April 12, 2005 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre Orchestra’s Music for a Sunday Afternoon chamber music series will feature the young American pianist Jonathan Biss as guest artist on Sunday, April 17 at 14:00 in the Auditorium of the National Gallery of Canada. The 25-year-old winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award in 2002 will be joined by ensembles of the NAC Orchestra in works by Mozart and Brahms, and will also perform the Canadian premiere of Piano Sonata No. 2 by veteran American composer Leon Kirchner.

The chamber music concert opens with Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio (“Bowling Alley” Trio), which came about through Mozart’s prowess on the piano and viola plus his close friendship with clarinetist Anton Stadler. Rumour has it that Stadler asked for a clarinet/viola/piano trio while Mozart was playing a game of skittles! It will be performed by NACO principal clarinet Kimball Sykes, associate principal viola Jethro Marks and Jonathan Biss on piano.

The world premiere of Brooklyn-born composer Leon Kirchner’ Second Piano Sonata took place on November 2, 2003, in Boston. Jonathan Biss performed this Sonata in New York last month, and the New York Times wrote : “Mr. Kirchner is well into his 80’s and the piece here only two years old, but its languid, limpid periods bear the seeds of an enormous eruptive energy. The music surges and expands from states of calm into great rushes of complexity. It is improbably difficult for the pianist, but Mr. Biss’s playing never seemed harried or out of breath.”

The hummable themes and ardent lyricism of Brahms’ Piano Quartet No 2 in A major will be a showpiece for the NAC Orchestra’s interim associate concertmaster Olivier Thouin, Jonathan Biss, Jethro Marks and NACO principal cello Amanda Forsyth.

Twenty-five-year-old Jonathan Biss has already proved himself an accomplished and exceptional musician with a flourishing international reputation through his orchestral and recital performances in North America and Europe.  He has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, the Munich and Rotterdam Philharmonics, and the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has also performed in recital in major U.S. and European cities. EMI Classics has just released his highly anticipated recording debut on its EMI Classics “Debut” series, a series that spotlights artists on the brink of major international careers.

Biss is also performing with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in concerts on April 13 and 14.

This Music for a Sunday Afternoon chamber concert takes place on Sunday, April 17 at 14:00 and is presented in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada. Tickets at $27.00 (GST and facility fee included) are on sale now at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Student tickets at $14.25 are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Music for a Sunday Afternoon tickets may also be purchased one hour before the concert outside the Auditorium of the National Gallery.

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