PIAZZOLLA & PALEJ Sinfonia Toronto Concert

Friday, January 24, 2025, 8 pm, Trinity St-Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor Street West

PIAZZOLLA & PALEJ ~ Tears and Tango ~ Sinfonia Toronto

Two exciting soloists: a violin virtuoso in a melodious showpiece, and the Canadian debut of one of the world’s finest accordionist in the premiere of Toronto composer Norbert Palej’s ‘Tears of Things’ plus irresitible Piazzolla tangos

SINFONIA TORONTO / NURHAN ARMAN Conductor

MACIEJ FRACKIEWICZ Accordionist

DAVID BAIK Violinist

Program

MOZART Divertimento K. 138

WIENIAWSKI Fantasia on Themes from Gounod's Faust, op. 20

PALEJ Lacrymae Rerum - tears of things world premiere

PIAZZOLLA Five Tango Sensations

BIOGRAPHIES

Maciej Frąckiewicz, accordionist - Winner of the 20th ‘Arrasate Hiria’ International Accordion Competition in Spain (2012), one of the most prestigious competitions in this category. In 2013 he received the “Polityka” magazine “Passport” award for “very mature and diverse interpretations of contemporary music and other music genres. For courage, daring and consistency. For enriching the musical repertoire. For his concert creations and stimulating our imagination, as well as his persuasive strength”.

He is also a laureate of prestigious international accordion competitions in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Italy and Spain – he won Deutscher Musikwettbewerb in Bonn (2018), Folkwang Preis in Essen (2017), GWK Competition in Münster (2015), he received 2nd prize at the 42nd International Accordion Competition in Klingenthal, Germany (2008).

He has performed with symphony orchestras such as Warsaw Philharmonic, the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, Beethoven Ochester Bonn, Bochumer Symphoniker under the baton of Łukasz Borowicz, José Maria Florêncio, Jacek Kaspszyk, Krzysztof Penderecki, Rasmus Baumann, Bassem Akiki, Fuad Ibrahimov and others.

He appeared in festivals in Poland and abroad, including the Warsaw Autumn, La Folle Journée (Warszawa), Festiwal Muzyki Polskiej (Kraków), Musica Polonica Nova (Wrocław), Muzyczny Festiwal w Łańcucie, Neue Horizonten, Klangbrücke (Hanower), Odessa Classics, Contrasts (Lviv), Farinelli Festival di Musica Classica (Andria), Krzysztof Penderecki Days (Yerevan), Musique au Leman (Thonon-les-Bains), Latvian New Music Days (Riga), Folefest (Lisbon), Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival (South Korea), Moscow Autumn (Russia), Gubaidulina’s Days in Katowice (Poland), Cleveland Classical (USA). Recently he has performed recitals during Niedersächsische Musiktage, Chapeau Classique, Ludwigsburgschlossfestspiele, Gezeitenkonzerte (Germany).He regularly tours USA and China.

Maciej Frąckiewicz premiered over 100 new pieces for accordion – most of them were dedicated to him. In November 2016 he recorded Gubaidulina!s Under the Sign of Scorpio, in Januar 2018 he premiered Penderecki!s Accordion Concerto, which was recorded in December 2018 under the baton of the composer with Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus. This recorded was honored with the Fryderyk polish music industry preis for the Best Concerto Album. Until now he recorded 7 albums (nominated to the Opus Klassik - german musik industry prize), on over 10 albums he appeared as a guest. He recorded for polish radio and polish tv, LR3 Latvijas Radio, Radio de Portugal, WDR3 und Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

He studied at the Frederic Chopin University of Music (UMFC) in Warsaw (Poland)with Prof. Klaudiusz Baran, HfM in Detmold (Germany) with prof. Grzegorz Stopa, ESMUC

in Barcelona with Inaki Alberdi, FUdK in Essen with Prof. Mie Miki. He has attended master courses at the MUK in Vienna (with Teodoro Anzellotti), Landesakademie in Ottweiler. He has participated ino masterclasses with Paolo Pandolfo and Krystian Bezuidenhout, as well as numerous classes with Yuri Shishkin and Claudio Jacomucci.

He served as a jury member during accordion competition in Castelfidardo (Italy), Klingenthal (Germany), Lissabon and Loule (Portugal) and in Harbin (China).

Dr. Maciej Frąckiewicz since October 2018 leads the accordion class at Hochschule für Musik Detmold, regularly teaches during master courses in Europe and in Asia.

He plays on a Pigini Nova and he is the chairman of Foundation Armonia dell’arte, where he manages cultural projects with cooperation with leading polish cultural institutions.

David Baik, Violinist - Featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30", South Korean-born violinist David Baik is noted for his powerful yet sincere sound. Baik is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2023 Peter-Mendell Award from the Jeunesses Musicales Canada Foundation, Grand Prize at the 2021 NAC Bursary Competition, consecutive First Prizes at the 2016 and 2017 Canadian Music Competition, Sturdevant Prize, Gerhard Kander Graduating Award, and the Gabriella Dory Prize. In 2021, he received the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival. Recently, Baik was named a winner of the 2023 Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank competition.

Baik recently obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto where he studied with Jonathan Crow. He participated in lessons and masterclasses with many internationally renowned musicians, including James Ehnes, Midori Goto, Mathieu Herzog, Ani Kavafian, Paul Kantor, Martin Beaver, Alexander Kerr, and Kathleen Winkler, as well as the New Orford String Quartet, Dover Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Quatuor Diotima, St. Lawrence String Quartet, and the Alban Berg Quartet. Currently based in Montréal, Baik is a fellowship recipient at the Schulich School of Music, working with Andrew Wan.

An active soloist, Baik’s recent highlights include recitals presented by the DOMS concert series and the Isabel Bader Centre, a guest soloist with the Durham Chamber Orchestra, as well as a performance at the National Commemorative Ceremony in honour of Queen Elizabeth II as an invited solo artist. He has also performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the North York Orchestra and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra.

As an avid chamber musician, his notable collaborations include performances with Camden Shaw, Charles Richard Hamelin, Jennifer Koh, Andrew Wan, Desmond Hoebig, Jonathan Crow, and Philip Chiu. In 2023, his string quartet participated in the McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA) and recently, was awarded the Grand Prize of the McGill Chamber Music Competition. He has also served as the concertmaster of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra.

He has made appearances at the Aspen Music Festival, Orford Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, Domaine Forget Music Festival, and recently, he was an emerging artist fellow at the Toronto Summer Music festival.

David Baik performs on the 1871 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin,on generous loan from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Sinfonia Toronto now in its 26th season, has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released four CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner, and performs in many Ontario cities. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works. Under the baton of Nurhan Arman the orchestra’s performances present outstanding international guest artists and prominent Canadian musicians.

Maestro Nurhan Arman has conducted throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Canada and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. Among the orchestras Maestro Arman has conducted are the Moscow Philharmonic, Deutsches Kammerorchester Frankfurt, Filarmonica Italiana, St. Petersburg State Hermitage Orchestra, Orchestre Regional d’Ile de France, Hungarian Symphony, Arpeggione Kammerorchester, Milano Classica and Belgrade Philharmonic.