Marc-Andre Hamelin Performs as Soloist with the New York Philharmonic This Weekend

The renowned pianist Marc-André Hamelin will perform Franck's Symphonic Variations with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis tonight, April 24th 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 25th at 11:00 a.m. and Saturday, April 26th at 8:00 p.m. at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. Mr. Hamelin will also be appearing with members of the New York Philharmonic on April 26th at 2:00 p.m. for a performance of Fauré's First Piano Quartet. The complete programs for the concerts follow:

April 24, 7:30 p.m., April 25, 11:00 a.m., April 26, 8:00 p.m.:

Julian Anderson: The Discovery of Heaven (US Premiere- New York Philharmonic Co-Commission with the London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Franck: Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra
Prokofiev: Selections from Romeo and Juliet

April 26, 2:00 p.m.:

Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor
Prokofiev: Selections from Romeo and Juliet

Pianist Marc-André Hamelin's unique blend of musicianship and virtuosity brings forth interpretations remarkable for their freedom, originality, and prodigious mastery of the piano's resources. A musician of broad musical interests and curiosity, Mr. Hamelin is renowned for his fresh readings of the established repertoire and his intrepid exploration of lesser known works of the 19th and 20th centuries - in concert and on disc.

During the 2013-14 season Mr. Hamelin's artistry is celebrated worldwide. He has been named Artist in Residence at London's Wigmore Hall and Boston's Celebrity Series where he curates and performs a three-concert cycle, "The Art of the Piano" which began with a recital in December, and continues with a duo piano concert with Emmanuel Ax and a chamber music concert with the Pacifica Quartet. Mr. Hamelin is also presented in a series of three concerts by the San Francisco Performances, and at the deSingel International Arts Campus in Antwerp, Belgium.

Mr. Hamelin started his 2013-14 season with an Australian tour, including recitals in Adelaide and Melbourne and solo engagements with the Tasmania and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. In October 2013 Mr. Hamelin performed the world premiere of Turnage's Piano Concerto with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yannick-Nezet Seguin. Other orchestral engagements include appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Manitoba Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Hamelin is heard in recital at New York's Zankel Hall, in Toronto, at the Berlin Philharmonic, in Wiesbaden, Freiburg, Munich, Germany; in Helsinki, Finland; Florence, Rome, Milan, Treviso, Italy, and the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. Mr. Hamelin performs Ornstein's Piano Quintet with the Pacifica Quartet across North America and Europe. Mr. Hamelin toured Switzerland with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Kent Nagano, and will perform chamber music concerts with violinist Anthony Marwood and clarinetist Martin Fröst in Denmark, Antwerp, Belgium; Boston, and at London's Wigmore Hall. Summer 2014 will see Mr. Hamelin perform at the Nohant Chopin Festival, at the Liszt Festival Raiding and Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Austria; and at the Schwetzinger Festspiele and Klavierfest an der Ruhr, Germany.

Mr. Hamelin concluded a successful 2012-13 season that saw him perform with such major orchestras as the San Francisco Symphony, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy in Montreal and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. Mr. Hamelin performed Shostakovich's Piano Quintet with the acclaimed Takács Quartet and was heard in recitals in the United States, Canada and Europe, giving his recital debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in April 2013.

Mr. Hamelin has had singular success with performances of the piano sonatas of Haydn, major works by Mozart, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms, and, further afield, the complete "Iberia" Suite of Albeniz.

In 2010 Mr. Hamelin joined the ranks on CD of noted composer-pianists by releasing his own highly inventive "12 Etudes in all the minor keys" on the Hyperion label and with publication by Edition Peters. Mr. Hamelin launched this recording with a recital of these etudes at New York's Le Poisson Rouge on September 21, 2010.

In recognition of his remarkable discography, Mr. Hamelin was presented with a lifetime achievement prize for the year 2011 by the German Record Critic's Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). In June 2009 Mr. Hamelin was also awarded the Italian 2009 Premio nazionale per il disco classico in the category "soloist" for his new Hyperion disc devoted to the Godowsky-Strauss transcriptions. The 2008-09 season saw the release of a CD for Hyperion entitled "In a State of Jazz." Mr. Hamelin has recorded some 50 CDs for the Hyperion label; these range from the neglected masterpieces of Alkan, Ives, Medtner and Roslavets to brilliantly received performances of Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, and most recently, Chopin.

Winner of the 1985 Carnegie Hall Competition, Marc-André Hamelin was born in Montreal. He began to play the piano at the age of five, and by the age of nine had already won top prize in the Canadian Music Competition. Mr. Hamelin's father, a pharmacist by trade who was also a keen pianist, had introduced him to the works of Alkan, Medtner and Sorabji when he was still very young. Mr. Hamelin's principal teachers included Gilles Hamelin, Yvonne Hubert, Harvey Wedeen and Russell Sherman; he studied at the École Vincent d'Indy in Montreal and then at Temple University in Philadelphia. He was honored to be made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003 and a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec in 2004. He is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada. Mr. Hamelin is featured in the book The Composer-Pianists: Hamelin and the Eight by Robert Rimm, published by Amadeus Press.