Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra - Third Symphony Season 2011

Conductor: Gerard Korsten
Soloist: Ben Schoeman (Piano)

Programme
ENESCO Rumanian Rhapsody, op.11, no.1, A major
LISZT Piano Concerto, No.1, S.124, E-flat major
DVOŘÁK Symphony No.7, op.70, D minor

Ben Schoeman is one of South Africa’s foremost pianists and the winner of the 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music. In 2008 he became the first South African in history to win the first grand prize in the 11th UNISA Vodacom International Piano Competition in Pretoria.

In 2009 he also won the coveted gold medal and first prize in the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition in London.

Ben Schoeman has given performances across Europe, Canada and the United Kingdom. He has played in prestigious concert halls, such as the Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Grande Auditorio of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, the Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest, the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, the Paleis Het Loo in the Netherlands, Schloss Moritzburg in Dresden and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. He has also given recitals at various international festivals, among others the Chester Festival and King’s Lynn Festival (United Kingdom), the Festival da Bach a Bartók and the Festival Pianistico “Mario Ghislandi” (Italy), the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Canada) and the Crans-Montana Semaines Musicales (Switzerland).

In 2008 he received the prestigious Laureate Award from the University of Pretoria Alumni Association for his achievements as well as his contribution to music in South Africa. Salon Music and UNISA have released his DVD-recording of concertos by Mozart and Tchaikovsky. His solo album with works of Franz Liszt was released a couple of months ago under the TwoPianists label.