Concerts are held every 3rd Sunday, April through November and the 1st Sunday of December.
Due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns for the safety of our artists and concert patrons, and in compliance with restrictions on social activities, we anticipate additional concerts will be cancelled, but in the spirit of optimism we will wait to decide as the dates approach. Please return to this site for the most current information on our schedule.
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Benedict Kloeckner, cello & Ryo Yanagitani, piano
November 19, 2023 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 3pm
NEW 2023 LOCATION: First Presbyterian Church, 96 Main St., Stamford, NY
Benedict Klöckner is one of the outstanding artists of his generation. He has won numerous competitions and awards, most recently the OPUS Klassik 2021.
He performs worldwide as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the MDR-Sinfonieorchester, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie, the Kremerata Baltica, the Camerata Oslo and the Munich Chamber Orchestra and has worked with renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Cristian Măcelaru, Ingo Metzmacher, Michael Sanderling, Clemens Schuldt, Heinrich Schiff and Sir Simon Rattle. He has appeared in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall New York, Kennedy Center Washington, Symphony Hall Chicago, Arts Center Seoul, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Musikverein Vienna, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Tonhalle Zurich, Gasteig in Munich, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Rudolfinum Prague, Athenaeum Bucharest and the Wigmore Hall London. In the 2022/2023 season he performed all 6 Bach Suites at the Berlin Philharmonie and the Alte Oper Frankfurt. This year, he made his debut at the Philharmonie Paris and the Kölner Philharmonie and returned to Kennedy Center Washington, Festspielhaus Baden- Baden and several times to Philharmonie Berlin. Benedict Kloeckner is a welcome guest at festivals all over the world.
His chamber music partners have included Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Yuri Bashmet, Christoph Eschenbach, Vilde Frang, Gidon Kremer, Anne Sophie Mutter and Sir András Schiff. Benedict Kloeckner regularly works with the great composers of our time. In 2018 he performed the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Double Concerto for 2 Cellos and Strings. At the Seoul Arts Center, he premiered Eun Hwa Cho’s Cello Concerto together with the Korean Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Poppen. With the Mozarteum Orchestra under Peter Tilling, he also gave the Austrian premiere of Dai Fujikura’s Cello Concerto in Salzburg. 2024 he will premiere a new cello concerto by Bongani Ndodana-Breen together with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
His CD recordings have been highly praised by the international press and won prizes such as the OPUS Klassik award and the Supersonic Award, among others. His recordings were made in collaboration with artists such as Gidon Kremer, the conductors Heinrich Schiff and Michael Sanderling , the pianists and the composer Wolfgang Rihm. Most recently in 2023, he released a CD with Brahms Cello Sonatas with YU Kosuge on Sony.
Benedict Kloeckner plays the “Ex Maurice Gendron” cello by Francesco Ruggeri (1680), a generous loan.
Learn more about Benedict Kloeckner here.
Ryo Yanagitani
Hailed by the Washington post as “A pianist’s pianist”, Ryo has established himself as one of Canada’s shining artists. His success includes winning the gold medal at the 10th San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he was also given special recognition for a performance of the complete Chopin Ballades. He is also the grand prize winner of the Hugo Kauder International Piano competition and a laureate of the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, the Dr. Luis Sigall International Piano competition in Vina del Mar (Chile), and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
Ryo has made concerto appearances with orchestras around the world including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Moroccan Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Kioi Symphonietta. His performances have taken him to such venues as the Kennedy Center, The National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and Salle Cortot in Paris among others. In addition to his solo career, he is much sought after as a chamber musician, performing in a wide range of settings from the duo sonata repertoire to large ensembles. Ryo is frequently invited as guest pianist to chamber music festivals across the US, in the capacity of both lecturer and collaborative pianist.
A recipient of many scholarships and awards, Ryo has been endowed twice by the Canadian Arts Council with a grant as an Emerging Artist, and is a recipient of the Arthur Foote Scholarship from the Harvard Musical Association. He was also awarded the Sony Foundation of America Career Grant through the Salon de Virtuosi of New York, and a Washington Award by the S&R Foundation of Washington DC. He has also been an artist-in-residence of the Maxwell Shepherd Fund of Connecticut. Ryo is also increasingly recognized not only as a performer but as a pedagogue, and is in demand as adjudicator to competitions and as masterclass clinician in North America and Asia. He has also released two solo CDs consisting of works by Chopin and Debussy, as well as a CD in collaboration with the cellist Dai Miyata in Japan.
Ryo Yanagitani received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music under Boris Berman, a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia under Doctor Henri-Paul Sicsic, and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute under Sergei Babayan. He was an instructor for the Chamber Music Program at Yale, and was a visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He directed the highly acclaimed Evermay Concert Series in Georgetown, and held the position of Artistic Director at the Ryuji Ueno Foundation in Washington DC, an organization that supports highly talented individuals in the field of the performing arts.