Alessio Bax wins 2013 Martin E. Segal Award
Fast-rising pianist Alessio Bax was recognized on May 20 with a 2013 Martin E. Segal Award, which carries a cash prize of $7,500. Since 1987, Lincoln Center has conferred these prestigious awards annually on two emerging young artists or ensembles in recognition of their exceptional accomplishments. The second 2013 award went to actress/singer Shalita Grant. Previous winners include pianist Jonathan Biss, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, the Brentano and Borromeo String Quartets, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, director Thomas Kail, dancer Daniel Ulbricht, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, and conductor Xian Zhang. The announcement follows on the heels of another of the Italian pianist’s accolades, for it was only in March that Bax – whose honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant and first prizes in the Leeds and Hamamatsu international piano competitions – won the 2013 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award.
Lincoln Center established the Martin E. Segal Awards after Martin E. Segal’s retirement as Lincoln Center Chairman in 1986, as a tribute to his history of leadership and commitment to supporting and developing the careers of up-and-coming artists. Each year, on a rotating basis, two of Lincoln Center’s eleven resident organizations nominate an artist or ensemble for the award. This year’s winners are associated with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Lincoln Center Theater. Since the first prize in 1987, the endowment funding the award has given nearly a quarter of a million dollars to 54 remarkable emerging artists.
“As soon as I moved to New York, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center welcomed me with open arms,” Bax stated during the award presentation at Lincoln Center’s Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. “First as a member of the CMS Two program and now as an Artist of the Society, this has truly become one of the most special musical relationships of my life. Being selected for an award is always exciting, but receiving the Martin E. Segal Award from my New York musical family, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and presented by their family, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, makes it all the more special.”
Over the coming months, Bax, who recently added a disc of Mozart’s Piano Concertos (K. 491 and K. 595) to his acclaimed discography and received a Gramophone “Critic’s Choice” for Alessio Bax plays Brahms, looks forward to a wealth of summer festival appearances. These include concerto performances at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival (July 1) and Grant Park Festival (July 5-6), and chamber concerts at Chamber Music Northwest (July 8-9, 13-14), the Bay Chamber Concerts (July 17-19), Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival (Aug 3-4), Bard Music Festival (Aug 9-11), and the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, where he will take part in the world premiere of a new commission from Raymond Lustig (Aug 19-25). To close out the summer, Bax embarks on a five-country recital tour of South America with violinist Joshua Bell (Aug 29–Sept 10).
A complete list of the pianist’s upcoming engagements follows, and additional information may be found at his web site: alessiobax.com.
Alessio Bax: upcoming engagements
May 23
Monterrey, Mexico
Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León / Jesús Medina
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
May 31-June 1
Muskegon, MI
West Michigan Symphony / Scott Speck
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
June 7-10
Aruba International Piano Festival
July 1
Vail, CO
Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival
Dallas Symphony Orchestra / Jaap van Zweden
Mozart: Concerto for two pianos, K. 365 (with Anne-Marie McDermott)
July 5-6
Chicago, IL
Grant Park Festival / Eugene Tzigane
Barber: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
July 8-9
Portland, OR
Chamber Music Northwest
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 10; Archduke Trio (with Martin Beaver and Fred Sherry)
July 13-14
Portland, OR
Chamber Music Northwest
Hummel: Septet in D minor, Op. 74
July 17
Vinalhaven Island, ME
Bay Chamber Concerts
With Sospiro Winds
Rachmaninov: Prelude, Op. 3, No. 2 in C-sharp minor
Rachmaninov, arr. Bax: Vocalise
Rachmaninov: Prelude, Op. 23, No. 10 in G-flat
Schumann: Fantasiestücke for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73
Barber: Summer Music for Wind Quintet, Op. 31
Mozart: Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds, K. 452
July 18
Rockport, ME
Bay Chamber Concerts
Rockport Opera House
With Sospiro Winds
(See July 17 for program)
July 19
Rockport, ME
Bay Chamber Concerts
Union Hall
With Sospiro Winds
“Café Music”
Poulenc: Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano, Op. 43
D’Rivera: Aires Tropicales
Rachmaninov, arr. Kreisler: Liebesleid; Liebesfreud
Poulenc: Sextet for piano and wind quintet, Op. 100
July 28
Washington, DC
International Piano Festival
Catholic University
Recital
July 29
Washington, DC
International Piano Festival
Master class
Aug 3
Bridgehampton, NY
Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival
Mozart: Sonata for four hands, K. 19d; Concerto in C major, K. 467
Aug 4
Bridgehampton, NY
Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor
Aug 9
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Bard Music Festival
American Symphony Orchestra / Leon Botstein
Stravinsky: Les Noces
Aug 11
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Bard Music Festival
Debussy: En blanc et noir (with Lucille Chung)
Aug 13
Torroella de Montgri, Spain
Recital with Lucille Chung
Aug 19-25
Lexington, KY
Chamber Music Festival
Chamber music and world premiere by Raymond Lustig
With Nicholas Phan, Nathan Cole, Akiko Tarumoto, Priscilla Lee and Burchard Tang
Aug 29-Sept 10
South America Tour with Joshua Bell:
Aug 29: Sao Paulo, Brazil; Sociedade de Cultura Artistica
Aug 30: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Teatro Municipal
Aug 31 & Sept 1: Sao Paulo, Brazil; Sociedade de Cultura Artistica
Sept 3 & 4: Santiago, Chile; Fundación Beethoven
Sept 5 & 6: Lima, Peru; Sociedad Filarmónica de Lima
Sept 8: Montevideo, Uruguay
Sept 9 & 10: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Mozarteum Argentino
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© 21C Media Group, May 2013