March 09, 2006 -

WONNY SONG REPLACES VIOLINIST DANIEL KHALIKOV

Ottawa, Canada -- Korean-Canadian pianist Wonny Song, First Prize winner at the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, will perform on the 2006 Aber Diamond Debut Series presented by the National Arts Centre and CBC Radio Two on Friday, March 17 at noon in the Foyer of the NAC. The hour-long recital, featuring Rachmaninov’s Vocalise, Debussy’s Île joyeuse and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, is hosted by Eric Friesen and will be broadcast live-to-air on his Radio Two programme Studio Sparks. (Aber Diamond is pronounced “Abber” Diamond). Wonny Song is replacing violinist Daniel Khalikov who was forced to cancel his appearance.

Admission to the recital is $3.00 with all proceeds going to the NAC Orchestra Bursary Trust Fund. Additional donations to the Fund are greatly appreciated.

Wonny Song was born in South Korea and grew up in Montreal. A student of the National Arts Centre Summer Music Institute in 2002 where he won the “Galaxy Rising Stars Award”, Song has already begun an exciting international career. He has performed as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the EuroAsian Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea and Thailand. His First Prize at the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions led to his debuts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this season. He has also won the 2003 Prix d’Europe which presented him in recital throughout Canada, France, Italy, and Sweden. He won First Prize and Best Artistic Interpretation Prize at the 1995 Montreal Symphony Piano Competition and a Gold Medal at the 1994 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati.

Other highlights of Song’s career include a solo recital as Canada’s musical ambassador to the 1993 World Expo in Korea and a 1998 performance in Bangkok at the closing ceremony of the Asian Olympic games, an event attended by Thailand’s Royal Family. He returned to Korea in 2005 to perform at the opening concert of Seoul’s new Chungmu Art Hall.

Wonny Song began piano studies at the age of eight and received a full scholarship to Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music in 1994. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Montreal University in 1998 and continued his studies with Anton Kuerti at the University of Toronto and at the Glenn Gould Professional School with Marc Durand. Awarded the first Elinor Bell Fellowship at the University of Minnesota in 2000, he completed his Doctoral studies there with Lydia Artymiw in 2004. He records his first solo CD, of Russian music by Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky, for the ATMA Classique label this year.

The Aber Diamond Debut Series showcases talented young musicians from Canada and around the world. The recitals take place in the Foyer of the NAC, and each is broadcast live-to-air across Canada on Eric Friesen’s afternoon programme Studio Sparks on CBC Radio Two. Radio listeners can tune in from noon to 15:00 to hear the recital at 13:00.

- 30 -

For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca

Jill LaForty, CBC Radio National Music Producer
(613) 288-6461
jill_laforty@nac-cna.ca