Piano at Aloni

In particular, this festival is organized in order to give the chance to young talented pianists to present their art, share their talent with the audience and experience along with it the beauty of music in this majestic theatre which hosts ideally performances of the greatest composers’ masterpieces, thanks to its excellent acoustics. While at the same time, the festival revives the rich cultural tradition of the area where, throughout the centuries, its inhabitants were particularly familiar with European music and every mansion had its own piano.

This year as well, then, on August 6 & 7, four young piano soloists, who have been granted several international awards since their early years, will present solo piano pieces.

1. Beethoven, Sonata no. 5, op. 10, no.1 2. Chopin, Etude op. 10, no. 9 3. Schubert, Impromptu op. 142, no 4 4. Myrsini Kagarlis, At Kasteel d' Ursel 5. Myrsini Kagarlis, Intermezzo 6. Moszcowski, Étincelles (Sparks), op.         36 no. 6 7. Mendelssohn, Rondo capriccioso, op.       14.

Myrsini Kagarlis was born in Monte Carlo (Monaco) in 2005. She started piano lessons at age six with Christina Ioakimidou and she continued with Prof. Dimitri Toufexis. Since 2013 she has participated in piano competitions, music festivals and summer academies and has won awards and distinctions. In 2016 she was admitted to the intensive course for highly talented students of the Summer Academy of Mozarteum University in Salzburg (Austria). She attends piano master classes regularly, including in the past with Dimitris Dimopoulos, Dimitris Toufexis, Alex Peh Lilia Boyadjieva, Alex Peh, Jura Margulis, Andreas Weber, Emanuel Krasovsky, Michael Wladkowski and Aquiles Delle Vigne. Her teacher is currently Agathe Leimoni.

From the age of eight Myrsini has been composing musical works. Her compositions have won awards in national and international composition competitions including the Golden Key Music Festival Competition (US and Austria 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) and the Carl von Ossietzky Competition (University of Oldenburg, Germany, 2014). A collection of her early works was published in 2014 under the title Christina’s Waltz (Cambia Editions, Athens). Myrsini has performed several of her works at artistic events and music halls including IANOS Bookstore and Theocharakis Foundation (Athens), Ehrbaar Saal (Vienna) and Wiener Saal (Salzburg). In 2017 she was awarded a scholarship for music studies from Theocharakis Foundation for Fine Arts and Music, in recognition of her achievements.

Her musical education includes four years of violin instruction, currently with Stefanos Milas (intermediate level), and advanced Harmony, currently with Prof. Kostas Chardas (Music Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). She has participated in symphonic and contemporary youth orchestras playing violin and keyboard.

Myrsini has just graduated from elementary school. She has won national awards in mathematics (Kangaroo Competition, 2013) and physics (Aristotle Competition, 2016 & 2017 – first prize).

Some of Myrsini’s performances of her own works and of other composers on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvBX8m9gC9eURv8yDooruA.

Gabrielle Fougner-Okland

Gabrielle Fougner-Okland (born 2002) is a Norwegian pianist, currently studying with Professor Agathe Leimoni in Athens. She is a student at the internationally recognized Barratt-Due Conservatory in Oslo, where she studied with Kristin Fyrand Mikkelsen (Norwegian Academy of Music) until Autumn 2016. She is completing her theoretical studies at Barratt-Due in the class of A.Nickelsen (Berklee College of Music Graduate).

Fougner-Okland has participated in multiple domestic and international competitions, such as the “UMM” (Young Musicians Competition, Norway) where she received the 2nd prize in the Semi-final, the competition of “Primavera Pianistica” (Belgium). She received the 1st Prize with Excellence (A’ αριστείο) in the Panhellenic “XON” competition (Athens, 2017).

She has performed in places such as “Ελληνικό Ωδείο” (The Greek Conservatory), “Castel d’Ursel” (Belgium), The Norwegian Opera, The Danish institute at Athens, The Norwegian Academy of Music, The Barratt-Due Conservatory, as well as in several other Norwegian cities. In June 2016, she performed solo in the concert series “Lunar Landscapes” with the critically acclaimed Edvard Munch Ensemble.

Despite her young age, she has participated in numerous international masterclasses and seminars with professors such as Aquilles Delle Vigne, Igor Petrin, Lilia Boyadjieva, and Michael Wladkowsky among others.

Programme:

J.S. Bach: Prelude & Fugue no. 2 in Do minor

F. Chopin: Etude in Fa minor, op. 25 no. 2

W.A. Mozart: Sonata in Do major, Kv 309, A’ Movement

L.v. Beethoven: Sonata in Sol major, op.14 No. 2, A’ movement

F.Schubert: Impromptu Op. 90 No.4

C. Czerny: Etude op. 740 no.24

W. A. Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (For 4 hands, with Mersini Kagarlis)

Barcarolle op.60

Polonaise Heroique op.53

Stavros Dritsas was born in Loutraki, Greece in 1996. Coming from a non-musicians family he began his musical studies at the Music High School in his native Corinth, and continued his training at the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens and the Schola Cantorum in Paris under the guidance of prof. Agathe Leimoni. He currently resides in London and is a full-time student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he is pursuing a Bachelor in Music degree in Piano Performance under the direction of internationally renowned pianist Lucy Parham.

Stavros took his first piano lesson at the age of twelve; at the age of fifteen he was already making his concerto debut with the Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra in Athens. He has gone on to win first prize in all of the major national piano competitions in Greece, including the Filonas National Competition (first prize winner, 2011), the CH.O.N National Competition (first prize winner, 2012), and the M. Chairogiorgou National Competition (first prize winner, 2014).  He has also been the recipient of grants and awards from Schola Cantorum in Paris, the Gina Bachauer International Music Foundation in Greece, and currently, the Henry Wood Trust in connection with his studies at the Guildhall School.

His performances include recitals at the Scriabin Museum in Moscow, St James’s Piccadilly and Milton Court Concert Hall in London, and the Concert Hall at Tchaikovsky Music School in Moscow, the Montressor Tower in Verona, Palazzo Marin in Venice, the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff in Paris, the Palace of the Knights in Antwerp, Villa Riese in Bonn under the auspices of the Beethoven Academy, as well as at the most important venues in his native Greece, such as the Athens Megaron and the Parnassos Concert Hall.  As a concerto soloist, he has performed Bach concertos with the Athens Sinfonietta, as well as Mozart and Poulenc concertos with the Athens Youth Symphony.  A keen chamber music player, he is equally at home with instrumental (duo sonatas) and vocal repertoire (song cycles).

Stavros made his first recording at the age of 16 for the Greek National Radio, with whom he has also recorded to-date works by Bach, Beethoven and Chopin. He has also recently recorded chamber music works by Schubert for BBC Radio 3 in collaboration with British actor, Martin Jarvis. He was invited earlier this year as a jury member in CH.O.N. National Piano Competition in Athens, where he was honoured as the youngest jury member in the Competition’s history.

1)Beethoven Sonata op.10 no.3

2)Chopin Fantasie op.49 in f minor

3)Chopin Ballade op.52 no. 4

Christos Karavasilis was born in Athens in 1997 and started to play the piano at the age of 6. He obtained his Piano Diploma with the best distinctions, 1st prize and gold medal with I. Syggelaki and he is currently studying at Schola Cantorum in Paris with A. Leimoni. He, also, graduated from “Saint Joseph” school. Now he is a student at University of Piraeus in the faculty of International and European studies.

Over the last years he performed many piano concertos such as Haydn no.11 in D major, Bach no.1 in minor, Mozart KV 414, 466, 467, 488, Grieg no.16 in A minor in cooperation with the Symphonic Orchestra of the conservatory “I. Syggelaki” under the direction of D. Toufexis and A. Simeonidis. In March 2012 he made it to the finals of the piano competition “New Musicians” of Eurovision which was organized by ERT, obtaining excellent critics. In July 2012 after auditioning for his participation in the intensive summer courses of the music academy Mozarteum in Salzburg, he studied with the world renowned teacher and tutor Olivier Gardon and obtained a scholarship for his excellent performance, despite his young age. He also participated in the final concert. In April 2013 he played in the Athenaeum International Cultural Center Hall and performed works of L.V.Beethoven, Fr. Chopin and Fr. Liszt. In February 2014 he played in the Athens Megaron Mousikis in the Hall of “Lilian Voudouri”. In May 2014, he played in the large hall of “Filologikos Sillogos Parnassos”, for the purpose of supporting the greek education at Imvros island, where his origin comes from. In November 2015 he won the 1st prize of the 5th DionysiaTrust Piano Competition in Megaron Mousikis. In April 2016, he won the 2nd prize of the 6th Panhellenic Piano Competition “Maria Cherogiorgou-Sigara”, organized by the International association Gina Bachauer. He has attended lessons and participated in masterclasses of world renowned piano soloists, such as A. Delle Vigne, L. Bojadjieva, O. Gardon, D. Toufexis etc.

Programme:

1)Beethoven Sonata op.10 no.3

2)Chopin Fantasie op.49 in f minor

3)Chopin Ballade op.52 no. 4