale, Indiana and Seattle Universities,
the Hamamatsu Piano Academy in Japan, the National University of
the Arts in Korea, and the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall
School of Music in London. He has been invited on the juries of
many of the world's most prestigious International Piano Competitions,
including those in Leeds, Moscow (Tchaikovsky), Vienna (Beethoven),
Warsaw (Chopin), Beijing, Shanghai, Munich, Bolzano (Busoni), Cologne,
Vevay (Clara Haskil), Cleveland, Salt Lake City (Gina Bachauer),
Sydney, Pretoria, London, Washington D.C. (William Kapell), Valencia
(Jose Iturbi), and Seoul.
His students have won many International prizes, including First
Prize at the Clara Haskil Competition in 1999, Second Prize at the
Olivier Messiaen Competition in Paris in 2000, First Prize at the
Cologne International Competition in 2001, and First Prize at the
Franz Liszt International Competition in Utrecht in 2002.
Since 1997 he has taken on the mantle of his revered Professor Wilhelm
Kempff, and gives the Annual Beethoven Interpretation Course in
Kempff's own villa in Positano, Italy, where Kempff gave the course
from 1957.
For his services to music, he has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate
by the National University of Ireland, and an Honorary Fellowship
by the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He has been decorated with
the title of "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres"
by the French Government, has been awarded the "Ehrenkreuz
fur Wissenschaft und Kunst" by the Austrian Government, and
has also been decorated by the Italian and Polish governments.
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