Renowned Pianist Ian Hobson to Continue Robert Schumann Cycle With THE TRIOS Program

The immensely versatile and internationally lauded pianist and conductor Ian Hobson, whose playing has been described by Gramophone as "intensely alive to expressive nuance, textural clarity and elastic shaping," will continue his celebrated Robert Schumann Cycle with a chamber music concert at New York's Tenri Cultural Institute on Friday evening, December 13, 2024, 7 p.m. Mr. Hobson will be joined by his colleagues violinist Lucia Lin and cellist Ko Iwasaki. This program will feature Robert Schumann's piano trios:

The Trios | Friday evening, December 13, 2024 | 7 p.m.

Robert Schumann

Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.63

Piano Trio No. 2 in F major, Op. 80

Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op.110

Pianist and conductor Ian Hobson is recognized internationally for his command of an extraordinarily comprehensive repertoire, his consummate performances of the Romantic masters, his deft and idiomatic readings of neglected piano music old and new, and his assured conducting from both the piano and the podium. Maestro Hobson serves as Guest Conductor of the Sinfonia Varsovia.

In addition to being a celebrated performer, Mr. Hobson is a dedicated scholar and educator who has pioneered renewed interest in the music of such lesser-known masters as Ignaz Moscheles, Johann Hummel, and Richard Stöhr. He has also been an effective advocate of works written expressly for him by a number of today's noted composers, including Robert Chumbley, Benjamin Lees, John Gardner, David Liptak, Alan Ridout, and Yehudi Wyner.

Mr. Hobson is known for artfully programming recital series showcasing the complete piano works of noted composers, matching the subtleties of the composer's works for each concert. He has currently embarked on an all-Schumann cycle. Reviewing the third recital in the December 17, 2022 edition of New York Classical Review, David Wright had this to say:

The variations movement swelled with Schumann's love for Clara, and Hobson let it unfold broadly, with natural accelerations and pullbacks as feelings dictated. The amorous meaning of the impassioned dialogue between the hands in the final variation was unmistakable. The whirling finale, marked Prestissimo possible, was a model of clearly etched themes in a bracingly fast yet transparent texture.

Ian Hobson performed Sound Impressions at SubCulture, a six-concert series featuring the complete solo piano repertoire of Ravel and Debussy. Similar endeavors include Mr. Hobson's 2015 Uptown/Downtown: Preludes, Etudes, and Variations series-focusing on outstanding examples of each genre by Fauré, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Szymanowski, with world premieres by Yehudi Wyner (Preludes), Robert Chumbley (Etudes), and Stephen Taylor (Variations)-and his performance of the complete solo piano works and chamber music with piano of Johannes Brahms, series entitled Johannes Brahms: Classical Inclinations in a Romantic Age.

Mr. Hobson has to date amassed a discography of some 60 releases, including the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schumann and a complete edition of Brahms's variations for piano. Recently, Mr. Hobson has been recording the solo and orchestral works of Polish composer Moritz Moszkowski; the first volume of orchestral works was awarded a 2020 'Diapason d'or - Découverte' by the French magazine Diapason.

Reviewing the second volume of Moszkowski's solo piano compositions, Henry Fogel wrote in the January/February 2023 edition of Fanfare,

In addition to technical virtuosity, the other components necessary for successful performances of Moszkowski's music are warmth, charm, and a gift for employing meaningful degrees of rubato without losing the music's pulse. Hobson has long demonstrated that he has all of those qualities, resulting in a very enjoyable recital of Romantic pianism.

Mr. Hobson continues his concerts as music director of the Sinfonia da Camera, a professional chamber orchestra affiliated with the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and College of Fine and Applied Arts of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Mr. Hobson is the Swanlund Emeritus Professor of Music. He is also Professor of Music at Florida State University.

As guest soloist, Ian Hobson has appeared with many of the world's major orchestras; in the United States these include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Florida, Houston, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and the American Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico. Abroad, he has been heard with Great Britain's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hallé Orchestra, ORF-Vienna, Orchester der Beethovenhalle, Moscow Chopin Orchestra, Israeli Sinfonietta, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Since his debut in the double role of conductor and soloist with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in 1996, Maestro Hobson has been invited to lead the English Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia (including an appearance at Carnegie Hall), the Pomeranian Philharmonic (Poland), the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra (Bass Hall), and the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra of Israel, among others.

In addition, Mr. Hobson is a much sought-after judge for national and international competitions and has been invited to join numerous juries, among them the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (at the specific request of Mr. Cliburn), the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Poland, the Chopin Competition in Florida, the Leeds Piano Competition in the U.K., and the Schumann International Competition in Germany. In 2005 Hobson served as Chairman of the Jury for the Cleveland International Competition and the Kosciuszko Competition in New York; in 2008 he was Chairman of Jury of the New York Piano Competition; and in 2010 he again served in that capacity of the newly renamed New York International Piano Competition.

One of the youngest ever graduates of the Royal Academy of Music, Mr. Hobson began his international career in 1981 when he won First Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition, after having earned silver medals at both the Arthur Rubinstein and Vienna-Beethoven competitions. Born in Wolverhampton, England, he studied at Cambridge University (England), and at Yale University, in addition to his earlier studies at the Royal Academy of Music.

Lucia Lin enjoys a multi-faceted career of solo engagements, chamber music performances with the Muir String Quartet, orchestral concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and teaching at Boston University's College of Fine Arts.

Born in Champaign-Urbana, Lucia Lin is a prize winner of numerous competitions, including the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Described as a "passionate and graceful" soloist with "virtuosity and insight" (Indianapolis Star), and whose playing has "a genuine fresh quality not often heard" (Cincinnati Enquirer), Ms. Lin has performed throughout the United States as well as on the international stage.

At the age of 22, she won a position in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She then went on to become acting concertmaster with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and then spent two years as Concertmaster with the London Symphony Orchestra, where she was leader for numerous recordings and tours, including those to Japan, Italy, Scotland, and Spain.

A return to the United States in 1995 brought her back to Boston with a focus towards chamber music, first founding the Boston Trio, and then becoming a member of the renowned Muir String Quartet in 1998. The quartet's dedication to teaching helped to foster Lin's passion for helping young musicians to discover their own musical voice. The influence of her mentors, Paul Rolland and Sergiu Luca, is reflected in her pedagogy. She is currently Associate Professor at Boston University's College of Fine Arts, where she teaches applied violin, chamber music, and orchestral studies.

Ms. Lin's passion for the other arts-including dance, visual, literature-has prompted her to look into creating projects that make connections across the arts. In 2007, she collaborated with the dance company, Snappy Dance Theater, in the world premiere of "String Theory", an innovative piece integrating music with dance and technology. Currently, the pandemic and social uprisings of 2020 are the impetus for Ms. Lin's newest project, "In Tandem", an initiative dedicated to bringing new voices to classical music through commissions of ten emerging composers from the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.

First-Prize winner of the Japan National Music Competition in 1960, Ko Iwasaki studied cello with Hideo Saito. After graduating from the Toho Music School in Japan, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School under Leonard Rose. In 1965 he made his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series. Later, he studied with Harvey Shapiro and Pablo Casals in Puerto Rico. He has won top prizes in numerous international cello competitions such as the Vienna, Munich, Budapest, Cassado, and Tchaikovsky competitions.

In 1971, he received the Arts Minister Award for Young Artists and the Arts Festival Record Prize for his performance of contemporary Japanese cello music. In 1972, he made his European debut with the London Symphony Orchestra with Andre Previn.

Since 1974, he has been based in the United States where he has performed both as a soloist and as a chamber music player, as well as in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Japan. In addition, he has participated in numerous festivals, including Marlboro, Aspen, Santa Fe, Lockenhaus, and Kuhumo. He is also a founder of the Tokyo Chamber Soloists and was a director of the Okinawa Moon Beach Music Camp & Festival in Japan. Since 1995, he has performed the entire cycle of Beethoven String Quartets as a member of the Japan String Quartet.

He has taught at Illinois State University, University of Illinois and the Southern Methodist University. He also has been highly praised for his master classes conducted at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the World Cello Congress, universities and summer music festivals. Since 1990, he has been invited to serve as a jury at many international competitions including the Cassado Cello Competition, the Munich International Competition, and the Tchaikovsky Competition. Residing in Dallas, Mr. Iwasaki continues to pursue an active concert career, while teaching at the Toho Conservatory Graduate School in Japan.

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