Artists make a welcome return

Media Release
for immediate release
21 March 2006

Artists make a welcome return

“Flamboyant, charismatic and compelling” is how Paul Mann’s conducting style has been described. This conductor’s memorable debut with the Auckland Philharmonia in July last year left the audience eager for a return visit. On Thursday 20 April Paul Mann returns, with another acclaimed artist who also debuted with the Auckland Philharmonia in 2005, French-Cypriot pianist Cyprien Katsaris.

On Thursday 20 April, colour and delicacy encompass the fifth concert in the Auckland Philharmonia’s APN News & Media Premier Series. Included in the line-up are such sparkling gems as Mahler’s gorgeous Blumine and Fauré’s shimmering Pelléas et Mélisande; Schumann’s lyrical Fourth Symphony; and Ravel’s bright and witty Piano Concerto in G with virtuoso Cyprien Katsaris.

Paul Mann has emerged as one of the finest conductors of the younger generation. Noted for his broad-ranging repertoire and versatility, he has established relationships with orchestras as far afield as Australia, the Far East, Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. He achieved early success by winning the 1998 Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, which brought him to the London Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Conductor. Special projects with them included the Duke Ellington Centenary Concert at the Barbican with Wynton Marsalis, and a famous collaboration with legendary rock band Deep Purple at the Royal Albert Hall.

A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, Cyprien Katsaris has a reputation of being a pianist with a steel technique, authority and brilliance. His major international career includes performances with the world’s greatest orchestras; he is the recipient of numerous awards – for his pianistic skills and his recordings; and he is regularly a jury member of many International Piano Competitions.
“A strong individualist with glittering fingers… He has a pronounced musical profile which puts him in a class far above the cut and dried exponents of the international school of modern pianists.” [The Great Pianists – from Mozart to the Present, by Senior Music Critic Emeritus of the New York Times, Harold C. Schonberg]

Auckland Philharmonia APN NEWS & mEDIA Premier Series, Concert 5
Thursday 20 April – 8pm, Auckland Town Hall
Bookings: Ticketek Orchestra Hotline ph. (09) 307 5139 or visit www.ticketek.co.nz

The Auckland Philharmonia receives major funding from Creative New Zealand and major grants from Auckland City and the ASB Charitable Trust.

ENDS

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